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| So far my lawn is a bit on the tan side of green but most of the trees are doing pretty well. I suppose the big ones look to be more thinly leafed than usual and I did see one dead branch on a redbud but overall things look pretty good. The weeds are even doing above average since I understand I'm not supposed to spray Round-up when its above 90 something.
The exception is this Picea orientalis 'Skylands'. Last year in the same location it made it through with flying colors. This year nope. Go figure, drought and 107(F) were getting the best of it. After promising myself last spring I would not build a shade tent for no fu-fu tree I broke down and did it tonight.
Any of you all have terrible drought pictures or have gone further to save a tree (????Whaas perhaps you????). It would make me feel better to know I wasn't the only one out there doing construction. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by rosiew 8 GA (rosemarywalsh@bellsouth.net) on Mon, Jul 2, 12 at 8:52
| Maybe trekking to the back of my property under the light from a flashlight will count. Have hardy ageratum, the fall blooming one, big clumps that look like someone took a torch to them - completely dark brown. About to even lose zinnias! Two hydrangeas are toast too. Lysmachia tan instead of limey green. So discouraging. We have water restrictions, but they're not terribly stringent yet. That will probably change soon. In between severe and extreme drought. Bermuda lawn crunchy. And big crevasses appearing in the ground. Hope your Picea orientalis 'Skylands'survives. Are you doing deep irrigation when you water it? Might consider moving the rock mulch away from it for awhile if it's super hot where you are. Replace with another mulch though. Sighing, in Sugar Hill, GA. Rosie |
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| Well I was driving around over the weekend, and there are LARGE MATURE trees beginning to get their fall color due to the drought. This is the second year in a row we have been hammered, and third year in a row with some amount of drought and unusually hot/dry. Last year, I sure there was sub-surface moisture, but I don't think it was adequately replenished before the next drought hit. There are lots of trees dying. Noticed a dead Sycamore this morning with lots of "water spouts" from where it was trying to recover from the 2009 ice storm (the worst on record for my area). There is certainly a thinning going on. As for our own trees, I have been watering the #$$% out of them. Still, they are showing some symptoms of stress. 100+, low humidity, cloudless sky, and windy takes a considerable toll. BTW, what became of your Blackgum that sprouted back last year? Arktrees |
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| The drought has burned up my budget! I have been watering much the same way as Arktrees :) We have so many trees and lots of shrubs and hosta that I would hate to lose. I am dreading our water bill. It will probaly be around $500 which usually doesn't happen until the always dry third quarter of the year (July, August, September). No fun for any of us, I'm afraid. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Jul 2, 12 at 10:42
| it would be much easier.. and a shorter list.. to list what has not shown damage ... ken |
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- Posted by cearbhaill Zone 6b Eastern KY (My Page) on Mon, Jul 2, 12 at 17:30
| All of my huge old oaks and hickories are inside beds, and I am watering the beds. I know the trees suck up all the water so I water extra for them and so am spending a fortune on water even though I feel as if I could never water enough for the enormous trees no matter what I do. I did lose three mature oaks out in my woods last Friday night when the freak wind hit and wonder if they would have made it had they had enough water this year, but that is out of my hands. And yay easy firewood. The only thing I am letting go is the rear lawn, and that is only because it was not a pristine lawn to begin with. But not my shrubs or trees- I'll stand out there with a hose all day if that's what I have to do. I may have to eat beans and rice for a week but I will save my plants. |
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| oh the joy of having a private well. I suppose my pump will burn out sooner than it should with my several-hours-a-day watering schedule. but my lawn looks beautiful and the trees are thriving (except for one unfortunate serviceberry). the rest of my neighborhood is dried up and dead. |
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| A few singed things. Some appear burnt pretty bad. Photosynthesis stops at 104F. We had hours above that air temp. Alas. Only June/early July! "Normal" is 88-92 and humid. Ha! Plenty of water though and no restrictions. So nothing was a total loss |
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| Just the grass, and I don't mind that. I watered Friday and I was out there for a good while watering all but the pretty large trees and some perennials, and then the storm hit and dumped lots of rain ( knocking out the power for 2 days too) so I wasted water and time too. I know there are people worse off than me, but I figured I'd share. |
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| My losses where much greater with the April freezes. As for the heat I can only attribute losses to a couple soft pines. It didn't help that they where just planted this year. Probably won't know the extent of the damage until later in the year. I can't believe its 93 out right now and almost 8pm. |
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| I was so surprised to open this and see a picture of Skylands - I have one that looks just like yours. I put a chair in front of it yesterday, hoping to shade it some. Mine's new this year, and I'm just sick about it. It seemed to happen overnight. Think they will recover? We are in the same shape as some of you with this drought. Mature trees dropping leaves, crispy lawn, even Zinnias having trouble! Another tree I'm really worried about is my Royal Star Magnolia. It's a couple of years old and planted in a low-traffic area, so I wasn't paying enough attention to it. I noticed last week that about 60% of the leaves are brown. :( Not crispy brown, just brown. I don't know what to do...I've started deep watering it every few days. We have voluntary water restrictions. Supposed to only water lawns every other day. I have been doing my best to keep everything hydrated, but it would be a full-time job to supply all the water that everything in my yard needs right now. Every time I go outside I see something else that is suffering. |
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| We're at roughly 4 inches of precip. for the year so far, way below normal. We are out of the 100+ degree temps at last, at least for a little while. Our humidity levels are up from the 0 - 5% range to 30 - 35%. The firefighters are finally making some headway in the mountains. As Ken said, it'd be easier to list what isn't suffering! After spending weeks attached to a hose when not at work, it seems some monsoon moisture will be heading our way this weekend. Fairplay (Southpark) had a rain dance celebration yesterday and it actually did rain there afterward, lol! Of the trees I planted this year, those shipped from the PNW are suffering the most. The wind and heat have just crisped them. As soon as I saw a bit of needle loss on my new Picea omorika I put a home made, hog wire tomato cage over it and wrapped it in burlap. That tree is doing great now, but I don't dare pull that screen. I just don't have enough screens to save everything and am doing triage. This lead me to an interesting discovery this year. The trees I bought locally, those grown here or that have been here a little while are not suffering nearly as much as the plants shipped here from other parts of the country. I did harden everything off over a period of several weeks before planting in April, but it wasn't enough to prepare them for the inferno. Had I known what this spring and summer would bring, I'd have not planted at all this year. On the positive side, I had the best spring flush on the roses that I've seen in years. I had to find a bright spot! Barb |
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- Posted by farmeranne 5a, Iowa (My Page) on Mon, Jul 9, 12 at 21:25
| I ran my well dry a couple weeks ago trying to keep newly planted trees irrigated! I will most certainly have some losses. The most apparent damage so far is to a Katsura planted in 2010. I've watered it plenty each year, as I know it cannot tolerate drought in the first 3 years, but it is super stressed, with fall color already and a large, dead branch:( I'm conserving as much water as possible for trees, watering with dirty dish water, etc. |
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| farmeranne, that's unfortunate for your Katsura. After 8 yrs, my 18 footer seems, interestingly, quite drought-resistant -- much better than the adjacent redbud. Don't give up on it. |
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- Posted by toronado3800 Z6 St. Louis (My Page) on Tue, Jul 10, 12 at 12:24
| It has been a scary dry year. Add a Horstman's silverlocke to my losses. It was up near the Skylands somehow. Got .15 inches of rain the other day. Missed out on all the Thunderstorms and damaging winds the rest of the locals received. No water restrictions yet. Go St Louis County and our old infrastructure from when America had money! |
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- Posted by plantingman 6b (SC KS climate) (samnsarah620@yahoo.com) on Tue, Jul 10, 12 at 14:29
| My chickens! My chickens are getting cooked in this heat. Just look at what this drought has done! Stupid drought! |
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- Posted by plantingman 6b (SC KS climate) (samnsarah620@yahoo.com) on Tue, Jul 10, 12 at 15:32
| Okay, seriously...this drought has been playing havoc with my young weigela shrubs. As you can see there is some definite leaf scorch on this one.
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| No damage yet, but North East seems to be returning to the earlier dry months of March and April (which are normally fairly wet). Grass is browning but I do not water grass on general principle. Shrubs have started to be watered just recently. More humid air comes in real soon so greater chance of much needed downpours. Unlike last year though, local weather is nothing about which to complain. |
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| Our drought has mercifully been broken with rain every day for the last week or so! It went from 105 down to about 75-80, which is unheard of for July in Texas. It was 72 when I got up this morning and is 77 now, incredible! However, we got it last year. Virtually every magnolia and about 75% of the pines in this part of the state are dead. Millions of trees. If they didn't get watered they are dead. I lost a few things, but nothing large or serious. Won't have that problem this year, thank goodness. |
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- Posted by toronado3800 Z6 St. Louis (My Page) on Thu, Jul 12, 12 at 23:25
| I don't know if the drought or heat is worse. The hose is getting a workout but now my crabapple is starting to show fall colors and thin out as well. My nyssa has a couple red leaves, metasequoia ogon some crispy needles, cornus controversa some half burnt leaves, ug. Oh well. This will weed out the weaklings. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Thu, Jul 12, 12 at 23:42
| Speaking of weeds, I'm seeing something I've never seen before: My lawn weed control has been very inadequate the last few years. But this year, stuff like black medic and other low-growing, spreading lawn weeds are dying! Crazy man. ;^) |
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| cearbhaill, you crack me up but I'm with you. So not looking forward to getting that water bill next week. |
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