SAN ANTONIO -- Trees provide shade during the hot summer days, but many of them in South Texas could use relief from the dry and hot conditions as well.

Hundreds of thousands of trees have died and arborists said they are getting a lot of calls about sick trees.

Trees that die usually succumb to multiple factors, including disease and insects. Quite often, drought and heat are the final fatal blows.

This year, many trees are going dormant earlier than usual.

There are some steps you can take to keep trees healthy, according to Myfe White Moore of the Helotes Nature Center. The recommendations include:

Using a hammer to make hairline cracks in a five gallon bucket. Fill the bucket with water and place it under a tree. Add water to bucket every few days.

Put a hose on one drip per second and place hose under tree trunk. This will only use about 30 gallons per month.

Put a pan under air condition compressor and use a hose to redirect lost water to a tree trunk.

Aim gutters from your roof toward trees.

Use mulch around trees to keep water in the ground.

Don't trim tree branches or cut the lawn and underbrush around trees. Allow them to grow into a canopy.

"Just give the tree back his natural environment and they will survive, but you have to give him back his natural environment," said Moore.

Moore says the recommendations are within SAWS water restriction guidelines. She says many trees that are already turning brown and going into early dormancy will come back after we get some rain in the winter months.