Drought easing, but Cobb UGA Extension agent warns mature trees are dying

Posted By: Larry Felton Johnson May 2, 2026 By Mark Woolsey Horticultural experts say with a welcome and at least temporary reprieve from the drought underway, they have their fingers crossed. This week could see rainfall to the tune of an inch, especially in some areas south of Atlanta. That’s after roughly a third of an inch of rain fell across Metro Atlanta the first half of the week. Cobb County UGA cooperative extension  agent Rob Trawick indicates that while landscaping, forage and rural crops have all suffered, he ‘s most dismayed by how the county’s trees are faring. “Every little bit helps,” he says.” and it’s fantastic news temperatures are not as high as they have been,” reducing evaporation of what little moisture has managed to hang on. Trawick says more and more, mature trees that have been established for 15,20, 25 years are dying. “In good times, trees use sunlight to manufacture carbohydrates that are stored in the root system,” he says.  Then when dry weather hits, trees draw on those carbohydrates. He says if conditions deteriorate sufficiently, trees also quit the photosynthesis process so that they’re drawing on stored reserves but not producing new  “food.” And that can very
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