May is usually the ideal time to brighten up your yard by putting in new flowers or plants. But with almost all of the D.C. area in a severe drought, you’ll need to take special steps to keep new plants and your lawn healthy.<\/p>\n
May is usually the ideal time to brighten up your yard by putting in new flowers or plants. But with almost all of the D.C. area currently in a severe drought<\/a>, you\u2019ll need to take special steps to keep new plants and your lawn healthy.<\/p>\n When you buy a plant, read the label on it or talk to someone at a nursery or greenhouse to make sure you know what it needs to flourish.<\/p>\n For instance, if it needs full shade, keep it out of the sun because the drought is going to present an added challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cMake sure that you are picking the right plant and planting it in the right place to help alleviate some of those site-specific stresses on plants,\u201d said Ed Olsen, a consumer horticulture specialist at Virginia Tech.<\/p>\n Even a drought-resistant plant needs extra water on its roots in the first year after it\u2019s planted.<\/p>\n \u201cWater directly to the plant, whether you\u2019re doing it with a hose or maybe a soaker hose, rather than a broad sprinkler,\u201d Olsen said.<\/p>\n