The drought has wreaked havoc on the landscape.  Some of the damage, like with turf, was seen fairly early into the drought.  The extent of damage to trees and shrubs might not be fully realized until this spring.

Being observant of plant material can help determine if it was just dinged or the damage was more severe.  Brown or discolored foliage doesn’t always mean the plants are on their way out or beyond the point of no return.  In addition to drought, winter desiccation can also cause many evergreens to change colors.  Evergreen trees and shrubs are constantly loosing moisture through their leaves during the winter.  Winter desiccation happens when the root system isn’t able to absorb enough moisture to keep up with the amount lost by the leaves.  It causes evergreens to have a brown or tan coloration at the ends of the needles. The damage usually occurs uniformly…