As I walked out in the yard today I noticed that my vinca ground cover is losing all of its leaves. Even though it has not been that hot (for early August, anyway), the lack of any appreciable rain has taken its toll on the plants. I usually only see those conditions during a drought.
You can see how much moisture your lawn and garden are lacking by using the Lawn and Garden Moisture Index from the University of Alabama-Huntsville. Today’s map shows that most of northern GA, parts of west central AL, northwest SC and a good part of eastern NC are all behind by up to two inches of rainfall. By comparison, Florida is very wet, which could cause flooding if a tropical system moved over the peninsula. To keep your lawn and garden healthy, that means you need to irrigate by up to two inches to overcome the dry conditions. Of course, your soil’s water-holding capacity, the presence or absence of mulch, and how much direct sunlight your patch gets also affect your local moisture conditions. You can check this every day at https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/aosc/lawn_garden_se.html.
