Watering During a Midwest 'Drought'

Welcome to summer! Since the Summer Solstice has passed we are officially in summer, although the past couple days feel more like spring as far as temperatures go. Do not worry, this being Wisconsin, we’ll be roasting soon.


The bad news, from a geographical perspective, is that length of daylight is now on the wane - i.e. the daylight portion of each 24 hour period grows progressively less (sigh) until Dec. 22. So get out there and savor the photoperiod!

Things are beginning to dry out, as the last deluge was intense but brief. If you have planted anything in the line of trees or shrubs this year, be diligent during the next two months to insure that the root balls get adequate moisture. You do not want your prized specimens suffering from water shortage.

Remember, just because it rained sometime or another, does not mean that adequate moisture made it down to the roots. Check the soil moisture, and if necessary give the plant a good slow soaking once in a while.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of actually checking the soil moisture condition around the plant roots. This may get your hands dirty, but not to fear, it washes off! You may have to move the mulch aside (if present) to get an accurate assessment of the situation, but again it is important that you know the soil condition, not the hydration of the mulch. (The soil should be damp, but not soggy.)

It is okay to let the soil dry a bit once in a while, but if the leaves on the plant start looking flaccid, the soil has reached what is referred to as the “wilting point”, which means there is no more moisture available for plant use.

Let me illustrate my point with a recent case. A customer had several plants in a mulched planting bed that were losing leaves as they were drying up. Outside the planting bed the grass was lush, and the ground was wet. I brushed aside the mulch beneath one of the afflicted plants and discovered the soil was dry to the point of being dusty.

How could this be?

The lawn sprinklers were hitting only the grass, and not the planting beds. This is normally fine, as grass needs much more water than shrubs.

In fact, we advise against watering planting beds with lawn irrigation systems, as they get excessively wet. However, the homeowner forgot that the plants in the planting bed DO need a drink of water once in a while! Here were two extremes in soil moisture conditions, less than one foot apart!

Will the plants recover? I suspect some will, but others were so severely dehydrated that only time will tell. (Plants can releaf to recover from losses due to dehydration, but that depends on the overall vigor of the plant.)

The point is this: Be cognizant of the environmental factors at work in your yard so that the plants you put in your piece of paradise thrive. Remember, plant guarantees that nurseries (including Piala’s) extend to you when you purchase green stock do not cover customer neglect. When in doubt, give us a call!