The rain has been pretty intense here in Middle GA - everything is growing mildew. It's 1:45 pm and it has not rained yet today and I'm constantly checking the radar... it's supposed to be dry. It's hard to believe. My raised beds have been an enormous benefit - usually they dry out so fast, I spend much of the summer hauling hoses and changing out what got shorted on water so I could water something desperate. This year I'm hearing squooshing sounds when I walk between garden beds. My tomatoes are so sad - lots of disease, tho they are still sort of producing. Hardly any bird damage this year. The okra is pitiful. The peppers are worse and I have no idea what is wrong with the eggplant other than too many flea beetles and too much rain. My beans are growing by leaps and bounds, but almost no flowers on the limas and no pods. The rattlesnakes are growing, but even they are looking sad and are slower than usual. I'm hoping that the predicted dry for a few days will help me get some harvest. My corn mostly collapsed and is growing horizontally. (First year growing it for me.) This is the first year that I have had tarragon actually live tho. And I had a bumper crop of garlic and onions.

The weather this year has really be devastating as has already been discussed. I am concerned about what the winter brings. My 3 crepe myrtles lost some limbs but are now blooming. Both of my rose bushes lost limbs. One is a yellow climber and it lost all but 2 limbs and I have had to cut it back drastically. It has had only 3 blooms. The other one I had to cut back to the ground but it has come back somewhat. The drought is really hard on the veggie garden. Even with me watering 3-4 times a week I see distress. You can only water so much. It hasn't affected the zuchini though. I've had about 4 bushel off of 3 plants. It looks like it was fed steroids. :) The only thing that seems to like the drought is my black eye susans. They are blooming profusely... I drive Pellissippi Pkwy. every day and off in the distance you see quite a few of yellowed trees and the daffodils did not bloom along there this year as they have in the past. Lets hope we get lots of slow rain soon.

Hi guys! No, I didn't finally jump over the ledge :) I just took a small hiatus. I boarded "charliedawg" in a kennel, packed the suitcases, got the family in the car and got the heck out of here. WHEW! If I ever build a house again (which I highly doubt I will) I will definitely put mental health vacation $$$$ in my budget. LOL Tragusa, I'm not glad that you had all of the problems but I'm glad to know that it worked out for you so I know it will all be ok fo me too. GC will be back tomorrow. She has ALWAYS made things perfect so I'm not sure why I doubted it now. I think I just felt out of control because she is gone. I'm not the type that needs to be in control of such a big project, I guess ya'll figured that out by now.

It appears to be some delayed transplant shock - not fatal but not necessarily a good thing, either. First, you already know this but I'm going to repeat........planting a JM in June in a hot summer climate that is undergoing an extended drought is just not a great idea. Period. The tree is put at an immediate disadvantage by doing so. A reaction by the tree to this stressful situation should not be unexpected. Second, I know it seems counterintuitive, but pruning off the roots is exactly what you should NOT have done. Those fine feeder roots are how the tree accesses soil moisture and nutrients - the larger roots are only for anchorage. So the tree is now working on a second disadvantage - trauma to the rootball (JM roots are very sensitive to disturbance) and a lack of feeder roots. What I'd suggest you should have done is remove as much of the soil on the top of the rootball as possible to expose the burlap, cut any ties (and gently remove) and then unwrap the burlap surrounding the trunk and remove as much from the top of the rootball as possible, leaving the sides - with fine roots growing through - intact. Cutting off these roots has given the tree a major setback. In fact, the nursery I am associated with now nullifies their guarantee policy if removal of the burlap disturbs the rootball excessively......it is that much of a disruption to the plant, especially during the middle of the growing season. Finally, I'd want to know about your watering routine. Using an automated sprinkler system to water a newly planted tree is usually not a great idea. In fact, I discourage it. Most systems come on for a few minutes once or twice a day - this is not enough water for a new tree, particularly one of that size. And you can't tell just by looking at the surface of the soil or even down a couple inches if the soil is adequately moist down to a sufficient depth - it may appear adequately moist on the surface but be dry as a bone further down. Watering by hand, with the hose on a low trickle, for an extended period of time as often as necessary is a much better approach. The water needs to penetrate down into the soil profile at least to the depth of the bottom of the rootball and only low and slow will accomplish this sort of irrigation. A drip system or soaker could accomplish the same thing, but not a sprinkler system. So you've planted at possibly the worst time of year, you've cut off a major portion of the tree's feeder roots that supply its moisture needs and your watering program is not very suitable. Not a huge surprise the tree is reacting poorly :-) All you can do at this point in time is correct your watering practices and hopefully adequate water and cooler fall temperatures will encourage some new root development. I believe this to be recoverable but it may not be obvious until next spring and how well the tree leafs out at that time. Did it come with a warranty?