Are you seeing any effects from the drought?

16 years ago

Just curious what effects other southern Californians are seeing from this years record drought in their neighborhoods. As I look out my window I can see a clump of Eucalyptus trees about 40 feet high on my neighbor's property are slowly dying, with about a third of the leaves turning red or brown, Another older clump of Eucs on another neighbor's property is still green, probably because it is much bigger and older and has a more extensive root system. The Chinese elms are holding up pretty good too. I see a young mulberry tree turning yellow too, but an older one is in better shape. The weeds in my yard even died in places where I don't water, which is one of the few blessings from the drought, together with less mosquitos and insects this year.

I am afraid that by next winter many trees and plants that aren't lucky enough to have someone watering them will be dead or severely weakened by this drought. If you want to keep a large tree alive you may have to use 400 to 600 gallons of water a week per tree during the really hot, dry weeks. I see people spraying maybe ten gallons at the base of the tree as if that will do any good.

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Comments (15)

gobluedjm 9/18 CA
16 years ago
Since I bought this house in August last year and put in all new plants it is difficult to say. The few trees that I have and did remain seem to be ok except for the lemon. Twice now it has had blossoms but they just turn black and fall off. The plum tree I just finished harvesting and are so sweet. The apple is progressing along good. The 3 palms got froze but appear to be coming back.
The scrub brush on the slope isn't doing that good.
kelpmermaid
16 years ago
I have a small native garden area out back that I started shortly after we moved in -- Fall 2005. There are two plants - a Cleveland sage and a woolly blue curls- that I planted this February, expecting rain. So far, the Cleveland sage which was in a 4 inch pot has grown to about 12-18 inches -- I expected more. The woolly blue curls did bloom, but it's about the same size - here, too, I expected greater height. I wonder if they haven't been stunted. Any thoughts?
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Annie, I'm right w/you on your gardening. It's been so sad watching everything die off. We are in Central Texas and haven't had a drop since May. It looms all around, but doesn't have any effect when it does drop a 1/4". I,like you,put my heart and soul into the land. I haul all useable water from the inside of my home to the flowerbeds. I wouldn't think of throwing water down the sink. It's a nuisance, but necessary. I fear not what this is doing to my garden, but what's going to happen if this famine continues. Crops are failing everywhere. Buying large bails of hay out here is unquestionable. No one will turn loose of any surplus. The population is continuing to boom, but the resources are becoming scarce. I'm not trying to be doom but I really worry about people that don't know how to live off the land. I know how precious every drop of water is and I see so much waste it breaks my heart. There's so many that think just because there is a ban, it doesn't apply to them. They don't realize if they dry up the resource, it won't come back. It scares me to see this much drought so widespread. Places that never are w/out snow and water are now in the same situation as the lower south. If we could only get one point accross, it's to garden wisely and conserve water. Pouring water on golf greens/industrial lawns/etc. is so costly to the water tables. I think until the full impact is felt, it will continue to dwindle. Texas used to have over 11,000 natural springs, not any more due to overindulgence and waste. We are a dustbowl much of the time west of I-35. The eastern section still gets rain, but even they have felt the effects. I guess what my point is that we must all be aware of the necessity to conserve our resources and instill this into the next generation or their lives will be greatly compromised. We have had the good life compared to our ancestors that experience the great "dust bowl". I don't want us to go through that. As gardeners, we need to think "natives" and only splurge on a few "out of zoners" so we can water wisely and infrequently. I'm sorry for the disertation, but like Annie, I feel very strongly about the earth. It's my sanity and peace. I pray daily for an end to this drought, please join me. It will effect all of us if the "food basket" of this country can't produce food. hilary
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I am in Southern California, South of Los Angeles. We do not get much rain here, and it tends to be sunny most of the time, and summers tend to be very hot. It does tend to be a rather dry climate here, but we are not too far away from the coast, so at least the humidity does not go too low. I can't stand going further inland, I can feel the dehydrating dryness in the air and it is not comfortable. Actually we have had a past couple of days of rain, unusual for summer, and it has been unusually humid. Actually things are looking fairly lush and green in our yard, and the front yards in the neighborhood do not look too bad either. It might be because of the recent rain. It is not always this way, usually things start becoming less green in the summer here, since it is a dry Mediterranean climate and seasonal. So especially put in context, it does not feel like a bad year at all. I do frequently water several particular plants every 2 days, but we have cut back on the sprinklers, and that is what takes up most of the water, since it just sprays water all over the place and is not very selective. The yard is not too huge either. I think perhaps because I water so frequently and consistently, the plants do not need a lot of water. That may sound paradoxical to some, but it really is true. If you do not water very frequently, it takes more water to saturate the soil enough so that the plants will not dry out many days later. And because I water selectively, and only get the plants that need it, not the grass or bushes. I have also been intentionally planting things to try to create a moisture microclimate, and I think that is starting to pay off too. So a combination of several factors. I have recently gotten into gardening, and I do not think I would be able to stand having water restrictions if it started affecting the yard in any way, but fortunately that is not the case. I will also have you all know that I hate those drought tolerant plants that are being promoted. I am trying to turn the yard into a lush temperate rainforest, even though I do not live in the climate for that. I planted a redwood, and special ordered authentic varieties of ferns. Yes, we do have two tree ferns, but I made sure to plant them in locations that do not get full sun, because I know tree ferns often tend to turn brown in this climate. They are planted in just a little partial shade, and seem to be doing okay. I try to give the foliage a quick spray every time I am out there with the hose, to keep them from drying out. We do have a rose geranium bush growing in the front where it gets very hot and dry. This bush is very prolific and vigorously spreads even though it does not get much water, and the soil beneath it is terrible hard clay. The bush grows 3-4 feet high, and seems to thrive where most other plants would bake in the sun and wither, it has spread to 10 feet wide. We did not originally plant it either. It was growing in planters, and wherever those planters were set on the ground, even hard dry clay soil, the roots made their way out of the little drainage holes in the bottom of the planter and established themselves into the ground, propagating a new plant. These things can get a little invasive in your yard if left unattended for a long time. So it is possible to have a lush yard in a fairly hot dry climate that does not use too much water, without making compromises. At least that is the way it seems for our yard right now. Just throwing an optimistic report into this thread, I know many others are struggling.
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buddyben
16 years ago
Did you water your cleveland sage and woolly blue curls regularly after you planted them?
sib5
16 years ago
DROUGHT? GLOBAL WARMING? Some of my fruit trees have died and the leaves on my lemons are yellowing etc. etc. Does anyone have any experience or strategies for riding out either long-term or short-term drought in the garden and out.
dicot
16 years ago
I got suckered by the El Nino predictions and didn't water deeply in Feb/Mar, which is one of the best way to help plants make it through a dry summer and fall. I expect to see some effects tomorrow, as people set accidental fires all over on July 4.
socal23
16 years ago
kelpermaid,

Trichostema lanatum requires substantially more water while becoming established than you might expect given its native habitat.

Ryan
slave2thefur
16 years ago
My cleveland sage were small the first 2 years - started from a 4" pot. After 2 years they are both 12' wide, and in non-stop bloom. =^,,^=
kelpmermaid
16 years ago
Thanks all. Yes, Ben, I did water them, but looking at what socal said, perhaps I should have watered even more. Slave2thefur, I plan on waiting another year to see what happens. I might be better off with something taller in that location, though, maybe something that blooms earlier. The black sage planted the year before has really taken off (The Sage that Ate Redondo Beach, LOL!) so maybe my expectations were too high on that basis. A manzanita is doing well, but that may have benefitted from my neighbor's downspouts.
gobluedjm 9/18 CA
16 years ago
My cleveland sage was just about 2 sticks in a gallon size from Theodore Payne and was about 8 inches tall in April. It is now about 2 feet tall and 1 foot wide and flowered numerous times. They told me for the first year to water all my new natives regularly to help establish them.
My calliandra is about 6 inches high and wide and has flowered 4 times.
They were out of Trichostema lanatum this spring but I hope to get one in the fall or next year.
eloise_ca
16 years ago
My well-established grapefruit and naval orange are not doing well. Yesterday, I left the water hose running at a slow drip between the two tree hoping the water will soak in deeply. My chicken coop is in the area where these trees are, so they rarely get watered. Now I am seeing the result -- leaves starting to shrivel up! My other fruit trees are doing well.
wanda
16 years ago
I'm in the San Francisco area and we are not in the drought that has plagued So. Cal., but our rainfall was lacking this year and drought is predicted.

If my native plants are correct, they too think that drought is on it's way. I have tons more seedpods on plants this year than in previous years of normal rainfall.
My Dudleyas were huge in the past years with 3-4 flower stalks. This year, they only grew to medium size but had 8-10 flower stalks. The redbud has so many seedpods you can hardly see the foliage.
My theory is that the production of so many seedpods is to ensure the survival of the species when rain returns

Many plants also bloomed earlier and have started to go into summer dormancy earlier.

The plants think drought is coming and that's good enough for me.

wanda
stickgarden
16 years ago
looks like it's a lousy year to be starting a bunch of new projects in my new yard- does anybody know the water predictions for the coming winter? Although- I heard last winter was going to be very rainy, and look where we are now.
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
16 years ago
The effect here is mostly on my electricity bill. I am paying to pump my well water at 300% of the normal base electric rate. This has nothing to do with the cost of generating the power and its only purpose is to punish me for keeping my landscape green. Paying monthly electric bills of $300 caused by my pumping prevents me from running my air conditioner also at 300% rate and keeping our home comfortable. This is the result of our politically correct "we know what is best for you" attitude of our elected representatives. Al
CA Kate z9
16 years ago
californian: first year plants frequently are small... they're making roots. I'd worry if they didn't pop next year.... but do keep them all watered.

wanda: I know what you mean by mucho seeding, same is happening here.

Al: our well pump is on it's own circuit and was $35.00 last month --- compared to $4 last January. I don't even want to think about the 4 figured electric bill for AC that will be likely next month for all this heat.

I have some hose some where going all day every day just trying to keep areas deep watered once a week. I try to get two areas each day for a half day each. I'm not sure I want to see next month's well bill either.
socal23
16 years ago
There's one way to tell if a corporation is state regulated. If the seller encourages you to use more of their product, it's privately held; if the seller encourages you to conserve their product, it's state owned (regardless of what they call it in Sacramento).

Ryan

Are you seeing any effects from the drought?

Comments (15)

gobluedjm 9/18 CA

kelpmermaid

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