This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Poll Question: To Water or Not to Water

We're the midst of the worst drought since the 1950s, and Lake Michigan is 8 inches lower than last year and dropping. Do you water?

Growing up in the west, dry summers are nothing new. Rain falls in the fall, winter and spring, and summers are warm and dry. Some winters you don't get the snow in the mountains, and by July the reservoirs are low and water restrictions are in place.

But in this part of the country, the majority of the rain is supposed to fall in the spring, summer and fall in the form of thunderstorms. Not so much this year. It's dry. It's been 76 days since the last rainfall of 1.5 inches. But you don't need statistics to know it's dry. Just look at local lawns. Or most of them, at any rate.

For the most part this summer, I've gone with as little watering as possible. A couple days week I'll hit the flowers and shrubs with a good soaking. In the days leading up to the village Independence Day parade, I admit to soaking the yard, too, to make it look a little better for parade-goers walking down our street. Since then I haven't used the sprinkler at all.

Find out what's happening in Evergreen Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

What about you? There's more hot weather on the way, and not much in the way of rain. Are you watering your yard? Letting it go brown? How about plants and such? What about trees? What's your watering plan?

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Evergreen Park