Orange Iced Tea -

Refresh yourself with a glass of Chris's Orange Iced Tea. This drink not only tastes great but it's antioxidants can help reduce your risk of Alzheimer's and diabetes, plus help you have healthier teeth and gums and for that matter stronger bones.

Ingredients
1/4 cup tea or about 12 tea bags
Peel of 1 orange plus orange wedges for garnish
4 cups boiling water
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sugar or substitute
4 cups cold water
 
Directions
In boiling water steep loose tea bags and orange peel for about 3 to 5 minutes. Strain the tea and remove the tea bags and pour into a large pitcher.  Stir in orange juice and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add cold water. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. Serve over ice with orange wedges, if so desired.

HEALING STRESSED AND DAMAGED PLANTS

With the intense heat and even worse the lack of rain, so many of your plants may be looking rather sad. Fret not, but act quickly.  Even with the little rain we have had lately some plants may not come out of it. Trees such as the oak will drop lots of leaves to conserve water, but for the most part, they will survive. If you water deeply now, then you may prevent further defoliation and your trees just may flush back out with new leaves. 

But for some trees that have been weak for years, their fate may not be so good. Also, certain shrubs like azaleas, once they turn all brown, well, that's it. They will never come back. So water, water and water and make sure your plants get a deep soaking watering.
 
Now, if you have gotten storm damage on your trees, then go ahead and remove broken limbs ASAP. Chris says that if a tree has lost its natural beautiful shape then remove the entire tree and start over.

Remember, most fast growing trees have weak wood so pruning is always necessary to ensure your trees are compact and strong enough to with stand future storms. For example, every 3 to 5 years Chris prunes his Bradford Pears in half. He also trims up all tje big hardwoods to ensure strong and healthy trees and to provide more light for my smaller trees. The end result is a strong stance of trees that hopefully will last for years to come.