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Re: Gardening summer 2012
perennials@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: Gardening summer 2012
  • From: "* <k*@comcast.net>
  • Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2012 09:09:43 -0500
Hi Barb,
It's been pretty miserable here as well, breaking records all over the place. Triple digits and a couple of high wind storms and virtually no rain until this week. Unprecedented for this area.
I've been lucky actually. I always pay my whole year' gas bill (everything in my house runs on gas) on a budget that runs Oct-May; nothing in summer, so I always plan to spend as much as that same amount extra ($60/mo) on water the other 4 months if needed. I never needed that much until this year.
The previous two summers were much hotter than we'd ever had and the forecast was even worse for this year. So I invested in something that's been on my wish list for years. I had the water company install a second water meter for the outside spigots. Any water running through this meter does not have a sewer charge. For each unit of water used here on a regular meter we pay an additional 2.56 times for sewer. It cost me $550 to have the plumbing work done but in two months I have saved $180 in sewer charges for the water I used. If our summers continue like this, I should easily break even in two seasons. Shoulda done it a few years ago.
I don't water my front lawn except what inadvertantly gets it when watering the beds so I do have a brownish hellstrip and the front edge of my side of the sidewalk, too, is dry. I have no lawn on either side of the house and just a couple of strips in back - the rest is beds. I've been watering my beds each weekend except two that got a little rain. Other than that I've spot watered things that needed it. My nursery pots needed watering every day until rain came recently.
Some plants have exhibited scorching and and blooms don't last as long in this heat as they have in other years. But some plants have bloomed more brightly this year. The main stress has been on ME. I absolutely cannot work in such conditions. I'd planned on expanding the front bed - I'd already killed the new portion off with shredded leaves piled high last fall - but I can't dig out the roots so I can till when it's already 90degrees at 8am. It'll have to wait. I picked up trashcan loads of maple samaras and pulled ten million maple seedlings earlier this season, dealt with weeds and crabgrass usually in the early morning or late evening hours, then hid from the hot sun in the house during the worst of it. I've been able to dig, divide, and pot as needed, but nothing extra.
It's been hard this season, but I have been fortunate. And I've been enjoying tomatoes now for a couple of weeks. 


Kitty
neIN, Zone 5
----- Original Message ----- From: "Barb Pernacciaro" <barp41@charter.net> 
To: <perennials@hort.net>
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 9:31 PM
Subject: Gardening summer 2012



Chris,
It's been a sad summer with the hot, hot droughty conditions here in s. central WI. I have only been watering prized things and trying to pull the darn weeds that are able to survive ANYTHING. How have others coped in areas of nasty heat and little rain? The only positive is not having to mow the crunchy brown lawn! 

Sent from Barb's iPad

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