Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
tunnymowg

Reflected heat?

tunnymowg
13 years ago

Hi RMGers -

I haven't been around in ages but am hoping for some answers/ideas. Our (1940) home's gas meter is right up against the front of the house in a foundation bed that faces due west (and gets no shade). The bed sits under a bay window, and the meter is situated on one side of the "bump-out" so that it faces forward and to the left. It's rather massive and made of iron I think; the box itself is about 18" off the ground and measures roughly 12"x8"x6", and then there's probably at least two feet of of 2" pipe snaking around, above and below it. About 8" away off to the left side of the meter and slightly downhill is a smallish arborvitae, and in front of it there's a siberian catmint about a foot away. Both of these plants are getting completely fried, but only where they face the meter - especially the arb. It was really brown and crispy looking earlier this summer...still looks pretty bad but I'm giving it extra water which seems to help a little (the other side is nice and green). The catmint never really looked very burned but it was almost as if the leaves got eaten completely and all at the same time. One day there were leaves but then by the end of the next week they were gone (I don't remember exactly when but I'm guessing that was probably sometime in July). Now there are just stems and deadheads on the side that faces the meter, but the other side looks better and still has leaves for the most part. And now that the heat is over, I'm getting lots of healthy new growth at the base. The rest of the plants in the bed (about 20 of them) are doing just fine. I've never seen any bugs anywhere. Could it just be reflected heat that's causing this? Or possibly a gas leak? I don't know what else it could be. If the meter and all the pipe holding and releasing heat is causing the problem, is there something I could partly wrap or shield it with to absorb some of the heat? Is that a crazy thing to try to do? I *really* don't want to move the arborvitae....the bed is kind of formal-looking and there are two of them on opposite ends so I'd have to move them both (about 6' tall) plus a bunch of smaller things too. Thanks for any and all suggestions...scratching my head here... :(

Dianne

Comments (15)

Sponsored
Hoppy Design & Build
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars9 Reviews
Northern VA Award-Winning Deck ,Patio, & Landscape Design Build Firm