Hot Dry Summer Has New Yorkers Watering Their Trees

We’ve had a surprisingly large number of posts about the weather this year. It might seem like a long time ago, but just this past winter the snow fell so hard and the wind blew so strong, that serious damage was caused, including death. Well now it is July, and its hard to believe it was ever cold around here.

According to those that keep records, this summer is unusually hot, especially compared to last summer which did not have even a single day above 90 degrees. We have not had such a hot dry summer since 1999. Remember back to the beginning of this month? The two days in a row of over 100 degree temperatures did not occur in New York since 1999, and we have had the driest June and July also since 1999.

Dry, yellow lawns are the order of the day, with people hesitating to satisfy their gardens for fear of wasting precious water when it is needed for more pressing things. But according to Farrell Sklerov, the spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection, although reservoirs are lower than normal for this time of year, “we’re not at a point where we have to implement conservation measures.”

Citizens are actually being asked to water public trees found growing in the streets. The parks department actually issued a press release explaining that trees need about 15-20 gallons or water each week. The press release included the following instructions to be followed by concerned citizens wishing to keep their neighborhood trees alive.

“Poke small holes at the bottom of a large trash can. Fill it with 15 to 20 gallons of water and leave the trash can next to the tree overnight.”
This advice will help New Yorkers to insure that there will always be “trees growing in Brooklyn.”