Our trees need water

This May has been extremely dry. My back yard rain gauge has recorded NO measurable rain for about 2 weeks and only 1" of rain for the entire month. For comparison, last year we got 5.7" in May, with a similar amount in 2022, 8.6" in May 2021 and 11.1" in May 2020. It's normally a month where Mother Nature sets our trees up well to start the growing season, so this May has been a disaster for trees that are totally reliant on rainfall. In my travels around the neighborhood today, I saw a number of young trees that were planted in the last year or two that were showing significant signs of drought stress - brown wilted leaves and fallen leaves. Trees need extra help in the first 3 years after planting to ensure that they get enough moisture to establish a healthy root system and grow well. This means giving each young tree at least 5 gallons of water per week. Even if your trees are well established, they can suffer from drought stress and drop their leaves in these extremely dry conditions. I like to use a soaker hose encircling the trunk of an established tree, or a sprinkler if I'm also watering an adjacent garden bed. We give our trees a deep soak at least once a week when it's this dry. So many young trees have been planted here in the last few years, replacing trees that were removed due to poor health and/or storm. Those young trees need your help. Please water your trees in dry weather to ensure that they stay healthy and survive.