Droughty conditions and watering again
We don't like to water much; we've designed our landscapes (yikes, it's now plural) to be largely self-reliant on rainfall, but a very long spell (weeks and weeks, maybe a month or more without any rain), and pushing 90°F temperatures through the end of September has even hardy natives looking wan, not to mention those from moister sites and higher elevations.
So I'm dragging the hose around, my gardening companion has gone to the mountains this weekend to water newly planted trees and shrubs in our landscape there (he also has vegetable harvesting duties, and watering the raised beds, too). So, we're hoping for some decent rain with the cold front that's coming in tomorrow.
In the meantime, I've managed to tidy up the perennial beds, get them ready for needed renovation, change out some containers, and plant to edit the front meadow tomorrow morning (it needs it, big time). There's a group of folks coming after a Osher Lifelong Learning Gardening for Nature program in mid-October, which somehow has become the program where 'we visit your garden.'
I like to encourage people to create gardens that welcome them home -- ours does that, but we've gotten used to the mulch pile next to the garage (hmm), so it does create a bit of mild anxiety. But I'm a teacher, and sharing the process is what learning is about.
Gardens are always changing, and even though we love our natural landscape, there are always shrubs to manage, and trees that don't flourish, etc. And we're ready to do the next round of editing and planting.
My vegetable beds in the Piedmont are doing well, with lots of nice fall greens (mustards, arugula, lettuce, and kale) in spite of a herbivore that keeps eating the leaves of my red cabbage and broccoli plants.
I'm looking forward to planting garlic, as soon as we get some rain, and it cools off a bit more.
I caught sight of a large Eastern Cottontail rabbit this evening as I was watering, and thought, hmm. I was blaming woodchucks creeping up from their forest den behind the brush pile, or squirrels, led to herbivory by dry weather. Who knows? All are possibilities. But I'm glad enough to share a bit, at this point, although it's getting tiresome.
So I'm dragging the hose around, my gardening companion has gone to the mountains this weekend to water newly planted trees and shrubs in our landscape there (he also has vegetable harvesting duties, and watering the raised beds, too). So, we're hoping for some decent rain with the cold front that's coming in tomorrow.
In the meantime, I've managed to tidy up the perennial beds, get them ready for needed renovation, change out some containers, and plant to edit the front meadow tomorrow morning (it needs it, big time). There's a group of folks coming after a Osher Lifelong Learning Gardening for Nature program in mid-October, which somehow has become the program where 'we visit your garden.'
I like to encourage people to create gardens that welcome them home -- ours does that, but we've gotten used to the mulch pile next to the garage (hmm), so it does create a bit of mild anxiety. But I'm a teacher, and sharing the process is what learning is about.
Gardens are always changing, and even though we love our natural landscape, there are always shrubs to manage, and trees that don't flourish, etc. And we're ready to do the next round of editing and planting.
My vegetable beds in the Piedmont are doing well, with lots of nice fall greens (mustards, arugula, lettuce, and kale) in spite of a herbivore that keeps eating the leaves of my red cabbage and broccoli plants.
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| harvested garlic in early summer |
I caught sight of a large Eastern Cottontail rabbit this evening as I was watering, and thought, hmm. I was blaming woodchucks creeping up from their forest den behind the brush pile, or squirrels, led to herbivory by dry weather. Who knows? All are possibilities. But I'm glad enough to share a bit, at this point, although it's getting tiresome.
We need rain, too, Lisa...I am tired of dragging hoses around and will be rethinking what I plant and removing the thirstier plants. Not enough sun for a vegetable garden~and the containers were water hogs! gail
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