Grits, your friend is blessed to have a pond to draw water from. I guess I'm looking for the best way to make use of what we have (which is city water when it doesn't rain.) It just seems like the people who have some wind and sun protection have more lush gardens than I do out here in the open. We have lots of mesquite trees but we put the garden in the middle of the yard so the veggies would not have to compete for water with the trees. The blazing sun quickly dries out the soil in years like this. I always use various mulches, compost and clover as ground cover. But I'm looking for more ideas to help the soil stay moist longer after rains (because hopefully it will rain again, may it be soon!) : )
Lessons learned while gardening in a drought...
I was trying to say that I don't believe the issues we are having are related to any shift. Some forces are a lot easier to measure and observe than others...
Lol, hrp50
Ladypearl, maybe a trellis or arbor? I have quite a few, being a climbing rose addict :0) They can provide as much shade as a small tree without taking up the root space.
I love our irrigation pond, in years past when it has been broken. I can tell an enormous difference in the garden when it has pond compared to city water. Pond is almost as good as rain...almost...nothing beats a good soaking.
Just a few observations about the drought tolerant plants It seems to me that plants with bigger leaves show les tolerance than their smaller leaved neighbors,I have a Camelia that never seems to show any wilting so unless it has managed to tap into a water line via a small leak it is exceptional ..Now I say that because the Camelia grows very near several main lines and what about the cursed Sweet Gum they just keep growing and putting off those balls and they have large but not huge leaves One of my Sweet Autumn Clematis grows all alone in a spot that never gets any water other than when it rains and it is flouroushing it has small leaves
Grits ~ I do agree with your observation on leaf size. I have two different types of basils in the same bed, in the same conditions. The little leafed basil ~ Pistol is upright and healthy and the Genovese basil looks positively droopy and yellow. It is something to consider when planting annuals in the future.
Ladypearl ~ I agree with Cocoa on an arbor or even lattice panels to shade and protect. Definitely something man made. I found that the trees will indeed compete for much needed water and quality soil. I had a compost pile that tree roots attacked from the bottom.
I am not a scientist but for these climate changes to be happening as quickly as they are, we tend to look for major reasons like earths' axis shifting. Now to me, that makes more sense than El Nino or La Nina. But yes, I think all the mentioned factors are doing their damage. That is why I try to tread lightly...
What caused the dust bowl years ~ anyone?
Phoenix just had a repeat of the dust bowl. Pitiful.
We did have a patio gazebo over a good area. Snow of 2010 broke it down. We then put a carport type frame and cover over the little greenhouse. Snow of 2011 got that one. We saved half of the carport frame and now have several vines making their way over it. Just strung wire over it. We used wire several years ago to add to the two permanent arbors we have over the deck. put the wire between the arbor support and the house. The wisteria has covered all of it. At least 10 degrees cooler under the wisteria. Lady Banksia roses are also being trained over the frame with the vines.
Yes, an arbor is a good idea, and it would look pretty, too. Also the wind would not blow it away as easily as a shade cloth. How is your wisteria holding up in this drought? I know it is a fast grower when the weather is nice.
Sure would like to have a pond or well. We only have three 50 gallon plastic containers that we catch rain in but that (the rain water) is long gone. Someday will hopefully get that well......
Yep, I once had a compost pile under an oak tree. Needless to say the tree got more out of that compost pile than I did. So now I make my compost piles on the north side of the vegetable garden (running east-west) to block some of the cold wind in the fall and spring. Lettuce and beets usually do real well planted in the protection of the compost pile.
Cold wind... hmmm ~ that's a nice thought. 8 )
How close to the compost do you plant your lettuce/beets?
Do you know what zone you are in?
I'm sure that there are many factors that are contributing to the drought conditions including "natural cycles". As I try to think back, usually after a severe winter we have a very hot summer. We have had 2 very cold winters in a row. Unfortunately, my part of San Antonio has been suffering drought conditions for several years (but not this bad). I wish someone knew how to kick that high pressure out of the way right now! Areas around us received rain yesterday, but it passed us by. I am happy that some areas are getting some relief. On July 10, some areas around San Antonio were blessed with some rain.
In the 1930's, the jet stream was weakened causing the normally moisture rich air from the Gulf of Mexico to become drier. Low level winds further reduced the normal supply of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and reduced rainfall throughout the Midwest. Normally, the jet stream flows west over the Gulf of Mexico and turns northward dragging up moisture and dumping rain onto the Great Plains. The weakened jet stream changed course, traveling farther south than normal. I remember the severe drought and heat in the 1950s which is considered the worst drought in Texas history. We didn't have air conditioning then. My other would wet sheets and hang them from the top of the front door frame and window frames so that the wind from the south would blow through the sheets and cool the house some, There were cracks in the parched soil that measured at least 4 inches.
This year, Texas as a whole: from February through June was by far the driest on record, March though June, driest on record; January through June, driest on record; December through June, driest on record; November through June, driest on record; and October through June, driest on record (record keeping began in 1895).
My husband's different varieties of hot pepper and bell peppers that are in containers are doing great, especially the ghost peppers. My eggplant and green beans were doing really super until the spider mites attacked. Too bad that I didn't notice them sooner. When the heat shows up so do the spider mites. I noticed white flies now are arriving on the plants.
Another plant that I have that is a real winner in the drought tolerant category is Hybrid Red Fairy Duster Hybrid, Red Powder Puff Hybrid 'Sierra Starr' (Calliandra). Although it froze to the ground the past 2 severe winters, it comes back fairly quickly. It has received some supplemental water.
In years when there is enough moisture to help the materials actually break down into compost, I pull some of it down on the south side and plant seed right where the ground is getting flat, but have also planted on the sloped sides of the compost pile when it has been really wet (2007 comes to mind, we had flooding in this area that year.) The lettuce, carrots, beets, and mustard greens all get big and yummy grown right there in the compost and the pile, which is at least two feet tall, provides some shelter for them. It worked really good in some years. One spring I planted Armenian cucumbers on the south side of the compost, and we had so many of those things I ran out of people to give them to. So I will always have the compost piles in the garden (since they serve more than one function.)
How big are your piles of compost? I envy you the land to have more than one.
C
The main one is about twenty feet long. After a freeze we get leaves in the fall from town and pile those on the dead castor bean plants, veg. and fruit scraps that the chickens don't eat, old mulch, and so forth and then pile dirt and old compost on top of that. It makes a pretty big pile. I make smaller ones at various places around the garden in an attempt to keep certain productive plants alive a little longer (in the fall/winter). This year the pile is huge because there has not been enough moisture to help stuff break down for the past 6 months. Wonder when it's going to rain? I should ask my husband if they have a pool going at work on when we'll get a good soaking rain in our county.
But this is a good time to eradicate any problem plants and weeds since they are already weak and not making much seed. I'm attempting to get rid of pigweed, nettles and sand spurs. Now if we could just get rid of the Bermuda grass....
One of the reasons I continue to water heavily. Not for the flowers but the trees. This morning the pecan trees were drooping. Takes a lifetime to grow one. We live only 15 miles up 35E from Waxahachie. While going to visit friends I noticed lots of trees in the wild that are totally dead. So sad.
I had my husband start watering our one large live oak, it was looking bad too. Never done that before this summer.
I'm afraid watering the trees is like putting a band-aid on an amputated limb. I just read an interesting article on how much water various plants require monthly. An average sized tree will need 1,800 gallons in a month. It is difficult to get the moisture as deep as needed. What will happen is stronger shallow roots develop and the tree will become dependent on them. In a continued drought, it can contribute to the trees' demise.
What is happening here is the trees actually shed green limbs in an effort to get by on less moisture. When outside, I will occasionally hear a crash out in the woods. Wouldn't want to be under a limb when it falls.
They suggested creating catch basins around the tree base to hold water and slowly soak deeply, remove all weeds and grass which will compete for moisture. Add mulch which will keep the moisture evaporation levels down. When rotted, the mulch will benefit the soil making it more moisture retentive.
One inch of rain is about a half gallon of applied water per square foot. 33 gallons for a tomato plant, 54 gallons needed by a corn plant. Wonder how they determined those requirements?
That does seem like a lot of water, I wonder if they meant over the life of a plant, or just one watering?
That was indicated as water needed per month per plant.
Thanks for catching that. I should have been more clear.
I'm grateful you explained that in detail. A few years ago I had called our county EA to ask how much I needed to water to protect our older trees around the house, he simply stated "you can't". That year I was fighting hypoxylon canker which had been prevalent because of past drought conditions. It takes a few years to kill the trees.
For those of you living in neighborhoods and still daring a evening or morning walk. Remember to keep an eye on your elderly neighbors and listen for sounds of an A/C or window unit coming from their homes.
Hard to know what to do when its this severe.
My heart just breaks for anyone who is trying to keep their mature trees alive. I only have one tree in my backyard (a beautiful Bur Oak) and I admit that I would spend the money to water it, if it ever comes to that. I do water my lawn once a week. But if it ever came to it, I would let the lawn die and work to keep the tree alive (hopefully it never will come to that). Very few of my neighbors water their lawns, and their trees do look stressed. It will be interesting to see if any mature trees die around the neighborhood. :-(
Carla
A lot of the drought damage will come next winter with freezing temps. Cannot remember the exact year, sometime in the 70's, we had a drought in the summer and by early November we had below freezing temps for 30 days. Killed every shrub we had. We were young and stupid and really poor so we hadn't watered. Now we are old and stupid and really poor but I sure am going to water my trees.
A day or two after the meter reader was by another reader came and re-read the meter he said a lot of folks readings were so high that they had sent him as a double check ..Makes me cringe just to think about going to the PO tomorrow LOL
This is definitely a test of our faith..
It does sound like a death watch doesn't it? I couldn't stand a high water bill on top of the high grocery prices.
A friend here has two poultry farms. He was in today, telling us that he is fighting with deep well problems. At a depth of 400 feet, his wells are drying up. He said he will lose houses of chickens should his water run out. This is the chickens that we buy in the store from Pilgrims or Tyson. That would not be good for him or the public.
But I still say all is not lost. We can all learn to be more water conscious and practice conservation. At least this year, I haven't wasted time or money on gas to mow... 8 ) but when the grass was growing, I would set the mower high. The taller grass was less stressed and would save water by shading the ground, providing a green mulch. At least grass goes dormant and will return. I can live with it not looking pretty.
Hi folks -- just read this entire thread -- wore me out! I'm needing to quit watering my plants, but just can't doit yet. I have cut back considerably, but still can't leave the water off.
The only things I'm attempting to keep watered in the veggie garden are okra, sweet potatoes, black eyed peas, and my tomato row, hoping they will give tomatoes this fall. I really wonder why I'm even trying as nothing is growing. I even have 4-6 inches of straw mulch on everything. I did not get anything of value from my garden this year. So sad! So many great plans and lots of hard work with nothing to show for it. I also have 6 goats, 4 sheep and 11 chickens. Trying to keep a bit of grass green for them, so I water in the field for an hour a day (early morning). I am also trimming shrubs and trees to feed them.
I live in fear of the water bill. . . and I have a 5 gallon bucket in the shower and a bucket by the kitchen sink to save water for the potted plants, which I'm about to let go, with the exception of my lemon and fig tree.
I keep wondering -- what if it doesn't rain until, lets say, Oct/Nov. Could I really keep things watered until them -- would it be worth it? Could be some very expensive tomatoes!
Thanks for all the discussion, great ideas to incorporate -- next year! Please let it rain before then! And no more droughts or intense heat. It feels like a dessert, yet a dessert cools off at night!
I feel ya! Every morning I ask myself what the consequences of watering what remains of the veggie garden. I'm determined to get one cantaloup in the next fews days then I'm done till September. But we have somehow managed to get some veggies put up. And ll I can do is hope for a decent fall and make up for the veggies that I've let go....
ahhh, a cool night, I'll take one of those, please!
We had the re-read with the water meter also. "Mrs. Gibson, Did you know your water usage has increased 400% over last month?" Looked at some pictures of my yard last September. Lost an awful lot to the cold winter and what was left is going fast. I will have to be careful of the water so I can keep the AC going full blast.
We had some very light rain the other day for quite some time ... finally! However, the next day, the ground was dry and my container plants needed watered. Native and nonnative trees are biting the dust here. Cenizo (Leucophyllum frutescens), Texas sage (Salvia greggii) and several other native shrubs are dying in areas that have not received supplemental water. I have never seen this happen before. My crepe myrtle in my backyard looks as if it is starting to die. I had not watered the grass in the back so it was not receiving water except when I watered the container plants near it. I set the lawn sprinkler out to water the crepe myrtle tree as well as a an ornamental pomegranate tree the other day. I watered slow and deep for hours. The few crepe myrtle leaves now have some green to them. Because the crepe myrtle is next to my fence, I'm going to place the lawn sprinkler in the field behind my house tonight and water the crepe myrtle roots on that side. I'm also thinking about throwing some epsom salts around the roots base as well. This tree has very little real soil to grown in.with a pure limestone ridge beneath it. In the fall if it is still alive, I'm going to cut in back a lot because the the available soil seems to not be able to sustain its height. It is taller than the utility lines. My other crepe myrtles are doing fine; however, they receive water when I water my grass and flowerbeds. My 3 huge sweet Sweet Olive (Osmanthus fragrans) are staring to have browned leaves and are drooping. They need watered as well.
I don't want to count drought coup of the plants I've lost but every time someone mentions one (like the Osmanthus fragrans which I lost this year ), I think Hmmm... I had one of them. Or where did that plant go... It is not good.
I had let my Crepe myrtle get tall, hoping for summer shade in the GH but tonight I noticed the flowers are toasted and the leaves wilting. It makes sense to cut it back and I'll try to do that this winter.
This morning I dug up and potted a few more plants that I wanted to save. I'll stash them in a water bed.
Oddly I notice a plum and a peach tree that I planted last spring and both look o.k. No wilt or yellowing leaves at all and no water from me either. How odd...
I have been digging a potting things that don't want to loose. May not work.
I think it will work. Far easier for me to provide moisture in a container. The ground is so dry it just sucks up any moisture before the plant can get it.
This was on my sister's FB page but I think it sums up how I feel after a day of gardening lately.
newtonsthirdlaw, exactly! LOL!!!!
Yep, like that here too!
And we need to build houses and appliances that make use of this heat as an energy source - make lemonade from the lemons as they say.
That is cute! I know that 'popped' feeling. Thanks for the laugh.
I think this questionaire is a bit iffy but thought provoking.
http://www.h2oconserve.org/wc.php?action=__reset
Hmm, my results were over 4,215 gallons a day. There was no option for raising your own meat and dairy. It also said I needed to switch to an energy star washing machine. But I do have a front loader and could have sworn I answered that way. I do however need to recycle plastic, by riding my bike 50 miles to the nearest drop off center.lol
I agree ~ things they didn't ask to go with what they did consider. Said we (2 of us) used far more than I would have believed.
Sadly, the folks that still raise their livestock are in a minority these days. I was amazed that they did factor in the amount of water it took to raise the meat animals. OTOH, I don't think they considered the water needed to raise a decent crop of vegies and this year, that has been a stretch.
I intend to re visit the ???? after I get my monthly water bill and even with the high usage due to the high temps and drought I am willing to bet it is not near as much as they indicated ..I have a water meter so every drop is recorded