TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio is in the midst of its worst drought in more than two decades, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Felicity Marshall, a Toledo homeowner, says the lack of rain has caused some changes to her plants.
"I feel like my plants are dying a lot more quickly. They haven't been as lush and beautiful as they usually are, which is kind of sad because you spend so much money on having this pretty garden and there's no rain, so I have to keep watering my garden," Marshall said.
But Kenny Brewer, a fellow Toledo homeowner, might be lucky. He says the all of the lawns in his neighborhood are browning, except for his.
"My neighbors, I look around and it's brown. Everything's brown," Brewer said. "We really are struggling here in Toledo keeping our grass green, our plants growing because of the lack of rain."
Zach Edwards, president of Black Diamond Garden Center on Tremainsville Road, says about half an inch of rain would greatly benefit lawns and plants.
But it's not going to correct all the problems, so homeowners will have to put in the work.
Edwards said that, on average, your lawn needs one inch of water a week for certain plants like hardy mums that are blooming right now, while some of them are getting into their full bloom and need a lot of water.
"I don't encourage too much fertilization," he said. "Essentially, you're just trying to help the plants through this dry period and then let nature take its course as we start to get cooler nights, and that kind of signals plants to shut down here later this season."
Edwards is confident plants and lawns will return back to normal soon enough, though, and said discoloration and dropping leaves are ways plants protect themselves during dry periods.