David E. Ross wrote:
songbird wrote:
I previously wrote [also in part]:

By the way, see my "Gardening During a Drought" at
http://www.rossde.com/garden/drought.html.

i did. while most of it i agree with you don't say much
about rainwater capture/storage, landscaping to retain water
(slow, spread, soak) and wind breaks aren't really mentioned
either.

When we do get rain, more then 2/3 falls in December, January, and
February; often, that is more than 3/4. A cistern large enough to
supply water from March through November is quite out of the question.

i wasn't meaning about your site in particular, but
when speaking of arid climates there should be mentions
that those sorts of things can help a great deal. many
people have roofs and the downspouts go right into the
drains, they have no features in their lawns to capture,
slow, spread and soak rains, they have no mulch layers,
they don't consider the wind and how it can dry out
areas when it isn't blocked, etc.

as for roof capture of rain and getting through an
entire season, that is good, but even if that is too
big a consideration, even a few hundred gallons every
time it rains would make a dent in the water bill for
a few months and take some of the damand off the central
water supply. an entire city setup with a few hundred
gallons for each household would take a lot of storm water
that they used to have to treat and use it instead to
irrigate and help recharge the groundwater (which many
cities are now drawing on via wells to supplement their
other water supplies).


My landscape does indeed retain rain. Last week, we had 0.34 inches,
which is a lot for the entire month of May. I have not run my
sprinklers since last Wednesday and will not run them tomorrow. (The
Monday and Thursday only schedule does not go into effect until 1 June.)

that's good and of course it all helps.


where you mention mulch it is to say enough to cover the
soil which is better than nothing, but beyond that a deeper
mulch can be much better, especially if you have drip
irrigation below it.

I try to maintain several inches of leaf mulch where there is no ground
cover. Although I place twigs and small branches on top, the wind often
reduces the thickness of the mulch. My valley white oak cannot survive
without a thick mulch of leaves; I applied the mulch and then anchored
chicken wire on top. This will require quite some effort to renew the
mulch as it becomes compost.

one of the nice things about an arid climate is that mulch
lasts much longer. around here wood chips are good for a few
years - well rotted wood chips turn clay into pretty good
garden soil.


songbird