The Arbor Doctor loves his trees, but he is a west side German so he can be a little bit reserved when it comes to writing out a check for water. Still, he knows it’s necessary sometimes. He is watering now. Are you?
Truthfully, it’s been a pretty good year so far. This is the first full scale tree and shrub watering the Arbor Doctor has needed to do in 2018. Yes, it really is! The grass is still green here* but drought stress is evident in landscapes.
It’s been dry so far in July over much of the Cincinnati metro are. Rain deficit + heat = rapid drying rates and rapidly developing drought stress for plants.
Optimistically, it does look like a wetter and even cooler pattern may be setting up for next week and the following week. At first glance, the weather prediction center’s depiction of US rainfall over the next 7 days appears to show a doe sprinting from New Mexico and Colorado into the Great Lakes region while Barney the dinosaur works his way from the deep south into the Ohio valley. There also appears to be a parrot over Texas and Oklahoma.
OK, I have an over active imagination, although the resemblance is there!
What it really shows is a pretty wet pattern over the US and an active southwest monsoon. Of course, as always, we remind you not to count the rain until it actually falls in your rain gauge, so water, but water responsibly*.
*Remember not to cut grass short in hot weather. 3 inches tall is best for tall fescue.
**1-1.5 inches per week, 1-2 waterings per week, measured in a straight sided can or rain gauge, and only as a supplement to natural rainfall if natural rainfall is short of this amount.