A very short story about drought August, 2006

THE DROUGHT: Boring, boring, boring to read about, write about, think about! If your acorns are falling early, and if the leaves come off the trees early, it is The Drought. Please remember to water your trees (and shrubs). Big trees that are weakened by drought and thereby lost in the next few years to (fill in the blank: ice storms, wind storms) will not be replaced (to that height) in our lifetime. So please do yourself and your village a favor and water your trees. How? A Long Deep Soaking for the root zone every 7-10 days.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE: NOT frequent small watering.

A gallon a day is really not helpful: Try 10-15 gallons every 10 days.

A pitiful small amount of water (in Texas we say : 'it weren't enough rain to lay the dust') will only encourage the roots to grow TOWARD the surface (shallow roots = unstable tree = bad move), whereas deep watering every 7-10 days will encourage those roots to grown DOWN and then OUT (deep roots = sturdy tree = good move). So much for the down-side of the drought.

The up-side is appreciating the terrific performance of Epimedium (Barrenwort), a semi-evergreen ground cover that loves dry shade; read my lips, it loves dry shade. At the base of large trees, it is sallying forth these days looking blissful. Another fan of dry shade, Helleborus foetidus (Bearsfoot Hellebore), cousin of Helleborus orientalis (Lenten Rose), is unfazed by lack of rain. The fact that the Hellebores bloom in January-Feb-March increases their value to the shade gardener.

The most colorful show by far in this droughty late Summer is brought to you by Heliopsis and Helianthus, the tall perennial sunflowers in yellows from pale lemon to gold, growing together with Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum), a dusky-rose bloom, orange Tiger Lilies (Lilium lancifolia), a late bloomer to 40', and pulled together by the vivid purple New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis -- say that three times real fast).

Some of these perennials are listed in the literature as preferring moist soil, but when they are all huddled together, there must be some sort of sharing of one's stored-up water in the stems, because they all thrive. Maybe it is that we gardeners WISH them into great performances.

Who knows, by the time you read this it may have rained.

Pat Howell is a Takoma Park gardener and landscape designer/contractor. She is available for hand-holding and answering questions through Deephaven Landscapers.

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