Drought Prayer: "Dear Lord, Thank you for the much needed rains. Now please send some to my friends. Amen."
Well, it finally happened. Around 4:00 the sky turned dark, the wind picked up and the distinct smell of rain filled the air. It started pouring buckets before I could even sit down to the radar screen.All of my water tubs, and even three trash cans are now filled with rainwater.
So, who's going to get the extra water? Usually I save the rain water for potted plants, but this time it will be used for the smaller trees that have suffered. Very little water has reached the subsoil for the past 5 months. Now that the surface is moist, any additional water would glide through the top several soil layers and into the deeper roots.
I collect rain water in other ways. This latest 1.3" rain made it down 10 inches in one of my swales. Another larger depression in the back yard was moist all the way to 14 inches. I've designed roughly half of the back yard into natural depressions designed to save on watering for good reason. As you can see in this next picture, a natural woodland garden has a LOT of vegetation, so saving rain is essential for keeping things lush.
You can see one of my rain barrels in this picture. This understory American holly will be getting an extra 20 gallons from collected rain.
You can't see it, but this native Nuttall oak is really suffering. It will get about 50 gallons of collected rain water.
It was so nice to walk around the garden and see everything 'happy'. Even the front agave beds looked relieved.
I'll finish with this final shot of another agave bed. Blue daze blooms in the front.
Thanks for stopping by! David/ :-)
It's good you're looking after your trees. The trees around here are droppin' like flies because no one bothers to water them it seems. I hoard my rain water for carnivorous plants, but I don't have a lot of rain water barrels and never know when the next rain will come. Most of the water I collect would also just wash down the driveway and into the street.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you got some rain - and a significant amount! Maybe that means things will get back to 'normal' now!
ReplyDeleteI am happy for you that you got some rain. Hope your tree pulls through.I really am wishing we had rain barrels although the rain from a week ago wouldn't d much for my failing trees. Things are desperate here.
ReplyDeleteLucky you!! We didn't get a measurable amount, the weather can be such a tease.
ReplyDeleteHi! I thought I'd visit this blog instead of your black & white today. Your garden is beautiful. You obviously care very much for it, and have planned how to handle adverse weather. Your care and planning show!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your prayer to send some rain to your friends. We are still waiting for some here in San Antonio. We are in survival mode - just trying to keep the trees alive now.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got some rain. I like your plans for what you were able to collect.
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