Posted on by Ron Rothhaas

Very dry and getting drier. Need to water.

Much of Ohio, as well as much of the Midwest, is now abnormally dry with moderate drought in Illinois and areas of severe and extreme drought in Missouri and Iowa. There is a saying in meteorology, “drought begets drought.” When weather systems move over dry ground they tend to dry out more so this much early season drought is concerning.

Rainfall at my southwest Ohio, Cheviot OH 3W, location was only about 40% of normal in May with a deficit of 3.47 inches. Rainfall departures in May ranged from -3.5 inches in southwest Ohio to -1 inch in extreme southern Ohio, with departures of up to -2.5 inches in northeast and northwest Ohio.

Temperatures in Ohio have been near to below normal in May. Of course, the first few days of June made up for that with heat and low relative humidity, accelerating the effects of the dry conditions.

There is some hope for precipitation as we move into mid-June with normal rainfall favored for most of Ohio.

Please remember to water…correctly!

Water once per week, one inch per week, under the entire branch spread, in the absence of rain, May through November. Either rainfall or your watering should equal the one inch per week. Do not water if the soil is already moist. Put out a sprinkler and a straight sided soup can or rain gauge and measure one inch per week. Measure the rainfall which falls in your yard. Your trees don’t care what fell at the airport!

If burlap was left on new trees, it will repel water and the tree or shrub may die. Be sure burlap and twine are removed from the top of all root balls. If your landscaper disagrees, refer him or her to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) industry standard for installation of landscape plants.

To the extent possible recycle fallen leaves back into the soil around the trees and maintain mulch around the trees to a radius of at least 3-5 feet. Keep mulch off trunks. Use a coarse textured mulch. Avoid triple shredded mulch. Aged arborist wood chips ( https://getchipdrop.com/ ), mulched and composted leaves, pine bark, and pine straw are all good. Very finely ground mulches such as triple ground hardwood mulch are not beneficial and may inhibit moisture and oxygen exchange.

Drought: How Dry Seasons Affect Woody Plants                                                                                                                     >>>

 

1-inch capacity rain gauge  >>>

Taylor rain gauge   >>>

Watering: How and when>>>

Watering Trees and Shrubs>>>

 

Metal Rectangular Spot Sprinkler

8-Pattern Sprinkler

 

Meteorological Versus Astronomical Seasons

Spring: March 1-May 31; Summer: June 1-August 31; Fall: September 1-November 30; Winter: December 1-February 28 (29)

 

You may have noticed that Arbor Doctor, meteorologists and climatologists define seasons differently from “regular” or astronomical spring, summer, fall, and winter. So, why do  meteorological and astronomical seasons begin and end at different times? Climatologically, the period July 14-21, the mid-point of meteorological summer, is the hottest week of the year and the period January 14-21, the mid-point of meteorological winter, is the coldest week of the year over much of the continental US including the Ohio valley.

Read more here>>>

 

There is also some hope as we move deeper into summer. I would call this a lower-than-normal confidence forecast but the National Weather Service seasonal outlook for meteorological summer indicates above normal rainfall in Ohio. We will see. Certainly, the short-term outlook is not wet. The winter outlook was for wet conditions over Ohio and that didn’t really work out so time will tell how the summer forecast will work out.

Temperatures as we move toward mid-June are expected to be near normal over most of Ohio as well with below normal temperatures favored to the east and slightly above normal temperatures favored to the west.