Drought: now what?
When you are under contract to show up at a small strata complex bi-weekly, you have to go even if the entire province is dry. The key is to not panic. Simply adjust your service and look for work on site. Trust me, it’s there if you look closely.
Let’s see what I did this week.
The shaded front lawns were shaggy and in need of cutting unlike the back lawns which don’t get watered. They are dormant and will remain so for a while.
Mulch
One obvious move is to mulch your lawn clippings. Set your push mower to “mulch” and run over your lawns. By not collecting the grass clippings you are adding free fertilizer to your lawn; and you are also saving money by not generating green waste which has to be disposed of by weight at a nearby recycling center. Mulching also saves you time because you don’t have to stop to empty your mower bag.
Mulching your lawn clippings in summer is a brilliant idea.
Don’t prune!
I could have done some pruning on site but why stress your plants? They’re already feeling the heat like you are. Pruning in drought conditions is a bad idea. I’m sure it can be pushed to a later date. All I did was catalog any future pruning work so I could get to it later. Now we wait for cooler days.
Tons of work
I found tons of work on my own site. I weeded in the shade; and I checked on a recent soil install in the back. Since we went heavy, at least 3 inches of lawn and garden soil mix, I found very few weeds.
Leaf drop pick up was another obvious task. The front beds looked much better once I removed the leafiness from under the shrubs.
And by far the best task was cutting out a dead rhododendron branch from a high profile shrub. I’m not sure why it’s taken me a few months but now that it’s done my sleep will improve.
Conclusion
Landscaping in drought conditions is challenging but there is always work on site. Take a good look instead of panicking. And be smart about working in the heat.
