With trees it manifests itself in heavy seed production, early fall color, early leaf drop, bumper crops of apples, limb dieback and yellowing or browning of needles and leaves. These are several things the gardener can do to help their trees and shrubs. First and most important: water. Keep watering any trees and shrubs planted in the last five years until the soil freezes. Remember to drain the hose after each use. Thawing a frozen hose is a miserable job.  Mulch everything

Conifers growing along the edge of lakes, wetlands and ditches have been victims of fluctuating water tables over the past few years.  When water is overly abundant, root systems are flooded for weeks and the root system loses its lowermost roots.  Prolonged flooding prunes off the lower roots.  Then, when water is scarce, these root systems don’t extend down far enough to reach the low water table.  With too much or too little water, tree health and vigor suffers as photosyn