Drought conditions raising concerns for area homeowners

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Drought conditions are raising homeowners' concerns, with many wondering what to do about their yards.

"It looks like it's just starting to go dormant," said Tim Brown of Palladium Patios and Landscaping. 

In Mequon, lawns have a speckle of brown right now. It's been weeks since the Greater Milwaukee area's had any measurable rain. 

"We've already called off all of our maintenance contracts for a couple weeks now that we're in a drought," said Brown. "So, we're just not cutting grass right now."

If you're going to mow, Brown says to set the deck really high and only cut your lawn every other week.

As for watering, landscapers say it's not necessary, but if you do, get the areas that get foot traffic and give it a good 10 to 15-minute soaking mornings or evenings. 

"If you water in the mid-day, a lot of times it will shock the grass and then a lot of times people, they're trying to be sparing with water," Brown said. "They'll water just a little bit, which encourages the turf in the grass roots to grow more shallow, which obviously is not good for growth."

If you seeded your lawn in the last month, don't expect anything from that seed. 

And as for trees and shrubs, "Yeah, you want to take the preventative measures," said Darrell Hodges of Hidden Valley Tree Service. "We have a long, dry week ahead of us, so starting now is probably the safest bet."

Hidden Valley Tree Service took down a centuries-old tree in Brookfield Monday. 

Hodges says keeping trees healthy in this drought won't take much watering.

"You want to do it in the evening. I wouldn't overwater though -- like I said, once a week is pretty much good as long as you give them a really good, thorough water. Once you start watering and it's hot like this, it takes a while for the soil to actually soak up the water they need. The soil needs a lot of water. So, what you want to do, you want to saturate it for a good 10-15 minutes around the drip line of the tree, make sure that it's really good and saturated, and that should be fine," said Hodges. 

The weather forecast is calling for dry conditions all week.