Walking through crops outside Calgary, you can hear the crisp effects of a dry summer.
Alberta farmer Andrew McElroy said the exceptionally dry temperature has taken its toll on his crops.
The smoky conditions are also hindering plant growth.
“It just changes the way the sun is interacting with the plants and it doesn’t let the plants adsorb much of the sunlight,” McElroy said.
Inside Calgary’s bounds, trees are suffering and many will be lost because of the hot dry conditions.
“You’ll probably notice a lot of the trees don’t have the full canopy that we’re used to seeing,” said Jeannette Wheeler with the City of Calgary.
“The leaves may be a bit smaller. I’ve noticed that even in some of the natural areas that you see a lot of poplar have turned yellow prematurely. Some have even started to drop their leaves.”
City officials are urging people to drench trees in water the next few weeks.
“Water your trees, that’s the best thing you can do,” Wheeler said. “Give it a good soak, maybe instead of watering your lawn this week, you water your trees. Put your water budget someplace else.”
It’s also extremely important for trees to go into the fall full of moisture — even if their leaves have already fallen off — to stay healthy going into the colder months.
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