No rain in two weeks, all morning dragging hoses!

[RSKY]

Title says it all. I have spent all morning dragging soaker hoses around. Luckily Walmart had their heavy duty, thick, feels like a regular hose, soakers marked down on closeout. Got two of them for the garden and a cheaper $6.50 one for everything else. Also have six tall evergreens around the patio in the back that are on a timer to water every three days. Ran them thru their cycles twice today. They each have one of the three foot long circular soakers around them under the mulch. Two new magnolias in front also have the round short soakers around them. Will get half watered today and half tomorrow. Don't like to water after noon.

This old man is tired.

RSKY

 

[oosik]

I watered my fruit trees with an electric powered pump - down on a platform hard bolted to the lava cliffs. It is three feet above the lake. It was a REAL thrill in the spring and again in the fall. Slide down the cliff - don't fall in the lake - attach/remove the pump intake pipe and prime or drain the pump.

Two years of dragging hoses - reset sprinklers and keep it all running. It got real old - SO........ I used a single tooth harrow to establish a below ground irrigation system. The "ditches" I dug were only 3" deep. Just enough to not worry about hoses, etc when I mowed.

All I had to do - go to the main electrical panel and throw the breaker. It worked for the eight years we kept the orchard.

We quit the orchard after eight years. All we were doing was providing treats for all the local varmints.

 

[WM75Guy]

I feel your pain. I am fortunate that we bought a Micro Rain MR25 sprinkler system to water the riding arena to keep the dust down. I can wheel it to one spot, drag out the 165' of hose, and it rolls it up as it waters. Then off to the next spot. Does a 70' X 200' strip with up to 1/2 inch of water at the slowest setting. Trugreen just fertilized the yard so I will be watering shortly. Down to 96 degrees now, will wait a little longer.

Micro Rain MR25 | www.microrain.net

 

[WVH1977]

Opposite here in VA. July was one of the wettest summer months I can remember. Normally dry and dusty and wishing for a thunderstorm and drop of rain. All the trees I planted are doing well.n Right now it is around 70 and nice out.

 

[ericm979]

It hasn't rained in my part of California since May. We get an average of 50, up to 100 inches a year, all in about six months.

 

[jyoutz]

We have a very predictable pattern here in the high elevation southwest. Springs are dry and windy, June is very hot and dry, then the monsoon rains come in July through October. Winter snows are late November through March. Because of the dry springs and early summer, most people install drip irrigation systems to have our plants survive until July. For my garden I built a hard header pipe that feeds the drip hoses down each row. The 1/2” drip hoses have drip holes every 18”. At the end of the growing season, I roll up the hoses until spring. My orchard is watered with 1/2” or drip line on top the ground, stapled down so I can mow over it.

 

[ponytug]

We have a very predictable pattern here in the high elevation southwest. Springs are dry and windy, June is very hot and dry, then the monsoon rains come in July through October. Winter snows are late November through March. Because of the dry springs and early summer, most people install drip irrigation systems to have our plants survive until July. For my garden I built a hard header pipe that feeds the drip hoses down each row. The 1/2” drip hoses have drip holes every 18”. At the end of the growing season, I roll up the hoses until spring. My orchard is watered with 1/2” or drip line on top the ground, stapled down so I can mow over it.

I am really impressed that you can mow over your irrigation lines. I haven't had such great luck mowing around the drip lines.

All the best,

Peter

 

[jyoutz]

I am really impressed that you can mow over your irrigation lines. I haven't had such great luck mowing around the drip lines.

All the best,

Peter

I get a roll of 9 gauge wire and make staples, then fasten down the drip line so it’s anchored flat to the ground. Also I don’t do this in the lawn, just where I’m mowing native grass. I cut the native grass at 4”.

 

[ponytug]

I get a roll of 9 gauge wire and make staples, then fasten down the drip line so it’s anchored flat to the ground. Also I don’t do this in the lawn, just where I’m mowing native grass. I cut the native grass at 4”.

Got any staple forming tricks?

All the best,

Peter

 

[scootr]

No rain since May. Currently I'm fixing the GDF irrigation valves, wires, and drippers to keep a privacy hedge alive for 2-3 months when hopefully we get some rain.

 

[jyoutz]

Got any staple forming tricks?

All the best,

Peter

I use bolt cutters to cut the wires. Then I clamp a pipe in a bench vise. I grab each end of the wire and bend it around the pipe.

 

[kenmbz]

We get a few days of rain followed by weeks of dry.
I don't water lawns (well I did once last year).
I got a 16 gallon powered sprayer that I drag around with my lawn tractor. Regular hoses and containers for the pots of flowers on the decks and the mini garden.
All in about an hour , every other day.

Always lots of work during dry spells. The sprayer reduces the time by about an hour though.

 

[JasperFrank]

Its an absolute joy to having it rain in my area of the PNW this year in late summer. Last seven years, was an egg walk, when the whole forest, just seemed to WANT to burn down in late summer, and I had to balance what the well could do, and what the 1,500 gal cistern could do to water stuff around the house. I can relax now. And do other things, than constantly think of fire prevention. Worked with the Forest Service as to what is defensible, and they said something I though was counter intuitive. You have to remove everything that can travel on fire with wind. Nothing else really matters. This was repeated over and over again. Clean the gutters and rake the ground cones up. This is like taking out all the pine cones, and leave a space round the house with out them. Pie cones, are by nature, designed to spread fire. And house fires start in the gutters, by flying lite bits, and the dry leaves in them. Its not the sides, that start, its the gutters and the roof that start.

 

[Oaktree]

Opposite here in VA. July was one of the wettest summer months I can remember.

Same thing here...soggiest summer I can recall. If we're lucky might get 2-3 days in a row when it doesn't rain. I'm starting to grow moss...

Worked with the Forest Service as to what is defensible, and they said something I though was counter intuitive. You have to remove everything that can travel on fire with wind. Nothing else really matters. This was repeated over and over again. Clean the gutters and rake the ground cones up. This is like taking out all the pine cones, and leave a space round the house with out them. Pie cones, are by nature, designed to spread fire. And house fires start in the gutters, by flying lite bits, and the dry leaves in them. Its not the sides, that start, its the gutters and the roof that start.

Guess that makes sense when you think about it.
Very different climate/environment than we have around here.

 

[JasperFrank]

They also said, Maples don't propagate fires the way conifers do. Maples tend to shield against crown fires. I thought just the opposite. They were most interested in thinning the lower smaller conifers. That they said were the ladders to crown fires. Interestingly, there is a barrier of Maples that surround my house. They said keep these as best you can. They couldn't give a Cert of compliance. Yet, just said, I was doing as good as could be expected, and a bit more. This I thought strange, but I guess they don't want to be sued later. I really wanted them to give some sort of Cert to show the home owner's insurance company that fuel load abatement had been completed to the satisfaction of the Forest Service, as local insurers are completely dropping, wild fire, coverage all over my area.

 

[oosik]

Ten years ago. Watermelon Hill wildfire. Started about 9 or 10 miles west of me. Went up on the neighbors bunn - type of hill left by ancient floods - and watched as the fire approached from a distance.

Could easily see the front and the wind blown "fire bombs". Large chunks of burning matter being blown up to a quarter mile ahead of the burning front.

Wind changed direction and all the work the farmers with their large tractors did - put the fire out.

It was a terrible wildfire season. All the heavy duty fire equipment was over in Wenatchee fighting another large fire.

All the local farmers became hero's. We all remember the summer of 2014. Every direction you traveled - there were wildfires.

 

[JasperFrank]

And its always some idiot with a dragging chain.

 

[ponytug]

And it's always some idiot with a dragging chain.

Or a blown trailer tire on its rim...

Or ...

Or .

We just had one of those. Five ignition points on both sides of the road over a mile and a half. We spotted the fires within minutes of ignition, and the fire crews were on it quickly. The first chopper was dumping water within ten to twelve minutes of the first call. Two choppers went four hours looping around pulling water from local lakes, and dumping, trying to slow the spread in some very very difficult terrain. (60-70 degree brushy slopes.)

The fire crews were amazing, and noticeably better coordinated than three years ago, and it seems to have made a difference.

All the best,

Peter

 

[oosik]

When you get dry conditions - like we have now - it can be almost anything. 2014 was an exceptionally dry year.

Watermelon Hill was started by a couple fellows shooting at exploding rifle targets - Tannerite. A highway dept team started another. They were welding on a bridge railing and not watching where the slag went. Until the flames were lapping up around them.

A large number are started by lightning strikes.

Late summer can be a REALLY wild west show out here. And you don't even need your guns.