I have finally made a decision about my backyard garden. Let me explain:
The Mayor of our fine city has told us that our water situation is bleak and we must conserve. We have been under a “water shortage emergency” since July of 2008 and to be honest, I haven’t really seen anyone paying much attention. I still see people watering their lawns; I still see people washing their cars at home; I still see water running down the gutters; I still see pools of water lying in the streets for no apparent reason and I still see lots and lots and lots of green grass around the city. Anyone that was conserving should have at least a hint of brown in their lawn, especially since our temperatures have been in the high 70’s low 80’s for the last week. While green is a lovely color and the sign of a healthy lawn, it does not indicate much conservation going on. I would rather see that water going towards growing food than going towards having aesthetically pleasing lawns. If this city does not do better with water conservation, we will be forced to conserve in ways that could be rather unpleasant. Anyone remember the days when we were asked to flush our toilets once a day to help conserve water? Ugh.
My backyard garden consists of a lawn, a few permanent plantings and lots of plants in containers. Last year, I stopped watering the lawn to help with water conservation. Needless to say, my lawn was awful; brown and absolutely full of stickers and weeds. I was constantly pulling stickers out of my poor dog’s fur last summer. It will be the same this year, so I’m going to try to figure out a way to get rid of my lawn and still have a pleasing yard. I have no clue how I’m going to do that, but I am going to research.
My biggest decision though is about my container plants. I love my container plants. That’s where I grow my flowers and my strawberries and my tropical’s and all sorts of wonderful, beautiful plants. When spring comes, it’s all I can do to wait for the spring flowering plants to arrive in the local nursery so I can plant them in my containers. And as the growing season changes, it is so easy to change the plants I have. Unfortunately….container plants of these types are water hogs.
Did I say I love my container plants?
So I have made the decision to cut way back this year on my container plants. I have several that are well established and I will not be cutting back on them. For these I will be consistently using SeaResults Micronutrient Solution from the Happy Gardener. It helps keep the plants healthy and helps build up a resistance to drought. But I will be limiting the new plantings this year. And that makes me sad. They bring me such joy. But we all have to make sacrifices in these tough times. While it makes me sad to know I will not be puttering in my garden as much this year, I can try to get satisfaction in knowing that I will be doing more to help keep the water flowing where it needs to; to the farmers and to the community.
Now, you are probably saying that that is not much of a contribution and it’s such a small thing it won’t make any difference anyway and that it is pretty stupid to be sad over such a thing. But that’s when I ask…..what are you doing to help?
Did I say I love my container plants?
The Mayor of our fine city has told us that our water situation is bleak and we must conserve. We have been under a “water shortage emergency” since July of 2008 and to be honest, I haven’t really seen anyone paying much attention. I still see people watering their lawns; I still see people washing their cars at home; I still see water running down the gutters; I still see pools of water lying in the streets for no apparent reason and I still see lots and lots and lots of green grass around the city. Anyone that was conserving should have at least a hint of brown in their lawn, especially since our temperatures have been in the high 70’s low 80’s for the last week. While green is a lovely color and the sign of a healthy lawn, it does not indicate much conservation going on. I would rather see that water going towards growing food than going towards having aesthetically pleasing lawns. If this city does not do better with water conservation, we will be forced to conserve in ways that could be rather unpleasant. Anyone remember the days when we were asked to flush our toilets once a day to help conserve water? Ugh.
My backyard garden consists of a lawn, a few permanent plantings and lots of plants in containers. Last year, I stopped watering the lawn to help with water conservation. Needless to say, my lawn was awful; brown and absolutely full of stickers and weeds. I was constantly pulling stickers out of my poor dog’s fur last summer. It will be the same this year, so I’m going to try to figure out a way to get rid of my lawn and still have a pleasing yard. I have no clue how I’m going to do that, but I am going to research.
My biggest decision though is about my container plants. I love my container plants. That’s where I grow my flowers and my strawberries and my tropical’s and all sorts of wonderful, beautiful plants. When spring comes, it’s all I can do to wait for the spring flowering plants to arrive in the local nursery so I can plant them in my containers. And as the growing season changes, it is so easy to change the plants I have. Unfortunately….container plants of these types are water hogs.
Did I say I love my container plants?
So I have made the decision to cut way back this year on my container plants. I have several that are well established and I will not be cutting back on them. For these I will be consistently using SeaResults Micronutrient Solution from the Happy Gardener. It helps keep the plants healthy and helps build up a resistance to drought. But I will be limiting the new plantings this year. And that makes me sad. They bring me such joy. But we all have to make sacrifices in these tough times. While it makes me sad to know I will not be puttering in my garden as much this year, I can try to get satisfaction in knowing that I will be doing more to help keep the water flowing where it needs to; to the farmers and to the community.
Now, you are probably saying that that is not much of a contribution and it’s such a small thing it won’t make any difference anyway and that it is pretty stupid to be sad over such a thing. But that’s when I ask…..what are you doing to help?
Did I say I love my container plants?
1 comment:
Since you are conserving you may already do this. I save plastic containers from vinegar or juice and when I am running water to get hot water in the sink for dishes I run it into these plastic bottles and water with it. I wish I could talk my husband into a bucket for the shower. There is always some running of shower water before it gets hot enough. Susan
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