Drought Is Killing My Garden
As some of you may know, here in the Southern states of Australia, we're
experiencing a bad drought. It's been almost ten years now, since we
had 'normal' rains, and this spring, it looks as if the usual storms aren't
going to arrive. All the water storage facilities are well down, and we
can only water our gardens for two hours, at 6am, twice a week.
Last summer, I lost quite a few plants in my front garden, which is 95%
native plants, and some of the others are looking quite straggly.
Any ideas on keeping plants alive would be welcomed - I have mulched
as much as I could, and have given up small plants that require a lot of
water, concentrating on trees and shrubs which are more capable of
looking after themselves. It was pretty surprising to actually lose some
of my native shrubs, but they are from temperate areas, admittedly.
Sometimes we get extremely strong winds, and this does a lot of damage
to the plants. Last year, I lost my biggest tree, a small eucalypt, to wind
damage. It was an excellent shade tree, and the birds loved it. A
seedling from it is coming along nicely, and is about eighteen inches tall
now. I'm hoping it survives the heat this summer.
Don't know what will happen to the vegeatable patch in the backyard,
or the grass and plants out there. The chickens are adding their part
to the destruction! :-) I don't so much have grass as a dust and
weed patch at the moment.
Hopefully, this drought will end sometime soon - it's got to the point
that when it rains, some of us dash outside to see it, it's so unusual!
We don't believe the weather bureau anymore, until the rain actually
arrives on our doorsteps. What we used to call showers is now
considered to be rain........Bring on the La Nina effect is all I can say.
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Comments (33)
Jean DAndrea7
Retired
Hi Jeunelle,
Well, I'm pretty sure the old Pagan ways aren't dead, they've just taken cover
under other names. :-)
I think our pollies are actually beginning to wake up - or could it be that
we have an election at the end of the month? Whatever it is, hope they
do something about the environment and climate change.
Something useful, not cosmetic would be even better!
Jean
Jean DAndrea7
Retired
Hi Penny,
Yes, it's really good to have the rain, that's for sure. Last night I even
took my car out of the garage and parked it in the driveway so it could
have a wash! We're not allowed to wash cars at all, only the windows
and mirrors for safety reasons.
Cats are real hedonists, aren't they? Mine is asleep in the warmth on top
of the heated snake's cage. :-)
Take care
Jean
Jean DAndrea7
Retired
Hi Jeunelle,
Guess what should have been done, was that we cut down on greenhouse
gas emissions years ago, but the politicians and big corporations didn't
want to know!
A rain dance just might be the go. Last summer, I think in New South Wales,
a group of women got together out in the bush, and did a rain dance.
No men allowed, as they did it naked, in a secret spot. It actually rained
there shortly after! Co-incidence? Who knows....... :-)
Jean
Penny Young8
Consultant
Hi Jean,
Great to hear you are getting the rain. I thought of you first thing this morning when I woke to a wet Friday morning. I was hoping it was falling further south too. We've actually had a good, slow but steady soaking almost all morning. My little cat is not very happy either - she's not sure if she wants in or out :)
Jeunelle, whatever you are doing ... just keep doing it, as it appears to be working!
Penny
Jean DAndrea7
Retired
A little relief today, here in Melbourne - it's actually raining. Well, not what we used to
call rain, more like showers. Hey, these days, we take what we can get! The
garden's loving it.
For a change, everything looks fresh and green, instead of dry and dusty, and my
new little lime tree has two flowers on it.
The only person who's not happy with the rain, is my cat - she seems to think it's
all a plot to get her wet, and keeps asking me to turn it off, with very plaintive meo
Jean DAndrea7
Retired
Hi Penny,
I think a lot of us wish it were nationwide, although I guess the NT & Queensland
Top Ends don't really need more rain, with the monsoon season on its way.
I have one of those large blocks they used to give you in the suburbs.
Even some of my temperate climate native plants have died over the past
couple of years. It's hard to give them enough water with the restrictions
we have.
Th weather bureau say it's going to be a wet weekend ......... hhmmmm, well,
we're very
Penny Young8
Consultant
Hi Jean,
It's frustrating isn't it?! I only have a small garden, but it is still hard to keep it alive. Having native plants does help. We've been lucky in Sydney that we have been getting a bit of rain lately. Wish it were nationwide!
Penny
Jean DAndrea7
Retired
Just returned from a weekend away, to find a very dried out, unhappy looking garden!
The wind was the main culprit, coming down from the North, very hot and dry - the poor
plants were wilting.
I couldn't do anything about it, because of the water restrictions, so I'll just have to
save the water from the shower, before it gets warm, to throw onto the plants. This
year looks like being a very long, hot, and dry summer. The garden may well end
up looking like a desert by Autumn. Per
Jean DAndrea7
Retired
Hi June,
Know what it's like in the UK, as I was born there. Also came back and lived
there again for three years, but that was ages ago.
Saw your floods on TV. Looks as it the climate is changing everywhere.
The North of Australia is getting more rain - they got enough anyway, being
in the monsoon belt - and we're getting less. They say it's the El Nino
effect, triggered by global warming.........
Cheers
Jean
June Mac4
Hi Jean,
It must be difficult and frustrating to cope with the drought. I live in England and it is very rare to have such difficulties here (although know to happen ) We suffered the opposite this year in the summer with terrible floods and even death's resulted from them. I hope you get a little of our rainy season over there soon
Hugs June