Autumn is running almost two weeks early this year. It is also likely that this Autumn will be more dull in color. Many falling leaves will have shown no color but dried up brown…..for the very reason that the summer was dried up and hot for our northern clime.

The treeless line, that is the rainfall line indicating less than 15 inches of annual precipitation, runs just west of the Twin Cities at a slanting line to Fargo, North Dakota. Forests, neither deciduous nor coniferous occur on the drier soils of the prairies and deserts. Water matters.

Water also matters on you own home grounds. Unless you have very sandy soil, I would give your higher valued trees and large shrubs two or threes ‘drinks’ of water of an hour long before the heavy frost.

For sandy soil grounds owners water regularly at the ten to fifteen minutes, every other day schedule

For those of us who have installed a grounds irrigation system, a typical routine of watering is set at fifteen to twenty minutes every other day. In normal years when there are rather regular periods of several hours of gentle rain throughout the growing season, one doesn’t need to be concerned about garden plantings as they harden off for winter.

This summer has been a record breaking exception, however. Even in my heavily and regurlarly mulched gardened grounds with alternate days irrigation, the soil is very, very dry at the one foot depth.