John I can babysit some of your plants if you want. I have rain barrels and since I almost live in a dry lake bed we have more water than most -- in fact my area of Johnston County has gotten some good rainfall when Wake County hasn't. I always have a pot ghetto going so it wouldn't be any trouble.

It's hard to believe we're in a drought at our house. Our yard is soggy, soggy, soggy. I'm trying to get some building done and they can't even get across my yard with their equipment. Even a compact pickup sinks several inches. I don't understand it. I think it's wetter than it's ever been except maybe right after Fran. There aren't any water lines in the area that could be broken either. I don't know where it's coming from.
Dana

Alicia - I may take you up on that offer. I have some potted roses that I'm afraid to plant because it will be so hard to water them. I know you like roses so you may enjoy these guys. I got them for free so even if I lose them I probably won't cry too much. Besides my semi-shade yard isn't perfect for roses anyway. I'm thinking of repotting things into larger pots with fluffy soil so that they can handle the exremes a bit better. I'll have my people contact your people and we'll work something out.

Dana - I had a similar situation years ago. Back when we had that other drought. I had a large load of compost/soil delivered and due the dry conditions I thought it would be fine to have them drive the big monster truck across the back yard. Well it somehow got stuck in the mud!!! something about the weight of the truck compressed the soil and worked up a mess of water which caused the beast to get stuck. Took all afternoon to finally free it. I would have done better to have them dump it in the driveway and haul it back to the garden one wheel barrow load at a time!

If you were standing in my yard right now you would think that things are fine. It is only when you start digging that you notice that about 6 inches down things get very very dry.

I spent 3 hours outside this morning doing the winter clean-up and trim. We have a well, but I don't want to rely upon it for plants since we can't see how much is left! We've still got a lot of water in rain barrels for the plants, but I'm not using it.

This drought is going to put landscapers and maybe plant nurseries and retail garden shops out of business if it continues.

I've made NO plans to plant anything. I was looking at things that I need to move around, but I'm even afraid to do that as the plants are established. I think I took a big hit on some of the new varieties of coreopsis and coneflowers from the drought. It's so discouraging to think of planting and losing plants.

My lavenders, buddleias, dianthus, nepetas, and other similar drought-tolerant plants are doing great. My crocus are blooming! The Dutch Iris came up about a month ago, but fortunately haven't bloomed. The daffs are starting to poke up out of the mulch.

Hoping for a lot of rain (but no wind) tonight!

Take care.
Cameron

I've also noticed that anything I pamper gets eaten by voles!!! I guess they smell the water I pour by the cupfull onto my prized babies. They have also mastered the art of eating their way into the bottom drain holes in my plant storage area and gobbling up the roots. Ding Dang D@mmit!!!!

I am so thankful I am on a private well!!! Also have a spring fed creek along the side of the property :)

John - I'd be happy to babysit as well. Since I don't have a huge garden, the water I use is minimal anyway.

This will definitely be the spring of lavender planting for me!

John, I can babysit too if I can make it to the seed swap, which I'm hoping. We have a well and space in the pot ghetto. And as wet as our yard is (it's not dry underneath - it's sopping wet all through), I don't think I'll be needing to water anything in the ground for awhile.
Dana

Be careful using your well water. Last night in a program on safety in the woods,a woman from the county talked about abandoned wells. However, she also talked about water in general, pointing out that veins that feed one well usually go to other wells, so more than one household is impacted if there is a drought or if there is contamination.We're all in this together. Just hope and pray for continuing rain. Our small lake is still not up to the original level, despite our recent good rains.

I should be fine til spring is here. Most of my collection is kinda dormant now anyway. I was growing a lot of stuff to sell at the farmer's market but that is out for this summer (unless they lift the watering ban). So I need to sit down and make decisions on what to keep and what to pitch. Most of it isn't gonna kill me if I never get them back. Since I volunteer for so many plant based events and places I get free plants all the time. Maybe I'll just have a big give away after it warms up in late April and let people just haul off what they want. I can always get cuttings later when the drought is over.

I think I can rig up some sort of system so that I can keep a few flowerbeds watered and a reduced version of my current pot ghetto - but there is no way I can catch enough rain water or haul enough water up from the creek to water everything I have now!!! Last summer some of my newly planted shrubs really suffered. This summer if I can't water with a hose I don't know how they will take it. Of course there is always the "dark of night" watering trick. But if they come up with a Stage 3 restrictions (undefined at the moment) it could be that they evaluate your usage by looking at your bill in which case they will know how much water I am using above past summers. Currently I am down to 42 gallons per day but the city wants everyone down to 25. I think its gonna be a year of indoor gardening and porch plants rather than working deep in the woods.

Yes, it is a sad day in Mudville (we wish is was muddy!), but I feel most for the plant/landscape related businesses that will bear the brunt - there's a huge domino effect about to play out. I put off fall planting, partly because of the dryness and long range forecasts, partly because I just didn't have the energy - vowed to pick up the slack and kick myself into gear in spring, but here we are - still in a holding pattern.

However, I will do some spring planting to fill in some gaps. And I will buy said plants from local nurseries to help them out and promise not to whine over the cost. Plan on using water spikes w/soda bottles on the newbies - that much house overflow water I can lug. And my two 65 gallon rain barrels are at the ready for heavy duty this year. Beyond that, hose watering was always a hated task (hauling hose just didn't work for me), good thing since now I'm 'prohibited'. Sigh.

Quick query - back last year, in the lesser restrictive time, someone posted that watering veggie gardens was exempt as they were deemed a food source ...... and the suggestion of planting veggies among the flowers was brought up (hehehe). Hmmmmm, haven't seen or heard anything about that this year - anybody else? I do veggies in earthboxes (very water conservative)in my side yard, but placing a few 'maters and pepper plants out front might be indicated. Come to think of it, squash vines could make a dandy groundcover ... Hmmmmm.......

I'm truly not tryng to get around restrictions - I practice very conservative water use all the time and will continue to do so. Just brain-storming ideas to keep NC green while scratching my gardeners' itch. Hope my thoughts are taken in the spirit in which they are offered.

Does the state determine water restrictions for the entire state or is it by town or county? Where we live ( near Hickory) it has been a pretty wet winter, despite the gloomy dry forecast by the weather experts. I have been out digging, transplanting things and just getting rid of some plants and the ground seems good and moist pretty deep. I'm sorry to hear yours isn't, John. I have been getting optimistic that they'd end water restrictions here.

Linda

Yes, bummer indeed. I was looking at Durham's restrictions, and they appear to have an allowance for hand watering with a watering can one day per week at a certain time span. Was surprised to see no allowance for that in the Raleigh rules. We are in North Raleigh, the Aqua company, and Aqua I think is well water - but can I assume that we are in the same boat as greater Raleigh?

I am right at the point of starting my veggie seedlings - and trying to decide if I even should! this is going to be in incredibly challenging season for so many.

Craig

I've been planting things left over from last year in the ground now -- they're bound to do better not watered there than not watered in little pots come July. The soil moisture seems OK, but usually this time of year it's too soggy to dig so I think my ability to work the soil is a bad omen for later in the year.

I guess if push comes to shove, I can limit the kids' showers to once a month to divert resources to the brugmansias.

craig, if you are on a well, even a community one, you'd have to check with them about restrictions. city of raleigh rules don't cover wells. especially since you have a business riding on it, i'd make some phone calls. i know they are allowing nurseries to use drip irrigation- so maybe you can get an exemption if you are on the city's system.

Wow, I saw yesterday where Raleigh will essentially run out of water from Falls Lake this summer without some tropical storm or such. That is downright scary. Here in Cary, where we pull our water from Lake Jordan, we are still under restrictions regarding automatic watering devices, but at least we can still use the hose. We set up two rain barrels this weekend in anticipation of more stringent restrictions. Now, all we need is some rain!

I hope we get more rain soon...sadly I always though April was Raleigh's wettest month, but it is surprisingly the driest month of the year! Lets hope April bucks the trend and history and gives us april showers!!

I was wondering about this "hand watering" exception. I assume it's ok to fill a bucket up by hose and then pour it onto your garden. But what about carrying the hose around with you, filling the bucket as you go? Or I even leaving the hose in the bucket and continuously pour it onto your garden. The whole thing seems to have a lot of loopholes to me.

WOW!
This site seems to be the busiest of all. Had a moment while me breakfast is cooking. Sausage and.............
Was going to grab a couple of peach trees to put in, but.....
Anyway, what I did to save the rain is buy 33gal garbage cans and keep filling them from the "main barrel." I have my 7th one working now.
Will put tomatoes and peppers in containers this year. My peppers made it till Dec 1, before the freeze got them.
Here in Lancaster County, we're affected by the Catawba river, aka Duke Energy. Those reactors up there have priority. They are too difficult to shut down in a low water environment.
Our small town of Heath Springs is just a puppet to the "big cities!"
John

corin99, as I understand it, as to hand watering you MAY water straight from a hose. But it has to be HAND watered, that is , no unattended watering (ie sprinklers, or you can't just turn on the hose, lie it down and let it run. )It does NOT have to be only from a watering can or bucket.

NO, you CANNOT USE A HOSE. there was a big ad placed by the city in the n&o the other day with the rules and you can't use a hose in any form now (as of today). please don't- the first offense fine is now $1000- a steep price to pay. second offense they cut off your water. a watering can or bucket has to have come out of the house or a rain barrel or pond from what i've read (in articles they've run- that wasn't specified in the rules.). be careful out there!

Wow - that is a severe restriction over there in the triangle. I offer my sincere condolences - as I too will be getting rain barrels if the same restrictions happen here in Charlotte.

That said, we seem to be getting a steady diet of rain this year - at least once a week. I guess it's going to take a hurricane to fix our drought.

Cheers!
- Jerry (who lived in Phoenix for 8 years, where they've NEVER had a water restriction put into effect - "free" water from the Colorado, courtesy of US taxpayers)

I am new to NC from AZ. I was so looking forward to planting a garden and a lawn this year in the beautiful WET NC. So much for that! Does anyone know where I could get a couple of rain barrels? I searched the internet for cheap rainbuckets but couldn't find any sources. Any ideas? I live in the Triad area.

Farmer JohnSC, I know what you mean. I moved here in Kershaw to get away from the big city and it seems to be following me. :-( But I'm going to put in a rain barrel this year if the conditions continue. I'm also going to sink a well, I made a mistake when I built the house by not putting in a well then. I went to save the dollars and put in County water instead. I feel for you folks up around the Triad, I know you have it way worse than we do here. I lived in Charlotte for many years and got disgusted and gave up the second year of "no watering your lawn". I'm taking reasonable measures here, no panic yet. I put in Bermuda Grass for my lawn to keep down on watering and maintenance, I've got a brand new house with water saving features, I only run a dishwasher or laundry with a full load. IMO, our problem is much deeper than a drought. We are overpopulating this area and not building infrastructure and managing resources correctly. I currently don't have a bad situation with my yard and garden right now, we are getting regular rain and everything is doing well. But if our water is restricted due to upstream use, then during our normal dry months, I'm going to be in trouble. This is all cycles the weather goes thru here, I remember in 1986 driving to Tenn. to get hay for my horses. It was so dry the hay production here was zero. IMO we need more water production when the water is there and storage facilities to firm up our available supply.

This year it sounds like AZ is getting more rain than we are! It's no longer an event there anymore. I think somebody needs to tip the earth so the rain falls this way. :o>

John, if you need another plant sitter, I can help you. I'm new to NC, just moved here. But I do have space for your plants and watering will not be a problem. I'm on a private well and back up to some wetlands. Also will have a rain barrel shortly. I am about 15 miles east of Raleigh.

Hope it's okay to post this here (I'm actually surprised no one else has yet.) Tony really says it like it is.
________________________________________

Excerpted from Tony Avent's "Plants Delights Nursery" newsletter -

...... Back in the Raleigh area, City leaders have made an unfortunate and
less than intelligent decision to ban hand watering of plants due to the
current water shortage. Below, is a letter I have sent to both the
Raleigh City Council and the local media outlets. Please feel free to
share this with any interested party and if you live in the effected
area, you may want to contact the City Council and express your
displeasure with their recent actions.
http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_00306_207_043/http;/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/category/Government/Elected_Officials/Cat-MCH-2006509-142902-Council_Districts_and_Me.html

Open Letter to the City of Raleigh

I continue to await an article that correctly shows who is responsible
for the current water shortage, but alas, no luck. Lets look at the
facts. Raleigh was 7.24" (17%) below normal for its annual rainfall in
2007. In 2006, Raleigh was 10.64" (25%) above normal in rainfall. For a

two-year period, that put us well above average. Is this the first time

weÂve had well below normal annual rainfall? Of course not. 2005, was

nearly as dry as we ended that year 5.5" below normal. What did city
officials do after that dry year? They continued to encourage growth,
sell more water, and did nothing to increase future water supply. If
you
look at area lake levels, you will notice Gaston Lake and Kerr Lake are

full. Jordan Lake is only down 8", while Falls Lake is 8.4' below
normal
and Lake Michie is 7.3' below normal. Why are the differences so
dramat ic...poor planning! Being a Raleigh native, I remember in 1981
when Falls and Jordan Lakes were completed and City officials assured
us
Raleigh and surrounding towns would never again face a water shortage
or
water restrictions. Fast forward 27+ years and residents are now being
blamed for the current water shortage, and are being asked to change
their lifestyle because City leaders didnÂt properly do their job.
Raleigh officials have oversold their supply of water while encouraging

growth beyond their ability to supply water. Planning based on average
rainfall forgets to take into account that averages are just
that...averages of two extremes...below normal years and above normal
years. Imagine a business the size of Raleigh or Durham making such an
egregious error in planning. Such a lack of foresight and poor
management would most certainly result in immediate dismissal of
officers and board members, as it should.
Any farmer will tell you the first thing to do in a drought is to clean

the silt from your pond or lake, greatly enlarging your pool of
available water. Since the 2002 drought, I have watched and waited for
Raleigh and Durham to clean the silt from their water supplies, yet
from
driving by the lakes, this has still not been done. Without a doubt,
itÂs more difficult for a municipality, since they must work through
the
Army Corp of Engineers, and have the silt tested for contaminants, but
surely this should have been put on the fast track after 2002. IÂve
heard cost mentioned as a reason this didnÂt occur, but that
doesnÂt
pass the laugh test. Compared to the loss of revenue from water sales
and the tax revenue being lost by affected businesses, this is false
economics. Having driven by area lakes, the amount of silt...i.e. rich
topsoil, in both lakes is huge, with its removal nearly doubling the
water storage capacity. The financial investment of cleaning the lakes
could be easily offset by selling the dredged topsoil to homeowners,
landscapers, and developers.

Instead, Raleigh leaders have opted to further punish homeowners and
the
green industry (nurseries, landscapers) businesses by outlawing hand
watering. I keep waiting for these same leaders to require all
restaurants to close or only use paper plates and cups. How about that
long-awaited ban of drinking Aquifina water, which is pumped from Falls

Lake? Yes, if the spigot to the Pepsi-Cola plant (RaleighÂs largest
municipal customer) was shut off, the water savings would be
tremendous.
Instead, city leaders have chosen the easy path of punishing only the
green industry...and now the power washing industry. All other
industries are only asked to follow best management practices.

It seems we need to clue the Council in that the green industry
produces
and sells a living product that cannot be installed without water.
These
are the same city leaders that require our plants to be used in the
form
of a mandatory landscape ordinance. Imagine the outrage if our esteemed

leaders did something equally as bizarre and banned pet watering and
bathing. To not allow any hand watering for the green industry is the
same as forcing a non-water dependant business to close. WhereÂs the
common sense? WeÂre all willing to do our part, but we are not
willing
to shoulder the entire burden for the cityÂs lack of planning.
LetÂs
start by cutting off the water to these same city leaders that got us
into this situation. Then, letÂs rescind the hand-watering ban and
please, letÂs think before passing any more ridiculous regulations
that
put so many people out of business and residents out of work...shame,
shame, shame!

-Tony Avent

ZigZag, good post!! Even though I'm far removed from the situation in the Triad, I respectfully understand what you guys are dealing with. Charlotte is dealing with much the same altho not quite as dramatic. The drought of 1986 was equally as bad on a year per year basis, yet we didn't have the issues we are now facing from our leaders, government and the worse situations for a potable water supply to residents. Tony is so very much on target about silt. There are many maintenance concerns that can be addressed instead of simply stating all residents are wasteful. I've seen this first hand by living in a property at one time above Hendersonville on an Apple Farm. The home was well over 100 years old and had a hand dug well. My supply started to run short and a man came out and removed a bunch of silt from the bottom of the well. I had great water pressure and no shortage of supply for the remainder of the two years I lived in the home. One question I have is why does the counties, and governing bodies encourage a person who lives in a rural area, miles from the city, to tap into a municipal water supply instead of digging their own well? I fell prey to this and wish I had thought it thru more before doing as I was "told" by my builder. I will be correcting that situation soon. I don't think your post is out of line at all, I do think we need to open up trains of thought and respectful debate to all things that are putting us in a situation of reduced supply and not simply look to the weather as the reason.

ZigZag good post. Thanks for sharing.

First Lutheran Church of Greensboro is selling 55 gal. rain barrels for $70. This is the best price I have seen around here. The church will not make a profit, according to the article in today's N&R. You have to pick them up March 15. www.nerainbarrel.com; 877-977-3135. I may get another one(already have three) but wish they were not blue!

Well I got my letter from the city the other day. It explains the watering guidelines and states the $1000 fine for your first offense and in fancy language says they will cut off your water with the second offense. Pretty stiff rules. I have read online about other parts of the country where they have BANNED the use of rain barrels!!! something about interrupting the natural flow of water. It all comes back to another post where we discussed how an environmentally progressive homeowner has to be filthy rich to do anything - the laws don't support innovation.

Yesterday I hauled water up from the creek and it wasn't so bad. Since everything is uphill I have to lug it by the bucketfull - which is not the most efficient way but I guess I am watering the woods in the process. I believe that I can limp through the summer on this system and just devote one weekend afternoon to moving water up to the garden (great exercise by the way).

I don't think I will need any plant adoptions - thanks everyone for your kind offers. I will dump a lot at the spring swap and trim a bunch back to keep things smaller and easier to move around. I am going to go ahead and plant most of what I have now, thinking that their chances are better in the ground than baking in the summer heat in a pot.

Your welcome, folks. I hesitated only
because this site is pretty careful about
keeping business separate from our
gardening pleasures. Personally, I find
Tony's well thought out, factual views
enlightening ...... and his sense of
humor, liberally sprinkled throughout
his catalogue, is really my style!

I am sorry I blew out the thread - is
there any way to edit (to break up
that link)? Maybe a manager can take
a look at it. TYIA.

While we're bashing the politicos
who have created this mess, as Tony
outlines above, I have little faith
in them for my own good reasons.

For 12 years I owned and ran a
business which was based on and
used A LOT of water. All was fine
for the first 2 years, then my water
bill skyrocketed for no reason.
Long story short, after a year of
investigations and water dept. head
scratching they decided they couldn't
figure out which meter was mine
(ummm, how 'bout the one you've been
reading and billing from for the first
2 years?). At their directive, I'd
been paying on account to keep from
going delinquent while they researched
the problem. When they gave up, they
not only refunded all the $$$ I'd paid
during that time, but they closed my business
account. For the next
10 years, I had no water bill .... but
plenty of water! This was within a
bonafied shopping center with many other
businesses (low useage) and restaurants
(high useage). I always wondered how many
other messed up connections/accounts they had.

Things that make you go hmmmmm......

Regarding ugly rain barrel blue, you can now buy paint that sticks to plastic, so you can at least paint your rain barrel if you like.

Wow, I cannot believe that rain barrels are banned -- especially since water from roofs runs off so fast. I suppose the logic behind that is that the lakes will fill up faster. But still, it's rather silly. With my house it takes only 2/10s of an inch of rain to fill four 75 gallon water barrels.

In reference to the water company: The first year we moved here -2004- we tried to grow a lawn. So our water usage went up in the summer months. Went down over the cooler months. In 2005 we tried again to grow a lawn. Just wasn't working.Same thing in 2006. Last year, we decided not to worry about lawn, heck there's a drought! We got rain barrels.Use them for plants and veggies. We never wash our cars at home. Imagine our surprise when we find out the water company changed our meter. See, we go away for a week or more for the holidays, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, We take a vacation ....but the water usage never shows any less usage. We have been practicing the mellow yellow rule, the bucket in the shower and saving all water that comes through til it gets hot and use it for flushes or heat it in a pot to wash dishes, turning off the water while soaping up.....As a matter of fact, I had knee surgery in October and was not allowed to shower for 17 days, So is there a decrease in my water usage? NO ! No matter how you do the math, Johnston county is not reading meters very well. Hubby says they had to put in a new meter because the county felt it must be broke because we weren't using what we had in the past. We have looked for leaks, there are none. On this bill they say we used an additional 1000 gallons of water in 4 days. If you do the math, that figures out to 147 gallons a day on a 34 day billing cycle. Up from 133 gallons a day for a 30 day cycle.So they say we are using 49 gallons per person a day. 3 of us and dog....uuuuggggh.... Our one neighbor, who has company ALL the time and parties every weekend (figure beer in beer out =flush) uses only 2000 gallon per month. For three people. Figure that one out. Another neighbor has two people in house and they say they used an additional 1000 gallons last month. That figures out to 73.5 gallons per day...... It seems that there is no rhyme or reason as to how the water is billed. Can't wait to see if the billing follows previous years cycle..... Sorry about the rant but this is really bothering me.Any one else in Johnston County confused?

Mickey, are you billed by City of Raleigh? If so, you're in good company puzzling over bills. If not, then Johnston Cty sounds as messed up as Raleigh!

The CoR billing has been 'explained' in the newspaper, but there's no explaining insanity. The CoR billing is ridiculous, makes no sense to most of us and makes it impossible to know if your lifestyle conservation is accomplishing anything. My water bills vary bi-month to bi-month by mere pennies, but my life just isn't that consistant. And, like yourself, I was away for over two weeks in Dec., but 'useage' was unchanged.

Latest bill I got had a new box proclaiming that I use 56 g/p/d all by myself. I don't think so ......

We are billed by Johnston County. It just doesn't seem like there is any consistentsy to the way they bill. It seems that if one homeowner's bill goes up 1000 gallons so do others. Hmmmm.I am also a little confused as to where exactly our water comes from. Where DOES Johnston County pull it's water from? Neuse river, City of Raleigh....If you check the Johnston County website it doesn't tell you. It also doesn't tell you about what exactly is restricted or allowed.

Johnston County water comes from the Neuse River.

Looks like gardeners are gonna have to install rain barrels if we want to keep our plants alive. I have given up on my lawn, but have lots of plants in containers that I don't want to lose -- as well as selected trees, shrubs and perennials around the yard. We also have a small backyard pond with fish that will have serious problems if we can't periodically add more water.

Although I think the city is doing the right thing with the new water restrictions, it bothers me that they have not planned better for the problems. I tried to buy a rain barrel from Raleigh Public Works last week, and they were all out of them. I had called for information the day before and they made no mention of supplies being short. I drove downtown the following day during lunch, and they were completely out of rain barrels and conversion kits. Plus they could give me no timeline on when they might be available.

Top for Tami

Wow, second offense they'll turn your water off!! Talk about creating health related issues! What a mess! I agree with Tony as far as poor planning and wonder what if any effect sending his letter to all our local newspaper editors would have. I heard a blurb that the Governor is thinking about leveling the field as far as restrictions, across the state. Anyone know anything about that?

From something I read a long time ago there are places where what is above your property is not considered yours, so in those situations they conisder it theft of a natural resource if you collect rain water in any way. Must really limit people's gardens!

Can't find anything about the blurb I heard on the news, but did find this... Hope it's ok to put this here?

Redrawing state lines?

from the article... ::::::snip:::::The Georgia House and Senate this week passed separate resolutions that would create a commission with Tennessee and North Carolina officials to resurvey and redraw the border at the 35th parallel. Water-thirsty Georgia, hit hard by a drought this past year, has long had its eye on Tennessee River water, tantalizingly out of reach across the state line.::::::::snip:::::

Good article about the border battle - I saw a tv news clip on this and couldn't believe my eyes! Considering the mayhem just adding a new phone area code or mail zip code creates, imagine the mess relocated TN residents would have to deal with - a whole new state of residence!

As for the '2nd offense = water turn off', I can't imagine the Board of Health would allow that. Wonder if the City has devised some sort of 'denver boot' or 'lock-box' for outside faucets? Without some detail, it sounds like an empty threat to me and can you imagine the lawsuits??

Time Lapse Animation of Drought from April of last year....

wow- that's really cool. thanks for posting, deb.

btw- deb made a post in the conversations side that has a whole bunch of links that have to do with the drought- check it out!