It's July, and in Morgantown we are enjoying an exceptionally hot and dry summer. This is fortunate for us if we like fun in the sun. Our lawns and landscapes are not quite as fortunate, however. They are showing the signs of stress.  

Watering your lawn can do more harm than good, so if you want to water or are watering, please read those sections below. Your shrubs and trees do need help, so follow last month’s instructions, as that all still applies. Lastly the bagworms are doing their part to add frustration to us all this summer, and there are lots of videos already posted for you to see here, here, here, and here.

That covers the top topics this month. If you’re in a hurry, see you next month. It you're interested in hearing more, please read on.

Don't Panic Over Normal

Last month we said don’t panic over normal, and that is the continuing theme. Your lawn is going to be brown. Your shrubs and trees are going to show stress signs and probably drop leaves early this year. Mother nature is tough, though, and all will be well. We just don’t know when she will look good again due to the unpredictability of the weather.

We covered the watering schedule for shrubs and trees last month, so other than adding hydrangea to the list of plants needing an every-week drink, those directions stand.

To Water (the Lawn) or Not to Water?

Your lawn is another issue all together, though, so let's talk about watering grass.

Watch this video to find out if your lawn needs watering and how to water it.

First, the wrong way to do this is by putting a sprinkler out and running it an hour or two every day or three. There are many issues with this. The main one is that, if your water only penetrates to the top three inches of your soil, guess where the roots will be? Repeated light watering can also lead to lack of drought tolerance and disease. If you are lucky enough to green up your lawn, that new grass will be fragile, and the heat can damage it as much as if you had planted it this spring.

Watering an Established Lawn

The right way to water is to take a 5-inch Philips screwdriver and try to push it into your driveway. Obviously, it won’t go in there, but if your lawn feels the same, or the restriction is very hard, it needs a drink. Set the sprinkler up so the area you are watering can properly absorb the much-needed moisture--in other words, the water isn't running off somewhere else--then let it run.

It can take hours, or overnight, to get that one area to a point where that same screwdriver will push into the soil with just some pressure. Hold it between your two fingers and push it up and down to get an idea of what you want it to feel like. This is your future gauge for when it needs to be watered again. The lawn will be happier if you don’t wait till it feels like your driveway.

That area is now watered for two or three weeks, so you can move on to another lawn location. Sometimes you have to water an hour, move the sprinkler to another location, and then circle back to finish to avoid run-off. 

The idea with all of this is to keep the lawn alive, not green. It will come back on its own when there is adequate rain and the temperatures stay out of the 90s.

Watering a New Lawn

This is a tough one. I am happy to visit with you each on a one-to-one basics to evaluate, but in general, the answer is similar to the established lawn. If your new lawn is established enough to have been cut a few times, it has probably gone dormant just like an older lawn. In that case, watering can make things much worse. If you get it growing, it won’t like the temperatures and you can lose it. 

If your lawn has not had the time to get established, you will probably lose it anyway unless the area is small enough you can really watch it. Again, this needs hands on, so let's talk on site.

Planting a lawn in the spring is always a poker game; you win sometimes and lose others. You can water the drought away, but you can’t cool the temperatures. So, is there any good news?

Yes. It will be much easier to reseed the area the second time in the fall, and you can continue with weed control so weeds aren’t an issue later. There are several ways to seed, so please check out the Wisdom writing on seeding to help there. 

Perhaps this isn’t the good news you wanted, but remember the sign that hung in the office for many years: “It's just grass. It's not life threatening.” Again, I request, let's not panic over normal.

Bagworms Here, Bagworms There, Bagworms Everywhere

The little critters are having a big time in Morgantown this year. I have found them in beech trees, arborvitaes, junipers, hews, and this week my first yellow shrub. Thanks to Russ Purdum for finding them on his very yellow Georgia Peabody arborvitaes. You will see a video of the total devastation of his trees just posted.

The good news here is that if your plants get eaten one year only, they will be back as good as ever next spring. Plan to treat in June next year, and you will be fine.

Thank You

In closing thanks so much for reading and commenting on my newsletter. Those of you who know me well know I love to talk, but doing a newsletter is much above my head. The reason you see this as you do is because of the excellent work of Bethany Hornbrook of Apis Creative. She takes my babbles and makes me look normal. If you need branding, marketing, or other business communications help, I can’t recommend her more highly. If she can do this for me, think what she can do for you.

Also, when she is done, she tosses it to Tim Crowe of eWorc, and he is an absolute magician getting it out. Everything you see on my social media is there because of Tim, and he can do that for you also. As you probably know, I can't use any of those forums, and I barely use email, so eWorc is critical to our success!  

Thanks for reading this month. See you soon in your lawn!

 Jay Benson