Yesterday, after working outside most of the day, I came in and made the mistake of laying down on the couch to watch the news in our air conditioned house. I dozed off briefly and then went back outside after my quick nap. For a second there, I thought I'd died and gone to hades...it was so hot! Kind of freaked me out....next time I'll be sure I'm fully awake & aware before I go outside.
Will these 100+ temps ever end???
Bad mistake
I have been asking that question for about a month now. Those poor plants baking every day!!! How long can they take it?
I spent yesterday digging up some that were about to go south. Potted 'em up and hope to pull them thru. It will end soon I hope...
If we could just hold on until September ..... it has to get better.
This has to be DFW worst since 2000 (60+ days no rain and 100+F) Other than an hour of light drizzle two weeks ago, our neighborhood hasn't gotten any rain since early June. I have friends in Phoenix, and they have gotten way more rain than us this summer. They apparantly have "monsoons" in the summer. Why don't we get that?
I think the monsoons blow into the Rocky Mountains and are forced North into Colorado and Utah. We dont have Monsoons because we are landlocked and flat, so the storms just blow right through. I think you need to be near water for monsoons and Arizon is close the Sea of Cortez, in between Baja and the Pacific.
This is the worst drought I can remember since 1998 when it was 100+ all summer and no rain. My guess is we will probably have a flood real soon. Actually we better have one real soon or things are going to dry up and blow away like in the 20's.
Oh, that's horrible. I lived in Dallas for a year back in the 70s and it was just like you're describing. August is the hottest, too! And it seems even worse because, at least down here, the wind dies out. Next time I do my nekkid-in-the-back-yard rain dance, I'll try to send some your way. It's about time for it.
On the NEWS last weekend they reported that 1980 was worse year ever. Temps were 113 to 114. go figure
edited to make sense
This message was edited Aug 15, 2006 8:09 PM
Our augustine is browned but dog gone it those weeds still pop up green as can be. We have a mix of 3 grasses in our lawn and the augustine always suffers the worst, didn't realize how thirsty it was.
And everyone's trees are really starting to show the beating from the heat! My gosh, our maple was gorgeous green a couple weeks ago, now every branch up top has brown leaves?! And several others in towns, not just the newly planted youngling trees either. Starting to look like fall.
Saturday for SA area we have 20% chance of rain: translates to, we won't get any I suppose. Phooey.
Augustine isn't very drought tolerant ( I have it also). Mine has died in the hottest parts of my lawn (sections bordering the south facing street). It's also difficult and expensive to replace (no seed) It looks nice in the spring, but requires too much water for our summers. It seems to do best in partial shade in Dallas (60% sun 40% shade). All the south facing lawns in my neighborhood have dying SA. Our appropriate water restrictions and Dallas summers make growing healthy SA almost impossible.
I hope neighborhood developers have more foresight in the future and put buffalo grass down instead of SA.
I'm sure some HOAs want everyone to have SA, which complicates things.
good points about the st. aug.
There's a Texas sized HOA where I live. I cannot IMAGINE (though I know it happens) a group being so picky as to require a specific type of grass! You are right that it is not the best suited for our hot weather. Although I know our HOA supposedly won't allow pebble for lawn vs. grass, quite silly in times like these.
I have heard recently of this buffalo grass, can anyone post a link of what it looks like? How does it compare to the well-liked but expensive Zioysia (spelling?) grass?
Here is a link for you on Buffalo grass.
http://www.american-lawns.com/grasses/buffalo.html
Josephine.
If I had a HOA that specified the type of grass, especially if it were a really stupid choice for the area, I think I'd do my best to educate all residents, then ask to put it to a vote. I mean, the residents are the HOA, aren't they? If the majority would like reasonable options, well... this IS America.
I can't for the life of me figure out why our development put Bermuda grass in....? I've never had to tend bermuda before, having always had st. augustine/aggie grass before. And this stuff is suppose to be more hardy? It was already wilty in April, lol. I've seen a few houses in our subdivision with St. Aug. but I'm pretty sure that they had to get a big OK from our HOA. (Hey, that rhymes...lol)
My fav. nursery has Zoysia...but it is definitely expensive....