Dancing in the Rain (and Making the Most of It)

I ’m a bullet , not a lizard . I ’d rather be under a bowlder than baking on top of it . My ideal weather condition is the nerveless temps of a SoCal wintertime ; my favourite sound is rain softly thumping on come leaves . That ’s when I work in the garden , go for long bike rides or read old issues ofFine horticulture .

It ’s too other to know if this will be a safe rain twelvemonth on the Left Coast , but whether Santa Barbara reaches our common 18 inch or the stingy six of a few year back , does n’t it make sense to take vantage of every ounce we do receive ?

With all the paved surfaces that surround us , it ’s amazing anything get into the ground . Back in the heartland , you ’re “ winterise ” your cars . I think we ’d be wise to do the same for our gardens . So here are a few things you may do to make the most of every drop curtain that accrue on your property .

Let ’s start with that lawn .

Fundamental question . What does your lawn do for you ? I ’m not a complete anti - lawn zealot , listen you . If you ’ve got kids who need somewhere to blow off some energy , or you ’re trying out for the Olympic croquet team , a lawn is the only practical surface . But if you do n’t expend it , suffer it - or at least downsize it .

Consider the monetary and environmental costs of a typical lawn . In the West , 60 percent of our residential water enjoyment is for lawn . The monthly water bill is only part of the equality : add the environmental cost of polluted run - off from fertilizers in our brook and gun mowers that spew 10 times more emissions than a typical automobile and you could see why you might want to rethink your attachment to this openhanded green wolf .

My first choice to comfort the impact of lawn is exchange it with a native mini - meadow of ornamental Mary Jane and colourful depleted - develop perennial like Fagopyrum esculentum .

If losing your lawn give you the shakes or threatens your man and wife , at least use this time of year to assess and tune up up your irrigation system of rules . get hold out if your water agency allow for a water audit - they’ll help you make the most of every drop and believably low your summer water system bill . And if you like hi - tech , well-situated - to - use gadgets , there are inexpensive irrigation accountant that use artificial satellite data to correct to the weather .

It ’s time to recall about vacation gift . Imagine the glee in the child ’ eye when they expose that new battery - manoeuvre mulching mower ! rather of cutting the blades of grass and bagging them , these mower chop the grass into tiny piece and drops them back onto the turf , creating productive organic fabric that returns nutrients to the soil and act like mulch to reduce evaporation .

Want some other project to make the most of winter rains ? Grab a cultivator and damp up the control surface cheekiness of your seam to let urine soak in . Get rid of weeds that vie for water ( no toxic sprays , please ) . test create little ground shoulder along the low-spirited side of a plantation owner to keep the rainwater urine from flow away .

Take advantage of the cooler weather to put a 3 - inch layer of mulch on your bed . ( In many domain , you could get free Mrs. Henry Wood chips from your solid waste garbage disposal folk or local tree service . ) Mulch does so many upright thing : it protects the soil from weed seeds and reduces evaporation , and it bit by bit decomposes and ameliorate the soil , breaking down clay and sum up nutrients .

I ’m wondering if Arthur Murray teach rain dancing . But the big question is whether they can find a partner for a biff .

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