Here we are, coming up on the end of July 2010. We have had over 31 days of 90+ degree temps, and there are more in store. Our lawns are the color of straw, and many trees and shrubs are dead or dying.  However, there is hope. Hope for your poor sad lawn , and even more so for those trees and shrubs that have not yet shrugged off those last leaves.

We started out the season warm and rainy, which was great if you’re a lawn disease. The diseases and fungal problems ran rampant, and what they didn’t kill, they stressed. Then came our drought (although everyone refuses to call it one.) This pushed all the stressed lawns past their limit, and many sections died. Some of the brown we saw was simply certain types of grasses in heat dormancy, and they came back after the rains did.

At this point, we have begun to get rain again. Not nearly enough, but a start. Those areas of your lawn that have not returned to a green color…… won’t. You will need to thatch and seed in the fall. Now is NOT the time. It’s a waste of money and time. Wait until September.

As for your trees and shrubs, well, that’s another story. Their root systems are deeper, and different, than your lawn’s roots. If your shrubs are already brown, there’s not much you can do but replace them. If your trees are dropping leaves, but there are still green leaves on the tree, my advice to you…LOTS OF WATER!! A tree with a 2.5 inch caliper, (the size when we usually plant them) requires 20 GALLONS OF WATER A WEEK! So you can imagine what a larger tree needs! Rainfall alone will not do it right now! So if you want to save your trees and shrubs, set up a lawn sprinkler in a spot where it will hit the most trees and shrubs, and let it run for 2 hours. Then do it in another location.  Then remember to do this WEEKLY when it gets really hot.

Remember, the water bill is CHEAP compared to removing dead landscape plants, and replacing them.