Golly gee - time flies!  I started out talking about drought and here we are two years later speaking of drought.  Some of our older customers have never seen things this dry if their lives.  Sadly, there are those who have been flooded this year, such as the lightly publicized McDowell County in southwest West Virginia.  Residents have been permanently moved away as their homes and towns no longer exist.  Clear cutting for strip mining is a factor.   Imagine this and count your blessings.

    Last night I heard the weatherman suggest that El Nino is back in the mid Atlantic region.  The "drought that won't leave" may be with us because of the flat jet stream.  Some of us "Roxburians" were comparing notes regarding how and when to water these days.  The average rainfall per month here is 3 inches, more or less.  An acre is 43,560 square feet.  To apply 3 inches of water per acre per month would require 81,457 gallons of water.  Water and sewer in our city is $3.69 per 100 cubic feet (or per 750 gallons).  At this rate, your water bill would be $ 400.77 per month for 81, 457 gallons.  Even if you had the money, how will you actually apply this much water?  Actually I am a bit surprised the figure is this low.

    Setting aside the expense, we have a limited supply of water, particularly if one is using a private well.  Ponds have dropped and the river is low.  I have watched my grass, and everyone else's, die this summer.  Now we are beginning to see shrubs and small trees wither.  So far the giant oaks and maples seem to be holding their own.  So how and what do we water?

    When we water under such dire conditions, I think of the Earth as a giant sponge and our watering practices are an eye dropper.  The key is not to get behind, as the Earth will completely dry out changing the soil structure and becoming difficult to rehydrate.  A friend of mine suggested the soil has pulled away from the roots of old, established plants causing irreversible death short of digging up the plant and replanting the roots.  I think the cure might be as dangerous as the disease in this case, but it explains some of our troubles.

    Deep and infrequent watering is required.  The root zone of a plant should be thoroughly watered but allowed to dry somewhat between plantings.  Most shrubs would need 5 to 20 gallons per week.  Smaller perennials would take much less water, but would need water more often because of a smaller and more shallow root system.  Larger plants may have larger and deeper root systems and may be able to survive without you.

    Pick and choose what you are going to nurture.  Expensive perennials plants merit your attention, but you may have to get by without the begonia blooms this summer.  You may have to buy your tomatoes at the market or the store.  Speaking of the market, the local farmers are also in dire straits, as they have no magic wand for water.  Conservation of water is important.  We fret (or boast) about man's ability to destroy one another, yet we take for granted the simple things like water and bees.  We are not in charge of nature, but a part of nature.  If you don't believe this, watch the weather channel the next time a hurricane batters a coast.  Or ask someone who used to live in McDowell County.  Until next week.

                                                                                    Andy Lynn