The East End Is Officially In A Drought: How To Handle it

Going back several months you may recall that the long-range weather forecasts were calling for average summer temperatures with above average rainfall. OOPS! Things don’t seem to have panned out that way.

As of the middle of the month, the drought that is causing serious water issues upstate is now entrenched on Long Island. The drought monitor, which can be found here, https://bit.ly/3PsESz8, now has Eastern Long Island in a D-1 stage, or a moderate drought.

I held off on writing about this because Long Island hadn’t been included as a drought area until very recently. That could explain why I’m noticing ostrich ferns — very hardy and rapidly spreading ferns — turning brown and dying out. It also explains wilting hydrangeas, early leaf drop on some shade trees, smaller than average apples and unirrigated lawns going from green to brown to straw.

As the drought continues, there are serious ramifications for gardens, even those on municipal water supplies, but even more so for those using well water. As the water table gets drawn down, wells will go dry, and some that don’t go dry may find that saltwater intrusion from the rising sea level as well as the falling water table may mean that saltwater may slowly get into your well water. This happens mostly to those closer to the bays and ocean.

If you’re on municipal water one thing to consider is that most modern lawns are composed of grasses that can remain alive (though brown) for as long as 30 days without water before the grass plants actually die. Just in case water restrictions come into effect. Lawns will look awful, but if we get rain soon they may recover. There are things you can and should be doing to cope with the drought. These mitigation steps are slightly different for those who have wells vs. those with municipal water.

First, some general tips. Never water in the heat of the day when the sun is out. Doing so results in much of the water evaporating before it can soak the ground. Also try not to water when it’s windy. The wind results in the water going to unintended places with some of the water being wasted. Get a simple, plastic rain gauge. They’re only a few bucks (see picture). These inexpensive devices can not only tell you how much rain we receive but how much water your irrigation or sprinklers are providing. Remember to empty these gauges regularly or your information will be wrong.

I see so many people grab a hose spray nozzle to water gardens with. They walk along the side of the garden and get the plants wet thinking this helps. While it may cool the plants temporarily, this kind of watering does not soak the soil and get the water to the roots where it’s really needed. It’s a useless exercise unless you want to hold the hose in the same spot for 15 minutes or more.

When you water is as important as how you water. The object is to get the water into the root zone of the plants. If you water from overhead not only is there an evaporation issue but if you water at the wrong time of day leaving the foliage wet overnight you’ve put out a blanket invitation for diseases to spread and get established. There are also plants that don’t react well to inconsistent watering. Tomatoes are one of these plants. Watering them then letting them go too long before the next watering results in the fruits swelling and shrinking then cracking.

One of the most important rules is to water deep and less often than watering shallow frequently. Deep watering gets the water down into the soil where the roots of perennials, trees and shrubs are. It also gets the water down to cooler soil where it’s likely to remain longer. Remember also that sandier soil retains much less water than organic soils, and if you haven’t been enriching the soil when you plant you’re going to need more water.

Water either early in the morning before the sun gets high and warm or late in the day. For late-day watering, try to finish before dusk so the water on any foliage has a chance to evaporate as you don’t want wet leaves and grass blades overnight.

Summer mulches are also incredibly helpful. Not only do these mulches keep the sun off the soil and thus reduce evaporation, but they also keep the soil cooler, allowing the moisture to remain in the soil longer than if exposed to hot sun. It’s not too late to apply a summer mulch, but a little bit as in an inch, not three inches.

There is also the mechanical side of watering. That’s hoses, sprinklers and timers. As more and more property owners on municipal water turn on their hoses and irrigation systems the water pressure can drop. Less pressure, less water. Try not to mix and match hose diameters. This will reduce the volume of water you can push through the hose and also the pressure as the hoses get longer. While more expensive, larger diameter (as measured on the inside) will provide more volume of water over a shorter period of time.

There is a catch, though. If your sprinklers, be it an irrigation system or movable sprinklers, are not properly cleaned no amount of extra pressure or volume will help. Make sure nozzles are clean from debris. If your female hose ends have screens in the washers make sure the screens are cleaned or you’ll get lots less out of the sprinkler. Hoses should not leak from their connections be it at the house or where two hoses are connected. Make sure each female end has a washer in it made either from rubber (my choice) or plastic.

Oscillating sprinklers, the type with a long metal arm with nozzles and a mechanism that makes the arm turn right then left, are the most likely to clog. Most come with a small tool attached to the end of the sprinkler that can be removed and used to insert into each nozzle to clean them. Don’t just shove the tool into the orifice and quit. Flush out the entire arm to get the debris out from the opposite end of the hose connection end, usually from the port where the cleaning tool came out of.

Impact sprinklers can also collect debris at the orifice. A thin wire can be used to dislodge the debris, which should then be washed out by shooting a bit of water into the outlet end of the nozzle.

Water clocks are also incredibly helpful. I like the mechanical ones that are simply timers controlling the water flow. No batteries or electrical connection needed. I used to find these notoriously unreliable and would find that I’d set it for, say, 30 minutes, and hours later it would still be running. They’re much more reliable these days, but I only use them for timers and don’t rely on them to give a positive shutoff. Late in the day they’re very helpful for watering a number of areas for a half hour each as long as you remember to shut the water off at the hose bib at the end of the cycle.

Gadgets that allow you to attach multiple hoses or devices to the hose bib should be avoided. The more hoses you add to one bib the less water each hose gets. Some sprinklers don’t work well with reduced pressure and volume. Much easier to use a timer and move the sprinkler at the end of each cycle instead.

How much to water? I go into a tirade when I see the large (and small) estates and properties where the lawn irrigation goes on every night. What a waste of water. Unless you’re on a sand-based golf course green, there’s no reason for this. The best rule of thumb here is, again, water less often but deeper. This can be tricky when you have 15 or 20 zones that all have to be done in one night. A good programmer will alternate zones and times so each zone gets the right amount of water to the right depth without having to do the watering each and every day.

Water wisely. Give older and newer trees and shrubs a good soaking once a week if there’s no rain. Unfortunately, damage from droughts rarely shows up at the time of the drought. Next spring and summer though, these stressed plants will remind you of the drought. Droughts are often the death knell for older trees that have been stressed from disease, insects and lack of water. Plan for the next drought or a continuing one. Install drip irrigation or leaky hoses in garden beds. Kits are available in garden centers and online. Keep growing.