Dancey, as crowellli said, it is more efficient with a sprinkler system. I used more water than some areas needed because of forgetting to move it or turn it off. Plus my time since I work, was so worth the investment. We buy ourselves something for the house, etc. each year for Christmas. My DH asked if I wanted new furniture and I told him a sprinkler system was what I wanted. I haven't regreted the decision. It has given me more time to plant and plan beds, weed, etc.
We aren't getting any younger and it just made sense to get it where we could maintain it. We would have tried to put it in ourselves 10 years ago, but ours is 9 zones and 86 heads. The company did it in two days, only because here it had to be inspected. Good luck. Just get bids from three companys that are in the BBB and you will be sure not to get burned.
Texas heat
Aww Shucks! SnS I don't know a soul coming your way that could pick up some Abelias for me. I sure thank ya though for the nice offer. I guess I'll just order some this fall. I'm looking at a couple of online nurseries now.
Lin
Sheila I totally agree that the sprinkler system would wind up being so much better than the hose/sprinkler way we water now. There are areas that are missed and dry out real bad. I do have a timer on the hose in the backyard. That does help some. We try to be conservative with water but it's pretty hard to do with temps over 100 deg. Yes I will definitely get several bids and make sure they are listed with the BBB. There are several companys in Bryan/College Station. I am only familiar with the one I mentioned.
I'll have to tell dh the next time he sells some of our cows that's what we could do with the proceeds. ;) We saved and were able to have a new barn built.
Lin
Sounds like a plan Lin. .....So if you are near Bryan, are you coming to the RU in the fall? Hope to see you there if so.
lol @ the cold temps... I can't believe I adapted to life in Boston as well as I did. I mean...I'm a REAL Texan...and wakin' up to a 0 degree day and hackin' your car out of ice and snow was....well....mighty interesting..to say the least. But I do miss the snow...and the clean, quiet feel of it...plus ya got a free car wash when it melted and got the salt off.. :)
Well...water rationing begins tomorrow. Once a week on Thursdays for us... My natives seem to be doing ok...just needing a sip everyday now...even my vast amount of rocks are lookin' at me with a baleful eye, lol.. Hmm..more of em' seem to be congregating beneath the bird bath.... :D
The plants I have in pots have pretty much retreated under the live oak/elderberry motte at one end of the house.The sunlight is so intense now that it only takes a relatively short time of full sun afternoon exposure to turn some potted plants into a sad, wilted thing that better get watered soon or else. Actually, come to think of it, that description pretty much applies to me when I foolishly go outside in the afternoon sun! What is that saying? Only madmen and Englishmen venture out in the midday sun? Or something like that! Well, I seem to remember something sent out by the water company that explained the water restriction stages. I believe the highest stage said NO OUTDOOR WATERING! Now that's pretty extreme. What gardener could just wait while all their precious plants slowly died? Hope it never comes to that, because I'd be out there watering at midnight.
lol Linda...I know wha' cha mean....you just sort of would look at your soaker hoses at 3 a.m. and think , "now can I get away with this?" lol.. I've been thru that final stage before as a teen...really awful...At least we'll be able to use hand held sprinklers for a while yet...but no watering before 8pm and after 10am the next day. I walked down into my crispy back yard...and my white vitex was having a sit-down! A vitex no less! I watered the poor guy and he's perked up a bit...but both of my vitex's are starting to have a few leaves turn yellow...which is what they did about this time last year. My desert willow is just happy and smilin' away at me... :D
Tx.T..Does "once a week on Thursdays" mean you are supposed to just water once a week in this heat??? My pots start wilting after only one day without water. They would die after about 3, I think. Is Austin next with that??? I just put in literally thousands of dollars of plants...would they expect them to all die??? I don't get the "water rationing." Is it voluntary? Please explain...is it only for the lawn??...I'm worried!!!
Thanks...Connie
Connie, not voluntary. Fines can exceed $3000. if caught watering out of your date/time frame. Very serious situation. They aren't worried about yards/gardens, they worry about keeping water running to households for drinking. We all need to be conservative w/it so they won't go to that final stage. It's awful. Dallas is brown now, as they are in the 3rd stage. People can only do foundations and newly planted trees, I believe. I'm saving bath water and my DH carries it out in my mop bucket to water the trees. Sounds silly, but that's a lot of water in those big tubs. Surprising, they are looking great because of all the water. I have a container in my kitchen sink for my dishes that I hand wash and toss that on my pot plants on my deck. They love the soapy water. My friends think I'm a tad eccentric but I'm even considering having a plumber come and reroute my bathroom shower/tub plumbing for grey water consumption so I don't have to haul it. I think this situation is not going to go away, so in the long run, it might be worth the trouble.
hilary
Indeed it's getting pretty bad down here . . . and we're still only in July :o
Here's another idea for ya hag49 . . . I took one of those 2" flex hoses and attached it to my washing machine's drain. I move it around to a new place each time I use the washer. It may not sound like much, but it's better than that water just going down the drain.
Still do'n a rain dance down here,
GD
I don't know about certain areas, but up here some of the areas are under water rationing and they vary.
First they start mandatory, then becomes a ban.
Some (us) no watering from 10am-6pm. Also must have timers, rain indicators etc on sprinkler systems. I think this should be a constant rule. It makes good sense.
then there is a odd even days according to house numbers
another, two days a week, or one day a week. Most are talking about sprinkler watering, you can still hand water with a hose. Concentrate on the plants and trees, the grass will bounce back next year.
There is some small communitites that no outdoor watering is allowed!!! That has people converting their sprinkler heads to soaker systems so no one knows when they are watering.
I think we may eventually go to another step before it is over. I heard a guy say that one good thing to do if you only have one or two days a week to water is. Water heavy in the morning then again that day at night. That way it gets a good soaking.
I was running sprinklers for 15 min each morning, but changed when the weather go so hot. I found it was evaporating most of it. Now I water ever other day for 30 min a zone. It helps the roots to grow deeper so they can withstand the heat. Always water early in the morning (before 9 or 10) or at night after the sun begans going down. Watering during the day is not good for the plants. They don't have time to absorb the water before the sun hits and the water on the leaves cooks them.
Water is a precious commodity that we all need to take care of. But as gardeners we want our plants to be healthy too. Natives is the way to go, they can handle the weather so much better. If you haven't seen it. here is Frostweed's site, she is big on native plants. http://www.texasstar.org/
Another way to help is to have water barrels. It only helps AFTER a rain but I still have two barrels about 1/2 full of water that I can use anytime. It also helps cut down on the water bill. I want another couple of barrels but will have to wait for more money in the pot.
Wow didn't know you guys were rationing this year. In this part of TX- as far as I know anyway- we are not rationing. Also must say we have had pretty good rain each week give or take, for the last 3 or so weeks. I probably watered my stupid ST Aug. this year more than I have ever watered because I live in a subdivision that seems to be party central for chinch bugs! I have a goofey neighbor who waters every day w/o fail, regardless of rain. It's not that he has a sprinkler system, he does this by dragging hoses!
Good idea about the rain barrels. It doesn't help much during a drought, but w/ as much rain as we have had here, had I had barrels I'd be in fine shape.
Hmm...technically, if you bring pots inside to water them, does that make it okay? I wonder...
Shiela I'm going to try and go to the RU in Bryan in Nov. If I do get to go it will be my first one! I think it would be so fun to meet everybody even if I don't have much to trade.
Lin
We are on once a week watering here in McKinney. We are aloud to sprinkler water before 10am or after 6pm on our trash day. So, on Tuesday the sprinkler system runs through the system in the morning at 4am and in the evening at 7:30pm (twice that day). I have 10 zones and the rotating heads go for 20 or 30 minutes (depending on the zones overlap and amount of sun in that zone) and the straight sprayers go for 8. My Bermuda is not bright green, but it's not brown either - just mostly faded. The areas that only get about 6 hours of direct sun look the best though.
We are also allowed to use soaker hoses anytime and hand water between 6pm and 10am. I put in a few plants this spring and have several potted plants so I am out there a bunch.
One other thing that my city implemented is water rates increase by 25 percent for use over 10,000 gallons per month. That has hit us hard. I just got my bill last week and we used almost 25,000 gallons last month! At our old house we had a yard about 1/7th of the size we have now and with no sprinkler system. There we maxed at about 8000 gallons a month in the summer. I have got to make some changes.
At this point..or should I say this stage, you can still hand water things with say, a water nozzle thingy. But you can only use a lawn sprinkler after 8 pm and before 10 am on your day to water. So I mowed REAL early this am...and got the sprinkler goin' pronto around 8:30 am and just turned it off about 30 minutes ago. I reckon I'll try to mow the back yard this evening and then water after 8:00 pm, especially since OUR day is Thursday.
I thank the house gods everyday that we have wee yards to contend with...but it also makes it hard to find any more room to plant my flowers...lol I just shake my head at the neighbors (I'm real quiet that way, lol) Their sprinklers are out in the road and creatin' little creeks for the grackles to have a swim. Just awful...
I'm with ya on the washing machine water, GD. After dealing with really awful droughts down south of here, my parents hooked up a long flexible hose to the washer that ran out into the front yard. They still use it. And while its not real pretty, sometimes its the only thing that can keep the yard alive. Tho my beloved mama is enduring her Chemo right now...she still gets out there and moves the hose all over the yard to get the most water....lol
I wish there were some way to utilize our grey water usage...but in these new subdivisions, it makes it almost impossible.
I love the idea about bath water though... I usually take a shower but every once in a while I want to soak in the tub... Usually the only thing I use is bath salts. Would bath salts hurt plants? (if so I just might have to give them up this summer so I have water for plants! *giggle).
My washer has a hose out to the back 40. I just might have to put a bucket under there the next time we wash.
nada, I would imagine that bath salts would indeed harm the green growing things. I know it does a number on the winter sleeping plants in the Northeast... I have a huge marble bathtub that I use every now and then...and that is indeed an interesting idea. Ya have to be creative when your a Texan..lol
Renatelynne, the main ingredient in most bath salts is epson salt which is Magnesium Sulfate, not table salt which is sodium chloride. Epson salt can actually be beneficial to plants. If you google "epson salt, plants", you'll get some information on using it on plants. The only things you need to be sure of is that the basis for your particular bath product is really epson salt and that any additional oils that are added for fragrance wouldn't harm the plant. Most of the oils will be plant extracts and most likley not be a problem. The amount in a tubful of water likely won't be a high concentration to worry about at any rate.
Thank you crowelli, I will check... the 'fragrance' is white tea and tree tea oil, so I don't think either of those would be a problem.
nada
Here in Nevada, Texas (southeast Collin County) we have been at stage 3 draught conditions since early spring. Like most other places where water rationing has been implemented, watering is only permitted early morning or late evening, once a week. I drag a hose around and water early, around 6am and again after the sun goes down on the same day. I have also starting using bath water, mostly on potted plants and anything that looks a little droopy. When it does rain I use rain barrels, (buckets, trash cans, whatever!) to save as much water as I can. DH and I have started looking into ways to reclaim our gray water. He wants to use a storage tank, I am thinking maybe a pond of some sort? Have heard that cattails have a natural filtering effect.. will be looking into this more. Has anyone had any experience with saving/ re-using gray water?
I think it so strange about the SA water rations: you can HAND WATER but you can't run your sprinkler that's on a timer! I have a soaker hose system on a timer but guess I'd get popped for it? And you can still use all the water you want IN the house just not outside. Strange again. When we lived in the country it was so nice that the house had their "grey water" from the washer going out into the yard. It was the GREENEST patch right there around! Soap is good for the lawn, especially these clay soils, it opens it up for drainage Jerry Baker says. DH says it's technically illegal so I guess they'd rather we hand haul it out? I think it's an awesome idea to dump your used water on the lawn. I feel so bad dumping what's left of a drink of water down the drain so I just open the back door up and toss the water in the yard. OH, you just don't want to use your house water on the lawn if you have a water softener. I don't know the details but have heard this is a big no-no.
OH MY GOSH: speak of the devil! You guys, it is RAINING RIGHT NOW!!!! Out here in Converse. RAINING!!!!
I didn't realize that soapy water was okay for the plants! I learn something every day here!
We've been overcast most of the day here in Lakeway. I went ahead and watered, but it will probably rain!
This message was edited Jul 20, 2006 2:45 PM
Just check out Jerry Bakers gardening books. He recommends you even hose down your trees with soapy water. Reduces your bugs and is like an inhaler for plants helping them breathe.
How do you do that, TIr? Place about a squirt of soap in one of those auto -bottles that fertilizer comes in , and use the hose?
Thanks...
Yep that's how Jerry suggests. He mixes it with other household things at times...one of his favorites is to use beer!
I use Dr. Bronner's soap -- highly diluted -- and it seems to work just fine. JB has some good tonic recipes.
tx turq....so sorry about water rationing....are you ok with that??
This message was edited Jul 20, 2006 4:42 PM
I wonder why San A. is on such a strict watering and Austin (Lakeway) is not? I thought we both used the ST Ed's aquifer....
I have a natural spring that ends in my yard...where it dumps I have iris and elephant ears that have to be cut back weekly....I wonder if it would be legal to channel the water to my plants?? ha
no water rationing here....yall are scaring me....we will be next; as long as i can keep gardening i will do anything.....
boy yall are getting creative in your rationing....getting lots of ideas.....good thoughts with you guys:)
lol sticks...at this point, I HAVE to be ok with it...but living at the foot of the hill country...I'm indeed lamenting the loss of the aquifer's water, and I'm just ONE wee part of the whole problem. Folks are lovin' the hill country to death..with over development and sprawl..and with this awful drought, the aquifer just can't handle the need. I think the only thing that will break the drought at this point is for a tropical depression to make itself comfortable right over the recharge zone, lol. I'm like Tir_...I actually throw unused water from glasses right out the back door...lol
well hubby sez we probably will be rationed in oct....we are waiting on the water board to dictate that.....in the meantime ....i am watering rather guiltily....(if that is a word)
ROFL TxT about the throwing the water out the door!!!!! That is to funny! I thought I was a lone ranger on that one. =)
Connie, I knew of a man who bought the pump equipment to drain the deep ditch behind his house down on the gulf coast, he used it to water his whole lawn and it was the greenest around. I'd say if the water is there better you to use it than the squitoes! Also Connie, when they were starting water restrictions SA wasn't first in line, it was the small towns around SA like New Braunfels, Kerrville, etc. so it's probably just that Austin doesn't have to be first yet either.
Yep. I've been on water restrictions for over a month now.
I hate to be the bearer of even worse news but here goes. Our rose society meeting tonight was patterned after the Austin sustainable plant program. They actually have a $1500. rebate if you plant natives and drought tolerant grasses. All major cities are looking to pattern after the xeriscaping program that Austin has put in force. It's been so successful. Now for the sad news. The water board has been conducting a survey of population growth and has come to the conclusion that Texas will outgrow the water source by 2016. That means there will be more people than we have water to provide for. So, mandatory water rationing will start taking effect in all the major cities soon, and the outlining areas will be taxed according to useage. Ours is like that now. If you use it, you pay increasingly more per use. So, they are trying to get everyone to put natives in so our landscapes will be able to get by on rainfall and minor watering in the heat of the summer. I suggest we all start finding ways to capture water and learn more about our lovely natives. It's happening globally, so we can't run from this. Even the northern states that rely heavily on snowfall for water replenishment, aren't seeing the massive snows they once had. It's scarey, but we can still have our lovely gardens, just different plants than we are all used to. We have plenty of time to get our gardens looking great before this all happens.
hilary
Hilary,
Thanks for the important updates! It is sad to see the changes but I can't knock the "sprawl" as they say....I mean we all have to live somewhere....we are just seeing changes in rainfall (like you said...places even getting less snow!) and there are more and more people. I tried to put in grasses that have lower water requirements. Can you believe in a society like we are facing our HOA has rules about NOT using rocks instead of "lawns"! I mean, I like a green lawn but I'd also like to minimize it with some nice pea gravel beds with natives but I can't. =(
Is there any way you can get a link to the new study online anywhere?
Here's a link to the waterboard. http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/home/index.asp That should give you the opportunity to find out anything you want. You should be able to present this info to your HOA and have a stand on xeriscaping your garden in the front.
hilary