I took a quick inspection tour of some of my clients' yards today and discovered that we are all a bit slow to recognize just how dry we have been this year....and our plants are showing it.
You will remember our wimpy winter when we were enjoying our lowest heating bills in years and saw cobwebs on our snow shovels. No snow! And remember the bulbs that started to pop up in December?
Our winter was followed by the warmest spring in 142 years. Warm and sunny. We have had a rain deficit every month of the year. The worst deficit so far came in June, when our precipitation was only 40% of normal.
And now we have had a heat wave worse than the last big one in 1995. Today's forecast says that once more "Sunny Days Are Here Again" for at least the next week.
We are used to having to water the lawn and our annuals in summer. But this time around we should be devoting a lot of attention to the trees and shrubs we usually take for granted. Most of them are in trouble. Don't bother to use a sprinkler. Just run the hose up near a tree and turn it on to a good trickle. then leave it there for a few hours before moving to the next one. A long, deep watering should be good for at least a week.
Meanwhile, let's hear it for the climate-change deniers. I was born in North Carolina and have an old friend who lives near the shore. Walking barefoot on a North Carolina beach has long been one of my retirement fantasies. But I recently discovered an alarming fact:
Most coastal states, seeing the glaciers melting, have begun studies and contingency plans for what they will face as the sea level rises. Not so my fellow Tar Heels, however. The same citizens who brought us Jesse Helms have also produced a remarkable state legislature. Like King Canute of old, it has decreed that the seas will not rise -- and has prohibited any steps to prepare for the consequences.
Chicago is looking better and better. Let's keep our trees and shrubs alive and well.
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