“Rain, rain, come and play, keep coming back for many a day!” We all need to be shouting this and dancing as many rain dances as we can. This dry heat has been brutal on us AND all of our plants! Hopefully many of you have chosen to plant native plants or plants that have been adapted to our climate, because those are the ones that appear to have a fighting chance right now! The stress of a prolonged drought weakens plants immensely and even those that are considered “drought-tolerant”, need some rescue moisture in the soil to help alleviate the stress.
For the most part we’ve been dry as a bone during this summer drought and any rainfall we have received just hasn’t been able to keep up with the water a tree, shrub or woody vine needs. Especially if the tree, shrub or woody perennial is in its first year of being established.
Stressed out plants are more susceptible to disease, insect infestations and to simply put it death. Under watered trees, shrubs and woody perennials will begin to decline and this could end up being a decline that lasts a long time. Tree canopies begin to die back, leaf margins begin to brown in color and the symptoms may last for a while, even once the soil begins to receive moisture again.
Drought and Rescue Watering
The key to correct watering for trees, shrubs and woody perennials is to always offer a deep watering. Shallow waterings are not beneficial. They make your plant rely heavily on water from you rather than natural rainfall. Roots on trees, shrubs, and woody perennials tend to grow where soil is moist, so shallow watering equals a shallow root system. Not what you want when it comes to these plants. Shallow watering also has you running to the hose more often than you should have to. Deep waterings allow for longer periods of time between irrigation and a deep root system.
Rescue watering your established plants may be something you might want to try when we’ve gone several weeks without rain. A long, slow soak where you water the entire root system and extend the watering out to just beyond the canopy or spread of the tree, shrub or woody perennial can perk up your established plants quickly.
Even though my plumbago is a native perennial that has been established and can generally survive a drought with hardly any watering, with this string of high 100° days, it was looking pretty sad and pathetic. I gave it a rescue watering and it popped back up to life and even pushed out another flush of blooms shortly after. This just goes to show that even our native plants enjoy and appreciate an extra drink when drought is prolonged as it is now.
Older trees, shrubs and woody perennials that have been around for years and are well established will probably only need this type of rescue watering a couple of times this summer. For woody plants that were planted last fall through spring, once a week rescue watering is a general recommendation until the drought has broken and rainfall comes again. Newer, younger, and smaller plants will generally need more frequent watering since their roots haven’t been completely established.
Water smart, and water well and your plants just might make it out of this summer drought hell!
~ The Happy (but the weather is testing me) Gardener, Lisa Mulroy
We just added a front cement patio, limestone walls and iron double gate to the front of our home. I bought plants for several large pots and they are having a very tough time. I’ve had plants throughout my life, but I’m not having much luck as this drought drags on with these poor potted plants==geraniums, hybiscus(white sticky webs have appeared on the outside of the stems and buds in some area), penas, canas, buganvillas. I would appreciate any tips/help you can give me. They were doing fine, but it is July 21st and they are suffering, changing leaf color and dying, etc.
Hi Stanetta
It’s possible you could have a pest issues as far as the sticky white webs. See this link and compare your white webs to those in the pictures. It’s helpful to prune a little if you have a severe infestation and then treat with the recommended products in the article. You may have to do a repeat application if the infestation is bad. Also….be sure to only spray and treat plants in the early morning hours or late evening hours when the sun is not blazing, this will protect plants from getting a chemical burn.
Double check that your plants are getting enough water throughout this drought. Water thoroughly until the water runs out of the bottom of the pots. You may have to do another lap and water them again to make sure they are really thoroughly watered. Pots dry out faster than plants in the ground, and this drought has been brutal. Hope this helps!
This is great information. Thank you. I learned just this summer that a long deep soak will save my crepe myrtles and a couple of redbuds. I bought 5’ soaker hoses or used long soaker hoses and wrapped them around the tree several times. Once a week an hour of water has saved all of them. Thank goodness. Learning that, I looked at other perennials in my yard and used the same strategy. I am watching my water usage like a hawk and I am saving my trees and plants, including my Drift roses. Thank you for confirming what I was hoping was the right approach.
Terrific Diane. This method is a saving grace to many plants through our brutal summers. Glad you’ve ben implementing it, and your plants thank you too!