Trees & Shrubs Turning Brown? How Plant Health Care Restores Drought-Stressed Plants

Sometimes, Mother Nature delivers a pretty rough summer. She brings the dry weather and the drought, and can be relentless.

This isn’t always good for trees and shrubs, which prefer optimal weather and moisture to ensure maximum health.

Even though Mother Nature is never predictable, there are things you can do to protect your beloved plants in North Mississippi from drought and restore them to better health once this weather passes.

These actions include some of our best tips to keep your trees and shrubs healthy when Mother Nature isn’t your best friend:

• Water Wisely
• Mulch to Protect Root Zones
• Regular Fertilization
• Inspections and Pest/Disease Monitoring

Let’s explore these tactics to understand better how you can help your trees and shrubs bounce back after drought.

Key Ways to Limit Drought Damage on Plants

Drought-stressed trees and lawns can look bad after a tough summer.

You might notice some of the potential signs, including:

• Leaves curling
• Leaves wilting
• Leaves (or needles on evergreens) drying out
• Yellowing of leaves
• Stunted growth
• Premature leaf drop
• Plants turning brown

While these signs can signal multiple issues, like diseases or insect infestations, if you’ve experienced a period of dry weather, no rain, and high temperatures, these symptoms are likely reflections of drought stress.

What can help your plants recover from a tough, dry season? Plant health care.

Your local landscape professional can offer plant health care services at multiple levels, targeting your unique property needs and budget. And a plant health care program can help your trees and shrubs recover from drought stress.

Here are some of the tactics plant health care services incorporate to ensure a better bounce-back after Mother Nature delivers her worst, as well as some other critical care when dealing with drought.

Water Wisely

Proper watering is essential during periods of drought.

To avoid drought damage to plants, water at the base of trees or shrubs to reach plant roots. Avoid overhead watering, as it can promote disease.

Professional Irrigation installations can be programmed to water on schedule, and technicians can calibrate your system to deliver water where it's needed most. 

Even if you don't have a professional lawn sprinkler system, you can still plan to give your plants water the old-fashioned way. Water in the morning, aiming to get water to your plants' roots (not their leaves). 

Mulch to Protect Trees and Shrubs

A proper layer of mulch can prevent drought damage to plants.

Why? Mulch protects plant root systems by insulating the soil and roots from the hot sun and acting as a wind barrier against evaporation.

While mulching also looks great in your landscape, it also helps your soil retain water, which is especially helpful during dry times of year.

Regular Fertilization

The fertilization component of plant health care services, which occurs multiple times throughout the year as part of your program, ensures your trees and shrubs receive the nutrients they need to thrive.

Fertilization strengthens their overall health, enabling them to withstand environmental stresses such as drought better.

Our plant health care teams can apply professional products on a monitored schedule. Keeping your plants healthy and resilient through regular fertilization can help them withstand drought stress during the dry season.

Inspections and Pest and Disease Monitoring

One of the great things plant health care can do for trees and shrubs turning brown is to ensure the problem is not disease- or insect-related.

This happens through quarterly or bi-monthly inspections. This is when a professional monitors your plants' overall health to identify potential problems early and address them.

And in Tupelo, Oxford & New Albany, MS, piercing/sucking insects like lace bugs, aphids, and scales are notorious for attacking weakened plants. Regarding diseases, root rot and bacterial leaf spot can infect plants when watering is imbalanced.

This means if your trees or shrubs are weakened by drought and susceptible to pests or diseases, they can be caught immediately, and your plant health care professional can initiate a treatment program.

Protecting plants from diseases and invasive pests helps prevent damage and deterioration. In this way, plant health care helps protect your landscape investments, reducing your risk of losing valuable plants.

Avoid Drought Damage on Plants With Plant Health Care in Tupelo, Oxford & New Albany, MS

By incorporating plant health care, proper watering, and mulching into your regular landscape care and services in North Mississippi, you can help your plants withstand drought damage.

If you do experience extreme drought conditions, this kind of proper maintenance can help your plants bounce back more quickly, keeping them healthier.

Your next step is choosing the right level of plant health care program for you and your landscape. Many companies offer multiple service levels. For example, Lawn & Pest Solutions offers three levels: basic, ultimate, and 360.

Selecting the right one for you means considering the types of trees and shrubs you have, their health, any challenges you are experiencing, and your budget.

If you have plants like azaleas, camellias, pyracantha, and crape myrtles, for instance, you may need some targeted insect prevention tactics. Fine-needled evergreens like cypress can also require these to prevent bagworms.

Finding the right partner to help you keep your plants from drought stress and injury can be challenging. We hope these tips help you focus your efforts and better understand what you’re looking for as you seek a professional company to care for your beloved trees and shrubs.

Ready to learn why Lawn & Pest Solutions should be your choice for plant health care services in Tupelo, Oxford & New Albany, MS? We’re excited to learn more about you and help you have the best trees and shrubs on the block. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan perfect for you and your yard.