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Viewpoint John Kmitta F Feeling the Heat or our focus on weather and its impact on the landscape (beginning on page 18), I focused on the mild winter and early (i.e., warm) spring that most of the country experienced earlier this year. Due to our production schedule, the interviews for the feature story were conducted in June. The experts with whom I spoke were, at the time, able to speculate on what summer would hold. But by the time you read this, you will be well into summer, and the new set of challenges it has presented. As I write this, it has only been a couple of weeks since I conducted the inter- views for that feature; and although summer has technically just begun, we have al- ready experienced several days of record-setting heat. Lush green lawns have turned sickly brown, much the country is experiencing drought-like conditions, and several areas in the West are dealing with raging wildfires. The experts quoted in the feature story provide an interesting look back at the mild winter and early spring, but also look ahead at the remainder of the year and provide tips for managing the weather to come. For example, in addition to the insight he provides in the article, Dr. Barry Trout- man, director of technical services at Valley Crest, also pointed out to me that in areas with extended drought, deeply rooted plants may begin to dry out, and surface irri- gation is not enough to keep those plants going. "We're having some minor problems with oak trees that should be well estab- lished, but aren't getting enough water with our surface applications of water," he said. "They're just not getting it down to the depth of the root system. For trees, it may be beneficial to inject some water into the root zone rather than relying on sur- face irrigation. Clearly big plants need a lot more water." According to Brandon Gallagher Watson, director of communications at Rain- bow Treecare Scientific Advancements, after several seasons of drought, trees are get- ting more chronically stressed. "We're getting several years in a row where they are not able to thrive like they ought to in the summer," he said. He added that stressed trees lead to opportunistic insects and tree diseases that move in to take advantage. "That's why educating customers about how to properly water trees is huge," he said. According to Troutman, another thing to consider is planting materials that do well with minimal water requirements. As an example, he cited a project Dallas for which Valley Crest removed acres of bermudagrass turf and planted a wildflower meadow. "Not many people have huge acreage like that, with that type of opportunity, but those types of things are avail- able," he added. If the early results are an indication of things to come, chances are that you are dealing with a long, hot summer. But I hope the information contained in this issue and on our websites helps you deal with whatever Mother Nature throws your way. Please feel free to e-mail me at jkmitta@m2media360.com with information about the impact this year's weather has had on your region, and on your business. Note: I recently spoke with Watson about weather issues and a variety of other tree health care topics as part of Green Media's latest podcast. To listen to the full in- terview, visit www.GreenMediaOnline.com and click on the "Internet Broadcast" link in the left-hand navigation bar. 6 Landscape and Irrigation July/August 2012 LI IRRIGAT ON M2MEDIA360 1030 W. 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