Can I save these bushes?

[Zyclone]

Hi everyone, I am fairly new to maintaining a green garden. These bushes were nice a full when we moved into the house, but with the rising heat this summer and the drought conditions in CA (San Diego area) these bushes got hit pretty hard.

I placed a soaker hose around the bases and water them either in the evenings or early morning (6-7am). They started to bloom a little tiny bit but it seems they are still struggling... whatever leaves are on it have a reddish tint, and not green like they should be. They are also located in the direct sun light for most of the day, and I get zero clouds around here.

Is there a way for me to save these guys? I'm not sure what else I can do. Water them more? (I really shouldn't.. since we are trying to conserve water). Place more mulch in the bottom? Cover them with a cloth to protect them from the sun?

[HoneyBerry]

SACTREE.COM has some good info.
Your dirt looks like it could use some compost or mulch.
I am having these problems too and am learning along the way.

[rainbowgardener]

You've been getting some good information about trees and shrubs in drought in your other posts. I will let people who are dealing with drought keep responding to this. (Where I am, we are having an excessively wet, rainy summer, which makes me feel very guilty - I keep wishing there were a way to move some of all this excess water to where it is so badly needed!)

But check out this thread about pruning shrubs: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 16&t=64903

Some of yours are starting to look like the very bottom picture in my response.