A lack of hydration in the fall often has a negative affect on woody plans over the winter. Photo from Purdue University.

By Jeff Burbrink
Ag & Natural Resources Extension Educator, Purdue Extension LaGrange County

LAGRANGE — This week, we were blessed with some rainfall. While the lack of rain has been somewhat of a blessing for those farmers getting their crops out at a record pace, it is not all good.

Perennial plants like trees, turfgrasses, forage grasses and alfalfa enjoy a couple of good soakings in the fall and early winter. The late season moisture helps to revitalize such plants after hot summer conditions take their toll. Your lawn, for instance, generally will fill in some of the thin spots in the fall if provided with water and some fall fertilization.

Jeff Burbrink

The lack of hydration in the fall often has a negative affect on woody plants over the winter. Woody plants lose a lot of water over the winter due to wind, and since our soils are frozen, the plants cannot replenish themselves, even though more than half of our annual moisture is delivered in the winter.

The results of this winter desiccation show up in the spring in the form of “winter burned” evergreen needles, or dried out twigs on deciduous trees. Often this winter injury doesn’t show up until the first warm days in the spring. If you have seen leaves appear, then suddenly the branch fades away after a nice warm spring day, you may have witnessed this phenomenon. Some sensitive plants, like roses or Japanese maple, can sometime die completely when not properly hydrated or protected going into winter.

What can you do to minimize winter injury to perennial plants that need water? You probably have guessed that watering will help. An inch of water delivered by rain or hoses will last between 10-20 days in the soil this time of the year. That may be enough time to see a change in the weather pattern. Of course, many people have already shut down their irrigation systems and put away the hoses for the season, but the benefits to your perennial plants may outweigh the effort of dragging hoses out of storage.

How you water can make a difference too. Simply dropping a hose next to the trunk of a 60-foot-tall maple is going to have a minimal effect on the plant’s water intake. The tree’s roots are probably spread out in an area about as wide as the tree is tall. Watering a larger area will have more impact on the plants health than simply watering near the base of a plant.