07/29/2026
Taking Care of Your Plants In Drought Conditions
It’s not just in summer when we can be subject to dry or drought conditions. These conditions can affect many landscape and garden plants.
Even though we’ve had a recent couple of inches of rainfall, it hasn’t been enough to break the drought situation here in Western NC. Plant growth can be impacted. Without water, there is no plant life. It is where chemical reactions inside a plant cell can take place and it’s the major component of the cell fluid. Water also serves as a raw material for many metabolic processes, including photosynthesis - how the plant “farms sunlight” to live.
Flowering annuals and vegetable crops are in desperate need of daily water. Under drought stress, many plants shut down their specialized leaf tissue openings to minimize the dehydration loss. However continuous drought conditions can lead to internal head load and limit the plant's vital gas and nutrient exchange causing partial or complete collapse of the plant. Drought stressed plants are highly vulnerable to pests (insect and disease) and other environmental damages.
But there are things you can do! When watering, make sure to follow good watering practices. Below are some tips to mitigate drought stress on trees and shrubs, flowering annuals and vegetables, herbaceous perennials, fruits and berries, and lawns.
Protecting trees and shrubs during drought
1. Give trees a good soaking water once or twice a week. Newly planted trees and shrubs (1-3 years old) need twice a week of watering to about one inch depth (0.6 gallons of water is needed to cover an inch deep per square foot). If trees and shrubs are mulched, place the soaker hose underneath the mulch to ensure the soil root zone gets adequate water. Or use 15-20 gallon “Tree gator” type slow release water bags on young trees that drip on the root ball.
2. Control any w**ds or turf growing underneath the tree’s dripline area. Weeds and turf compete with trees for water.
3. Spread wood chip mulch to about 3-4 inches deep and keep it 6 inches away from the tree trunk. Avoid volcano mulching around the tree trunk.
4. Don’t fertilize drought stress trees and shrubs.
5.Avoid unnecessary pruning or transplanting of trees and shrubs.
Protecting flowering annuals and vegetable crops during drought
6. Mulch your vegetable crops and flowering annuals using clean straw or hay, rice hulls or leaf mold.
7. Before watering, check the soil moisture by poking a finger an inch deep (this is the “second knuckle rule” ) into the soil media. If the soil is dry, give a good soaking water around its root zone area. Shallow containers and 6” deep raised beds may require twice a day watering.
8. Water gently around the base of the plants and avoid splashing on its leaves. Morning hours are good for watering plants.
9. Control any w**ds by mulching or hoeing.
10. Avoid frequent fertilization of your crops, if needed, use granular products containing some slow-release formulation and water it immediately after application.
Protecting herbaceous perennials during drought
11. Water the perennials when the soil surface dries out moderately. See #1 above. If using a wand, direct the flow of the water around the base of the plant.
12. Avoid overhead watering to prevent foliar diseases. Water early in the morning to reduce evaporation loss.
13. See #3 above.
Protecting fruit and berry plants during drought
14. Provide 3 to 5 gallons of water per week for young fruit trees. Use a drip irrigation system or hand water the young fruit trees on a regular basis throughout the season.
15. Frequent shallow watering to a total of 1 to 1.5 inches per week is critical for small fruit crops like raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. Under hot and dry conditions, water the strawberries daily.
16. Maintain w**d free zone around the base of the fruit and berry crops.
17. See #3 above.
Protecting lawns during drought
18. Prolonged drought stress for more than 8 weeks can kill the crown of the grass. To help the crown thrive, water the lawn once a week to an inch deep. Water early in the morning to avoid evaporation loss and to prevent the spread of diseases.
19. Warm and dry conditions favor chinch bug populations in the lawn. Yes, chinch bugs are found in North Carolina, including the western part of the state. Their damage often becomes noticeable first in unshaded areas near concrete driveways or sidewalks.
20.0Don’t fertilize lawn grasses during hot and dry periods, as fertilizer is a type of salt which can further dehydrate the plants by absorbing moisture from the root zone. Also, excess salt concentration can burn the feeder roots.
21. Avoid spraying ester formulated lawn herbicides when temperatures exceed 80-85°F, as the herbicide can easily volatilize causing drift injury on desired plants.
