I live in the northeast and we are in an area officially experiencing moderate drought. This is apparently very unusual. There has literally been no significant rain for over a month now. It’s been completely dry for three weeks. There may be rain in a week, but I am worried all my trees and shrubs will be dead by then.
I am noticing mature trees and shrubs beginning to wilt and/or turn yellow. I have some smaller (but mature) trees that are precious to me. My well is pretty shallow, but touch wood, we so far seem to be having no issues. I am trying to conserve water, but honestly, I can’t bear the thought of losing some of my trees and I have given some of them a minimal amount of water.
As a native of So Cal, I don’t know if this is what deciduous trees do when they are conserving water. Will my trees be ok? Is it just a sign that autumn is very early? Should I continue to give them whatever water I can? Will they survive much longer without substantial rain? Should I simply focus on saving as much water for home use as I can?
Over a month? I’d say give your smaller, less established trees a good drink of water. I water my small trees when we don’t have rain for that long - and I’m in Seattle. The local giants like Douglas firs and maples have pretty established root systems that go deep so they don’t need watering.
Yes, I have watered a few of the smaller mature trees, but again, I am concerned about my well. I’ve never lived in a home with well water until the one I am in now.
I also live in the northeast. Yes, it is very dry here.
I am not worried about my large and established trees.
We have a few smaller shrubs and trees that we transplanted last year, that are visibly suffering. I have been watering a few of them. I try to water long enough that the water can soak down into the roots – which typically means a slow rate of water over some time period (like a slow dribble for 30 to 60 minutes, rather than a quick soaking).
Most plants that have been transplanted this year are very likely to need water.
Some trees will drop their leaves early in the fall if they are dry, and then come back just fine next year. Unfortunately some trees under stress can become more susceptible to disease or to dying in a cold period in the winter. Some can just get too dry and die. It is quite difficult to tell one from the other.
I agree about watering trees that you care about that have been in the same place for less than two years.
In terms of the well, again it depends. Where we live I have not heard of any wells running dry, and I am not particularly worried about ours. However, we have a very deep well in an area where you really do not need a deep well (I think that the original owner did this to improve water quality). Do you know how deep your well is?
I’m in the northeast, too, on the Cape, and in my area we essentially went without any rain for 2 months (although we just had some last week). The trees will be all right, unless they are very young trees without established roots. They’ll shed their leaves early, with no vibrant colors, but they’ll be fine. The only things I’ve been watering are a few hydrangeas that I put in last summer.
Drought seems to have become the summer pattern here in New England. It’s nice for beach weather, but it’s been a guilty pleasure enjoying day after day of blue skies all summer, knowing that the drought is killing the crops.
In my area north of Boston, hand-watering only and within a certain time frame each day. With a well, of course, you can do what you feel you need to do. I suppose you could use bottled water and limit showers and use paper plates to prioritize small, newer shrubs and plants!
My arborist recommended watering all trees, including established trees, during drought. He said that prolonged dry periods might not kill them outright, but will weaken them, making them more susceptible to both pests and disease. So yes, give your trees an occasional drink.
Crazy dry here, too (NJ). We are on water restrictions here - supposed to limit lawn watering to every other day. I could care less that my lawn is brown - it will green up again in the fall. I do care about my many plantings, though. I have been watering all of my garden beds and any shrubs that I’ve planted within the last three years - low-flow soaker for 40 minutes at a time, twice a week. If your trees are showing signs of stress, I would definitely give them a good watering.
Our arborist also says to water trees slowly and deeply in times of drought. 10 gallons of water for every inch of diameter. For well established trees, once/month. But that’s a lot of WATER!
I’d be super concerned about being on a well and having that run dry! I remember being a kid and my parents having to drill down for a second well for drinking water. Super costly even back then and frankly kind of scary to not have drinking water.
You can put a bucket in the shower with you to catch gray water and water your trees with that. Also works in the sink while you are washing your hands. Laundry water is good too, but harder to catch.
We are also under drought conditions, although it’s been raining since late yesterday morning. It will take more than that to get us where we need to be. We have a dug well, about 25 feet deep (people in our area can’t use drilled wells because water at large depths is brackish). Twice within the last month, my husband forgot to turn off the sprinkler in the garden, and the well went dry! Argh. But each time, it recharged within a few minutes. So I think we will be OK. DH knows to set an alarm on his phone from now on when he waters the garden!
We have a 1000-gallon cistern at our cabin. Filtered rainwater flows off the roof into it. It was down to about 400 gallons of water, but the last time we went up it was full. I think it rains more in the mountains than elsewhere.
It depends on how drought-tolerant the trees are and how deep their roots are. Most trees with deep roots will survive a drought like the one we currently have in the Northeast. Wilting is natural in a drought, but I’d look for more severe signs of distress (e.g. trees shedding leaves in the summer).
I think it’s not uncommon for trees to shed leaves early - and for those leaves to look gosh awful dry - but of course it is a sign of wear and tear from heat and dry. But I wouldn’t panic that the falling leaves are a dying sign.
I think the above tips about shower water, buying a couple extra gallon jugs from the store, washing machine water (end of rinse cycle maybe) could be ways to not waste, but feel like you’re giving some thirst relief!
Many deciduous tress cope with dry summer heat by shedding their leaves early. They will most likely be fine next year. I would worry more about your evergreens, once they start yellowing and losing needles those don’t come back.
I’ve lived in many houses with wells. If you’ve not had a problem in the past then watering the trees shouldn’t really give you any trouble. I have watered my large gardens from well water over the years.
The trees shedding some leaves in dry conditions is normal. I wouldn’t worry about that. I would certainly focus on smaller, less established trees.
When watering, the roots extend about as wide as the branches. Definitely water deeply less often rather than lightly/frequently. A good soaking (1" of water over the entire root system) every couple weeks should get you by.
In the PNW, with the extra heat and lack of usual summer rain, in our area we are seeing huge Big Leaf Maples & Douglas Firs and others die back. I had an arborist consult and have been doing summer watering (deep slow soaking) of a couple of huge trees for several years, one had been looking pretty sick and it is much happier.
Established trees may be ok, or may be traumatized by new patterns of water, such as weeks and weeks that are dry instead of wet.
and maples 
have pretty established root systems that go deep so they don’t need watering.