Weeks of sunny fall days might be ideal for holiday shoppers, but millions of landscape plants and trees in the Midwest are threatened by a withering dry spell and in desperate need of water.
Evergreens especially need to store up water in the fall to tide them over in wintry blasts that drain moisture from their needles, according to plant experts.
“I would water every 10 days until we get substantial rain or the ground freezes,”said Tim Wagner, manager of the 185-acre Weiler Nursery near Zion. “The effects of drought will not be known until next year. If it continues to stay this bad, then next spring (plants will) start to die off.”
Plants are “under tremendous stress right now because of the lack of water,” Wagner said. He advises 10 to 15 gallons of water for every 3- to 6-foot plant.
A prolonged dearth of rainfall in the Chicago region has left the ground parched and cracked, according to weather officials. Because of the dry conditions, trees, shrubs and ground cover are at risk of “drought stress,” a condition that will not become apparent until spring, when branches or whole plants turn brown, say experts at Morton Arboretum in Lisle.
“Plants develop drought stress when they lose access to soil water,” said Doris Taylor, a Morton plant-care specialist. “This can cause roots to die, reducing a plant’s ability to absorb sufficient water.”
It also can make plants more vulnerable to pests and disease, she said.
In addition to evergreens, newly planted or transplanted plants are especially at risk. Mature plants and trees with deep roots are not as vulnerable, according to plant experts, but it would be helpful to water any favorite landscape plants, such as a towering blue spruce.
So, don’t put away the garden hose yet, they advise. Water plants slowly and deeply and use mulch to conserve moisture, they say.
“It is very, very dry,” said Greg Stack, a horticulture specialist with the University of Illinois Extension Office in Countryside. “We are definitely encouraging people, especially those who have newly planted evergreens and sod, to make sure they provide adequate water, a thorough and deep soaking before we go into freezing.”
Without such watering, he added, “you’ll see a lot of winter injury when the plant comes out of dormancy in the spring. Everything from slight yellowing and browning of foliage to dying back of whole branches or whole plants.”
This is often attributed to winter damage, he said, but it can be the result of inadequate water in fall.
“In the 12 years I’ve been in the business, I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Dan Nitzsche, senior project manager for Church Landscape, a TruGreen-LandCare Co. with offices in Wadsworth and Lombard.. “Everyone expects the landscape to turn yellow and leaves to fall off,” lulling people into the belief that fall is following its usual course.
But it is not usual.
The National Weather Service reports that the Chicago region has had little moisture since the 3/4-inch rainfall on Oct. 3, more than six weeks ago.
In addition to threatening landscape plants, the extreme dryness has contributed to a rash of brushfires in the area and low water levels that have plagued boaters in Lake Michigan.
“You tend to get dry periods in the fall, but by the time you get past Halloween, things get more active,” said Ken Labas, a Weather Service forecaster. “Certainly this period of dryness is not normal.”
Typically, Labas said, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport’s weather station records 2.41 inches of rain in October. This October had 1.07 inches. A typical November would have 2.92 inches, Labas said, but this November so far there has been “virtually zero” rain.
Forecasts call for rain by Friday and around Thanksgiving, but, unless the showers are sustained, the benefit to threatened plants will be minimal.
Drought typically is a concern during the summer months and as danger to farm crops, Labas noted. As a result, many homeowners in the area already have rolled up their garden hoses as cold snaps reach freezing temperatures.
Meteorologists say that “drought” is a subjective term defined differently by various agencies. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that southern Illinois is in a drought zone, while northern Illinois and parts of southern Wisconsin and Michigan are “abnormally dry.”
The Midwest Climate Center in Champaign reported that precipitation in northern Illinois is zero to 10 percent of normal in the last 30 days.
Earl Ferris, nursery manager of the 400-acre Synnestvedt Co. Burr Oak Nursery division in Round Lake, said his workers are watering plants, and he advises homeowners to do the same.
“They should let their hoses run at a slow stream (near the base of plants) and leave it for about half an hour,” Ferris said. “They should do this weekly until the ground freezes.”
Stan Smith, nursery manager for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said homeowners also might use a sprinkler, placing a can nearby to collect at least an inch of water in the sprinkling.
“You want to put it on trickle so it soaks over a long time,” Smith said. “The problem with being so dry is the ground is so hard. You have to soften the ground. If you turn the water on full blast, the water will run off and not soak in very well.”
