Last November, we had basically zero plants around the house. So, we planted and planted and planted, and are still planting. We have had to water and water and water and, well, you get the point. I am ready to see some rain soon, but it doesn't look like there is any in the forecast.

Looks like it going to be dry just like last year (and I think the year before). I have many trees planted that are far away from the house, so I have to carry 5gal buckets of water to them and that gets old quick. I have way too much grass to water, so it'll just have to turn brown.

i was thinking last spring started out much like this one but perhaps it was a bit later when the rains left us....the month of may? i lost a few plants last year from drought.

It seems like the only way we get much rain is with the hurricanes.

Phillip,

Your post could have been written by me. I'm really concerned - I've never seen it this dry this early before. It doesn't look promising at all.

Each year I spend more and more as far as gardening dollars go, reap less and less, while spending an unacceptable amount of time outside at night keeping everything irrigated. It didn't used to be this way, did it? Why are droughts suddenly the "norm"?

Good luck to everyone with respect to summer rainfall. Here's hoping you ALL have a wonderful growing season against what are stacking up as big odds.

Nelson

They are saying the third dryest March in Huntsville. Last time it was this dry was 1910. I looked into one of the cracks in the ground and saw the Great Wall of China!

Bob in Morgan County

I'd agree that it has been extremely dry. That's why the current infestation of what I think is blackspot on my roses is so troubling. Any ideas on what is causing that?
Thanks,
david

Maybe the drought stress is causing the roses to be more susceptible to blackspot? I have no idea. Almost every rose I have ever grown gets blackspot, which is the primary reason I don't even bother with most of them anymore. I have a 'Belinda's Dream,' which is supposed to be completely resistant (although I still see it on there at times) and an antique rose that's pretty resistant - I think Louis Phillipe - which makes small, very fragrant, red roses. I actually really like that one. I think it's also called the Florida Cracker Rose. LOL!!! Essentially care free.

Rain! Only 1/2" but it was a nice gentle rain and all the plants have perked up. Hopefully there will be more rain to follow later today or maybe tomorrow. This was in the very SE corner of AL.

Here in Pinson I haven't received even a tenth of an inch yet. Maybe the band of rain moving this way now will give us a bit more.

We're getting our share of rain here in Atmore today, right now my yard looks like a river.

Rain has finally reached our area....yeah!!!! Hopefully there is more to come....the air smells so fresh and clean...all that awful pollen washed away!!
Praise God for sending us this much needed rain.
Jan

Hi folks, we finally had rain in Mobile today. Typical summer rain, poured in some places and sprinkled in others. Looks like rain is in the forecast for the next couple of days.Humidity is 99.9%
Last spring due to our high water bills we put in a well(live in city), we now have unlimited water supply. Some days we water yard from dawn till dusk ,top the pool with it and only slight increase to power bill from use.
Rain or not ,water is right below you.

I guess the "rain event" is about over and the total here was 0.06". It didn't even wash the pollen off of my car. The forecast calls for some more small chances over the next few days, but I don't think I'll be holding by breath.

I think I'm going to limit my vegetable garden this year to just 2 or 3 tomato plants, and those will be grown in a square bale of hay.

okay harrywood - how much did hte well cost? I have honestly considered it...but i am scared of getting an estimate on a well....

We had been paying water bill of over 100 a month. Could have gotten water meter just for the yard but wanted mother natures natural water. Dug well 150 ft deep, suction at 100 ft, water table at 82 ft.2hp deep well jet pump. Cost 2200.
Installed inground pool in Nov. 06, filled with well water, app 24000 gallons of water added about $20.00 to power bill.Inital cost was high but, wife and I both enjoy the well. You should see the cute pump house I built over it. Installed 5 water faucets in front and back yard from well.
Now our water bill is about 20 a month. Might take a few years to recoup cost but watering yard and plants with no additives, just mother natures own ground water.

Not only is it the driest spring, but we just went through one of the driest winters as well!!! It is scary!!!

And while we were supposed to get some rain this weekend(and obviously some of you did) I just got a slight dampening. We need much, much more.

This time of year we should be getting some torrential thunderstorms with tornado warnings. And it ain't happening!!! Aaaaghhhh!!!!!

Wow Harrywood - that is not bad - i figured 5K or more easily. I am going to look into this.....thanks!

I ended up with .85 inches. I also use a well for the garden have it at 100 ft and get decent water out of it. Does save a bundle on the water bill. The well driller I used charged 15.00 a ft to dig it and that included 20 Ft of casing. I installed everything else myself.

I just got a quote to restore the well on my property. $2400, which is everything but drilling the well. That includes running a 200' trench up to the house for power and to put the tank under the house, new submersible pump and all hardware and labor. The well is 59' deep and water is 13' down right now, which is pretty low for here. I hope the pond doesn't dry up this summer and kill all the fish.

I was told it would be about $1700-1800 for drilling -- I asked because I thought drilling closer to the house might be cheaper than running the trench (it isn't). Maybe that will help ya'll with mental estimates for if it's feasible for you.

I don't think I'll do it, but we'll see what the first water bill looks like. I am not watering much, just the garden every few days and the new berries and vines one a week. The water table is pretty high here, so the trees are all doing fine.

I need to put gutters on the house anyway, so I will probably just do a rooftop water catchment system instead.

I've always had a well on my property, but just this past fall, convinced my DH to put a pump in it and run water lines to my yard. (After last seasons water bills, he wasn't hard to convince!) I now can water almost all my gardens with it. He is going to install more line to my "nursery" area and seedling beds this month, then I won't have to use city water at all on my gardens. As harrywood said, mother natures natural water is bound to be much better for the plants.
Jan

Well, there always seems to be either drought or flood. We are up to 7" now and more to come. I was afraid that my seedlings would be washed up since it rained so hard....but it looks like they are OK.

Residential wells are installed in 2 sizes.
To supply a home I would have put down a 4" casing, but just for the yard we installed 2".Big difference in price. Driller wanted 2800 to dril 4" to 150 that did not include pump and discharge line.Would have been cheaper for myself if we'd installed 1HP pump but due to depth I wanted 2HP.My best estimate is it's pumping 10 gallons a minute. Wifes says it like a fire hose. We have plenty of water pressure.We run 3 sprinklers at a time some days.Grandkids had water fights with each other last summer, each with their own hose and nozzle. Something I sure would not let them do with city water due to cost.
I had to install electrical to well and laid my own water lines and faucets which is not to expensive.
I've always been a handy man and try to do everything myself.Tried to rent well drilling equipment, apparently thats unheard of.
Alabamanicole, where do you live with water table at 13 ft?I'd be scared to drink from that well with such shallow depth.Had my well water anayalized , no traces of metals or chemicals. Only draw back is PH of 4.7.
Another plus with the well, when working in yard and the heat is unbearable you can shower down with ground water at a constant 70 degs.
Grass is already green.

I'm in Hartselle, a ways outside the city lines -- the water table is normally even higher. This was a residential well very recently. The lady that owned the place before me said they got tired of priming the pump all the time after freezes and that's why they went on county water. So the well should be good drinkable water, but I hadn't planned on using it for drinking. If I did do the project, I'd have the water tested anyway, of course.

Morning Alabamanicole,
With a submersible pump you'll never loose prime. Got to be 4" casing for this type pump to drop in.
If you have a handyman you can do well job for half what quote is. Provide he can do electric ,plumbing and operate a ditch witch. Then again 2400 not bad to have unlimited water.
Mother natures on natural ground water.

Harrywood....that's what I have, a curbed well, (no telling when it was dug because it was on the property when I bought it) with a submerged pump. My DH did all the electrical and plumbing, so the cost of the pump and other supplies were all we had, and I've got terrific pressure also. The water is nice and cool all the time. I may have it tested just to see if it would be good drinking water. I hate the taste of the "city" water and refuse to drink it. I buy bottled water to drink. :)
Jan

6" casing, Harrywood. He didn't quote it, so I think that's what I have now. He quoted the submersible pump for just that reason, but warmed they wouldn't last as long as the others (10-15 years vs. 30-40 years.)

I can't find a handyman to help with the little stuff I can do myself and just need extra hands for; fat chance I can find a good one who can do something like this. The labor is only $750 from the well guy anyway.

Well, i may look into it in the future, and see. I can get a copy of the water table map for my property from the county - but in no big hurry, can't do it right now - but projects for the future!

Planning to reroute the gray water in the house to front yard (fenced in area for dogs) and do some foundation plantings out there - only way to keep anything alive is that type of water (labs can't chew up the hose) and tomatoe cages around the plants until they are bigger - the plants, not the dogs. They are 5 going on 6 months still...

I know parts of the state farther north have probably had more rain than they want this spring but I wanted to revive this old thread to see how you folks feel this spring's drought compares to '07. I just moved to AL from OH about a week before this thread started and remember it was very dry then. It seems this year it was OK until the beginning of April, but it hasn't rained more than a sprinkle since then. I swear it looks like the huge old pecan tree in my yard is wilting. My wiregrass yard is brown and feels/sounds like walking on rice crispies.

Harrywood, what was the price difference between 2" and 4"?

I'd be interested in having a well if it didn't cost me an arm and a leg. Would a 1 HP pump be sufficient if the well wasn't so deep? Pressure wouldn't have to be overly high because my drip irrigation system has to be run on lower pressure anyway. I don't plan on watering my lawn.

Sorry that events have led to this thread's revival, but this year is much worse than '07, both in terms of rainfall and heat in my area. And the years in between haven't been "normal" by any means.

I can't even remember when the last frost was, but it had to be late February. I have fruit on my bananas already, and that is unheard of for the first of June. But if we don't get some significant rain and lower temps soon (and very soon), everything in my yard will be dead.

The year started off so promising - now it sucks bigtime. Anybody with a clue as to what's going on?

Nelson

I've lived here for 18 years, and it sure seems like in the last several years we have more prolonged hot and dry spells...the old pattern when you could almost count on a late afternoon cloud burst with some rain once or twice a week during the summer hasn't been around. I feel like I'm going to get so sick of dragging the hose around I may just go to growing agave and bamboo and say the heck with this nonsense. Using city water in good ol' Jefferson county will be too expensive, anyway.

We've lived here 30 years and I don't ever remember it being this hot and dry this early in the summer. I cannot keep enough water on the garden. I've got soaker hoses with 2-3 inches of pine straw over it. Accidently left the soaker running for 4 hours one day. 3 days later it was like the plants hadn't seen water in weeks! And the gnats! Have NEVER seen them this bad!
dell

I've been in Nashville for a week looking after a grandson and drove in yesterday afternoon. The DH was supposed to water the plants in pots, but . . . . Most are still alive -- barely. I've had the sprinkler going ever since we got home from church at 11:00 this morning. (I know you're not supposed to water in the hot part of the day, but sometimes you can't be choosy.) Still, even the places that were under the sprinkler for 2 hours are barely damp. No rain in the 10 day forecast, so guess we'll all be watering everything for the foreseeable future. Bah, humbug!