PORTLAND, OR -- Another summer of drought in Oregon could lead to tree losses next year. "People are overly reliant on this belief that the rain is going to take care of all the trees," says Jim Gersbach, with the nonprofit Oregon Community Trees. He says that's especially true west of the Cascades. 

In recent years, he says, temps are hotter and the entire state goes longer without rain, stressing even mature trees. "If you have one dry summer and the next ten years are ample rainfall, then you may be able to overcome that. But we're getting back to back to back years of drought. And that cumulative drought stress can be very damaging, and even fatal, to these trees."

Gersbach says drought conditions can stunt the tree's development, "It's not really putting on new growth. And so, you don't get the big shade tree that you're looking for. It takes a lot longer for that tree to reach any size." And under extreme conditions, it could lead to the tree's death next year. "Trees will die the summer after they have been drought stressed because they have exhausted the sugars over the winter that they didn't get enough built up from the previous summer when it was drought." Dry trees are also more susceptible to bug infestations and disease. 

Gersbach says a little human intervention can help, "Deep soaking once a month for established trees helps get them over that increasingly long period of drought." He encourages tree owners to consider the last weeks of July and August "Soak-It-Week." That's when, he says, "Those trees are probably pretty thirsty and will benefit from a good, deep soaking that gets the soil around it moist. We're not talking about 15-seconds of just splashing water on the surface." The first three to five years of a new tree, it'll need more water - probably once a week.

If you missed the last week of July, Gersbach says, don't panic, "We always say the best day to start watering your trees is the day you remember to do it."