Lawn Irrigation Water Damaging Trees and Shrubs?

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I'm envious of that "15% humidity max". We start off each summer day with about 85% and may get down to 35% in the afternoon if we're lucky. The lawn is always wet in the morning but the moisture evaporates rather quickly when the sun and breeze (if we're lucky" hits it.

The reason I mention the 15% humidity (I'll admit it makes 85F tolerable with a breeze, though 95F still kills me) is that everything dries out hard here; unwatered ground is seriously parched quite deep.

Now that you mention the 20F in the winter, that makes more sense or at least is a more obviously likely cause for a partial kill than the water.

I wonder if cutting back the worst of it may possibly save the rest?

 

[npalen]

The reason I mention the 15% humidity (I'll admit it makes 85F tolerable with a breeze, though 95F still kills me) is that everything dries out hard here; unwatered ground is seriously parched quite deep.

Now that you mention the 20F in the winter, that makes more sense or at least is a more obviously likely cause for a partial kill than the water.

I wonder if cutting back the worst of it may possibly save the rest?

We cut back extremely about a half dozen other Euonymus and Barberry this Spring. Yes, might be the next step in trying to save the Burning Bush. Might be best to let in die in peace, however.

 

[JEH412]

I lost some well established very healthy shrubs several winters ago when we had some fairly warm weather early in the spring and then a big drop in temp along with a lot of wind. The shrubs started pushing more moisture to the leaves, which froze when the temps nose-dived. Took about half the summer before they started looking bad and then went downhill quickly.

The 1-1.5 inches of water a week is exactly what we were taught in Master Gardener and horticulture classes. It seems like a lot, compared to (below)normal rainfall we often get, but it's what the plants really need.

 

[npalen]

Thanks to all who weighed in on this thread. We can hopefully agree to disagree on how much water a lawn needs..

 

[ruffdog]

You should have the water checked for arsenic levels. It becomes more of a problem when large amounts of water is drawn down like when irrigating. Some plants are more tolerant than others of arsenic.

 

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Thanks to all who weighed in on this thread. We can hopefully agree to disagree on how much water a lawn needs..

tbh I wasn't thinking about a lawn, just the shrubbery around here that barely gets water. I've no doubt a lawn needs a ton and while an inch and a half sounds a lot, thinking about it being spread out over a week it's much more reasonable now.
Hope the bush recovers!

 

[npalen]

You should have the water checked for arsenic levels. It becomes more of a problem when large amounts of water is drawn down like when irrigating. Some plants are more tolerant than others of arsenic.

Can arsenic be filtered out or does it require a treatment process?

 

[ruffdog]

Can arsenic be filtered out or does it require a treatment process?

It looks like WI is much worse than KS is. More:

https://dnr.wi.gov/files/pdf/pubs/dg/dg0062.pdf