How are you handling the drought? (Birmingham, Madison: work, house, moving)

[Threestep]

Keeper, please let me know if you want to move it to another thread. Thank you. As the current situation pertains considerably to AL I put it here.

I am a gardener who had to downsize from acreage to gardenhome. The gras is almost gone. My husband gave up his desperate fight for his right to fertilize, water and cut and start the circle all over. Some flowers, some shrubs but mostly edible pretties and a vegetable garden hidden behind a fence. It feeds us and some too. My plants and gardening has spread. Several of our Japanese neighbors have thriving vegetable gardens with local and exotic produce, others stuck a tomatoe plant between the flowers.

Shelby County asks for limited handwatering as the resevoirs are low. No problem. My husband mass-produced PVC pipe connectors with a bit of drip hose for air conditioners (2-3 buckets per day) and handed out buckets to catch cold water in showers. Sounds ridiculous but multiply it by 30+ and it saves a plant or two.

I ripped out everything but some herbs we moved from house to house and peppers. Flowers and shrubs get handwatered every couple of days and the water bill has not changed. The fittest survive. Wisteria and pears are blooming. Kind of cute - pears ready to harvest and blooms on the same tree.

Wilsonville, a small community on 280 between Birmingham and Harpersville/Opelika is about to loose their water supply. The city well has gone dry.

Is it so hard for homeowners not to run sprinkler systems to the point of washing the street? Shelby County does not penalize extra useage - yet.

Even in our neighborhood the owners association aka mafia
(ok I am in trouble for slander!) waters gras every day. No return calls! They put in a new system?!?

Is it so hard to chip in, do your small part until this misery comes to an end?

[zenjenn]

It's incredible to me to read this, being in California where we get maybe 12 inches of rain a year on average, yet city after city after city after city of people as far as you can imagine, all water their lawns to keep a crisp green all year long, even in 110 degree dry heat. Not to mention that some cities will fine you if your lawn starts to turn brown. We basically get all our water from other states. I hate it. I would love to re-landscape to xeriscaping (drought resistant), but my husband has always had a strong feeling about having grass for kids. One thing I'm always told from people who live in the south who now live in California is that we will be amazed at how easy it is to grow things compared to here in California. Hopefully your drought won't go on much longer so I can actually witness the fertility!

[Keeper]

My poor grass is crunchy now and my tomatoes haven't are small and haven't produced much at all not to mention the g.peppers and okra I planted at the same time havent done a thing. Of course it might be the person who planted them too. I am watering the some of my flowers every couple of days.
Do you think the drought followed me up here from FL?
I just hope we don't end up having what OK and TX are having after their drought.
We all need to just do our part not to over water. I agree

[Southlander]

We have not yet had water rationing since we're on the Tennessee River, but it's expensive to water every day! I try to water the yard in the evening, right before dusk. It won't hurt my feelings a bit if the Dallis grass and invasive bermuda die! Anything that was growing has quit and is just trying to survive. My tomatoes have about given up, even with daily hand watering...the air is so dry.

[HSVmom]

In Madison, well before we were asked to reduce/stop watering, we stopped. Our grass was surviving until temps hit 100+ for over a week. Now it's brown and crunchy. Shrubs and trees have not died (yet) but some appear close.

South of B'ham, our lawn is newer and in much worse condition. B'ham Water Works charges a 300% penalty for "excess" use. Even if we had not stopped watering out of a desire to conserve, that penalty would have convinced us.

[Threestep]

My husband dragged three Japanese maples in huge pots with us for the last four moves. They were presents from us to us for very special occasions. Daily watering does not do the trick anymore. Stress is setting in :>)

[harry chickpea]

We have a well. As long as we don't use more than 50 or 60 gallons a day, it runs fine, and we could extend the pipes down another 10 feet or so if it started to be a problem. The plants we brought with us are doing OK. Watering grass in the country isn't a requirement. People expect to see the land reflect the conditions.

I'm glad we don't have to deal with the restrictions of a municipal water system. Oh yeah, we have a small year-round stream if we get desperate, but it is better for the most part to let nature take its course. That was part of the reason for our moving rural.

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by Threestep

My husband dragged three Japanese maples in huge pots with us for the last four moves. They were presents from us to us for very special occasions. Daily watering does not do the trick anymore. Stress is setting in :>)

Are you spritzing/spraying them with water? That might help, especially at night.
Thank God for air conditioning!...as long as the power plants can run...and even Browns Ferry is having trouble keeping up with demand...

[HSVmom]

Southlander:

even Browns Ferry is having trouble keeping up with demand...

Didn't I read that one reactor was shut down because the water from the TN river used to cool it is too hot? I seem to recall that the water temp got over 90, exceeding their limit.

[Threestep]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

We have a well. As long as we don't use more than 50 or 60 gallons a day, it runs fine, and we could extend the pipes down another 10 feet or so if it started to be a problem. The plants we brought with us are doing OK. Watering grass in the country isn't a requirement. People expect to see the land reflect the conditions.

I'm glad we don't have to deal with the restrictions of a municipal water system. Oh yeah, we have a small year-round stream if we get desperate, but it is better for the most part to let nature take its course. That was part of the reason for our moving rural.

Unfortunately we cannot do that yet. Yes, I have the old houseplans and very good intentions. Five more years and Hobbit House may be a town house:>)
Looking for acreage - either enough for a gras strip or within reasonable driving distance for my other half.