First off, gardening didn't always used to be like this. Sure, you'd have the ocassional off season, but now every season seems "off" or bizarre. I don't envy folks just trying to establish a lawn...hedge...tree...veggie garden etc..I got mine in several years ago before the weather turned really weird, and am just hoping it gets wet before established trees and bushes start to suffer. Still, even here in NJ (where we had 80 inches plus of rain last year by the way), and in the company of the New England states which are not officially in any drought zone, I am beginning to see leaves drop and lawns are parched. It's hot and humid but rain just doesn't seem to want to fall. I don't water the lawn and spot water shrubs. If I don't see real rain coming soon, I will start using some irrigation before it becomes illegal. But still, not in a crisis situation here.

I kinda with you, with the exception that I have a lot fewer costly plants in the ground. My six newly-planted conifers are not to hard to water every other day. My iffy P.omorika 'Pimoko' is a goner, losing additional branches even while pushing out new growth on the healthy ones. A heartbreaker, but nothing compared to what you've got going on.

My *mindset,* on the other hand, is taking a beating. In my heart I understand there is nothing we can do about the weather and there is no use giving myself an ulcer about something I can't control. But weeds are running rampant in my gardens, crabgrass is coming up in my new beds, (go figure!!!) and I find myself not really giving a crap. I feel disproportionate discouragement.

I have absolute no ambition or motivation, and I LOVE gardening. Part of it is, I suppose, that I have worked so hard on former gardens only to move away and now I have a nearly-blank slate and no motivation and not a lot of dollars to spend on plants.

But I think the heat and constant sun (with it's accompanying high UV index) makes one feels hopeless. Like I do in the dead of winter.

My Mother works on her garden every day, literally. Albeit a city house with the typical city lot, she loves everything about tending plants, she always has. Me, no. I've never been a person that enjoys weeding. That's the whole point of gardening with conifers and shrubs. A little or (a lot) of Roundup goes a long way & my mower takes care of the remaining.

I have to say this heat and drought thucks. The greatest thing about conifers though is once they are established, I don't worry about watering unless three weeks passes.

I planned to create Roundup circles on my plants a few days ago, but the humidity is so intense that spraying the chemical goes into the air and you end up breathing it and then become dizzy and ultimately sick. So, here I am with you whaas and others, not doing what I'd like to do, and watering as needed.

Dax

Well, it makes me appreciate the ingenuity of those who came up with drip irrigation systems/equipment. Now I just need to get it installed.

my basic theorem is:

mother nature is a bee-otch

ken

ps: the established trees and conifers are free range.. so be it.. what doris day said ....

Here is a link that might be useful: link

waas... sounds like an irrigation system would pay for itself...quickly

I took a lot of losses last year and could not put enough water on my plants. So over the winter I put all the trees on drip and so far other than a few little guys toasting most of my trees are hanging in there with a little sunburn.

So the difference that type watering provides is really making life a lot better. But another 100 degree heat wave is coming this week and August is staring me in the face. So let's talk again in about 30 days or so......

mark.

Plant Cacti Whaas. They root easily and even flower. Cacti and Yuccas for everyone!

I share your pain and cringe at the thought of our next water bill. Wife even had me plant pumpkins this year and boy are they thirsty.

I have drip irrigation on one,two and three year old. but the ones that the sun is burning are older.We haven't had rain in at lest a month & half lots of 100 days. Yesterday it was black all after noon no rain today its been black in the west no rain My wife spends half a day every day watering here gardening and flowers. Now they say no rain until maybe fir. or sat.
good luck everybody
david

Whats ironic about the irrigation system is that I got into conifers so I wouldn't have to invest in one.

Sorry for the complaining. Anyone I complain to gets a strange look on their face and says..."what, its sunny and warm".

I guess its all compounded by the fact that this is potentially the worst heat and worst drought in 100 years and here I am trying to establish a large scale landscape.

Looks like we set another record high for today...yay!

Your timing, Will, just shows pitiable misfortune and I empathize with your stress and mindset. My second year of gardening we had temps over 100 four days in a row, breaking records, including the all-time record here and different and much worse then your situation - I was at work for 3 days straight(and no automatic systems!).

Needless to say, I went through some rebuilding.

If there's a silverlining, I'll say this, Will: Your plants that do make it, you will KNOW they are golden in the future through ANY drought and ANY heat nature can throw at it. If they can establish now through this record heat, they'll laugh at it once their roots are deep and cool.

Stay hydrated and remember things will get better eventually.

-Will
-Will

It sounds really rough Will. Stay strong.

Meteorolgists blame it on a La Niña which pushes the Jet Stream further North. This cooling of the ocean is lasting longer than it does typically and is bringing hot, dry weather to Nort America and cooler, wetter weather to the rest of the world.

Here in the Northeast we had a cooler than normal June a lot of rain and even had to put the heat on as temps went into the low 50s regularly. We are now in the same boat as the rest of the country with scorching hot temps and very dry conditions.

Hopefully the La Niña will break soon. I really feel for those in parts of the country that have had these conditions for far longer than we have here.

I dont have one friend from the 'hood' that likes gardening like i do.So far i have 5 in the morgue. When i complain to my friends about how much we need rain they laugh and say 'forget the plants and trees'....lets go fishing.
AL

5 conifers in the morgue.

Al, the best fishing is during early morning rain here on the great lakes!

Sorry guys, I'm just a whiner right now. I know its not just me. Half the country is in dire straights for all types of businesses.

Appreciate the comments from everyone.

Looks like it won't be as hot as they said last night. Was going to be 100 but looks like it will be 98,lol. It will be close as to whether we break another record today.

I laughted when they said a "cold front" was moving in. The temps will still be above normal when the "cold front" moves in.

"I laughted when they said a "cold front" was moving in. The temps will still be above normal when the "cold front" moves in."

Ya, me, too. It was stated that "storms" (that will likely never see) will bring some "relief." You know it's bad when 90-92 is "relief." :o/

I think it is okay to whine sometimes. It can just help you get it out of your system, and as long as it doesn't become a lifestyle it is just another way of keepin' it real.

Very different weather here in the PNW compared to the rest of the country so I will not distress you further by discussing it :-) I do sympathize however with all the grief everyone seems to be experiencing, especially with new plantings. Weather is one of the most trying aspects for any gardener.......not a dang thing one can do about it except endure it and keep fingers crossed.

My sincere wishes that your weather 'breaks' for you soon and appropriately - cooler temps and some decent rains.

The wife and I get up early everyday and water the hell out of everything. On top of that a few choice cultivars are privileged to have a sun screen.

When the weather gives out on you then you take matters into your own hands. So far I have not lost anything

Not much else you can do other then get under the patio umbrella kick them up and have a cold one. This will soon pass and we will move on to other hand wringers such as ...why are my Green Giants turning brown or my pines are loosing inner needles or my favorite...shall I leave the wire basket on the root ball. Never a dull moment. I guess I will get my Kansas rain gauge in. Not calling for rain in the foreseeable future.

Stay cool and happy.

D

"When the weather gives out on you then you take matters into your own hands."

Yup. Even our weather is weird, but not yet killing us! In the heat of the day, go to that cool, air-conditioned Home Depot and get your sprinkler supplies. We aren't using our sprinkler system this year (we just turned off our furnaces!) but it is such a time-saver!

Just know that we are thinking of you...

It's raining here! And every now and then, the sky lights up and then there's a rumbling sound. What the heck is that?

+oM

It figures, strong line of storms continues to be north or south of me. Bless it already.

You're just getting the bottom end of it.

We drove from Eagle River (WI) back to Chicago today, a total distance of 350 miles. From Eagle River to Green Bay, it was in the 70s and raining intermittently (the National Weather Service was issuing severe storm alerts for the Green Bay area). About 30 miles south of Green Bay, the clouds parted and the temperature shot up 30 degrees.

Eagle River: Green and lush
Chicago: Brown and crispy

wassercom, the same is said for Door County, also. They have gotten storm after storm for quite some time, now.

The northern half of WI has stole all of the southern half's rain. It was vice versa a couple years ago just not to this degree.

40mph winds whipped through early this evening and then it all died down. That must have been the waterless storm they forecasted.

Hi whaas,

Just wondering, how large is the property? How many new transplants are you trying to maintain and how large are the plants?

When thinking about your plight, I recalled how in the past I've used the sprinkler on the beds. At the risk of sounding like a moron, I'll state the obvious. Idea would be to simply place the sprinkler in front of the bed and leave it on for 3 h or so. Get in at least one "zone" in the evening. If the wife is going to be home, another in the morning and call to make sure she remembers to turn it off at the appropriate time. Two zones a day times two hose bibs for 4/day, you get the idea. Yes, the foliage will get wet, but the same would also happen if it were to rain. I assume that your hose will reach - that is, I hope your half-day watering sessions are do not require back-and forth trips with the watering can. If that's not the case, and if the cost of multiple hoses in series becomes prohibitive, you could buy mainline tubing at lower cost. See link below - 500' of 3/4" tubing for ~$100. With the required adaptors (quite inexpensive) you're good to go. The problem becomes decreased flow rate the longer you go, so it would be important to get the 3/4" rather than 1/2" diameter tubing.

Obviously this setup is not ideal, it's more of a "quick and dirty" solution, but it may buy you some time and help your garden from turning into the worst nightmare you describe.

Good luck!

Alex

Here is a link that might be useful: Mainline tubing

Hey Alex, thanks for the suggestions. I've considered converting to overhead watering to get better coverage on the plants I installed last year. Right now I just use a soaker attachment for each plant. A nice deep soaking is what I do per week. I do use a sprinkler for my hold over bed that has roughly (20) 1-3 year grafts.

My main concern is that I have VERY hard water and it will and does leave deposits on the foilage.

I've routed grey garden hose along the base of the foundation so that I have (4) connection points at each corner of the house. I then use a mobile hose to connect at each location with a brass quick connect. I live by the black rubber hose.

My property is a half acre situated on a hilly terrain. I'd estimate that I installed 150 plants last year and 300 this year. They all range from 1 to 10 year old specimens. The majortiy are 1 gallon pots that are 2-4 years old. I'd say I lost 40 plants to root surgery, freezes and heat. My plant mix is about 60% evergreen and 40% decidious. Over the 40 plants lost, maybe 7 where decidious.

I installed roughly 500 plants and I had 3 or so die on me at my last place over 4 years. All decdious material purchased locally. I think that is part of the reason I'm getting discouraged. At the end of the day (or more like starting next spring) things are going to bounce back and its going to be my best most diverse garden yet. Mainly due to the help from you fine folks.

I feel your anguish, although I don't have as many at stake. We have such a tiny budget that we save up for just a few specimens. However, when they die, it's rough. Conifers are breaking my heart! I think I lost my chamaecyparis fernspray gold this week (some green left on lower branches, but 60% of the foliage is gone), and last week my picea omorika pendula bruns succumbed. Both seemed pretty well established after last year. They just fried. Neither was in full sun. Even the Alberta spruces are showing brown bits except for 'Jean's dilly.' I'm clinging to hope for my two skylands, which have just a tiny bit of burn on a few branches, the acrocona, and the chamaecyparis nootkatensis glauca pendula and green arrow. Oddly, my two korean firs (aurea and Horstmann's Silberlocke) are doing okay this year, but they're replacements for the ones I lost last year, and this time I put them in almost complete shade, which seems to suit them, at least for the moment.