rainfall Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Rain, rain…well, just take a break, please…

Living with frequent drought makes dealing with torrential rains tricky. We want rain. We need rain. But, in the Hill Country, it’s tough for the ground to absorb. Which leads to floods. Dangerous floods.

Beyond the frightening potential human toll, gardeners also have to deal with plant-killing floods. I just turned in my article for next week’s Austin American Statesman, where I write about plants that “don’t like to have wet feet.” Today, that’s gonna be all of the plants in my garden. That’s from 3.34″ this morning alone and 8.29″ for the month.

Having lived through the sizzling, scorching drought, I am hesitant to wish for an end to the rain. But, geez, it can take a break for a little while — enough already!

Our home sits downhill from several other homes and so we get run-off. Serious run-off! We have French drains and dry creeks in 3 separate places, designed to deal with days just like today.

And our drainage abatement IS working. Water is moving to where it’s been directed.

The dry creek is no where near dry.

No sign of any let up right now, but it’s ok, cuz the rain is “Rollin’ down the river…” We also have a 10,000 gallon rainwater tank, which is totally full. I’d take a picture of the gauge and the tank for you, but I’d have to get wet. No thanks!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-11-11T21:45:48-06:00May 19th, 2016|drainage, dry creek, rain, rainfall, river rock, river rock bed, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

When it rains, it pours…and pours and pours…

3.66.

That’s my lucky number. At least for a while, it is.

That’s how much rain we got yesterday between 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. It came down in buckets. And I began putting out buckets, and watering cans and coolers. We have several rain barrels, but I didn’t want to waste a drop. It was delightful … but a little scary, too.

When we get rain here in Central Texas these days, especially in the middle of what they’re calling a 10-year drought, we see quite a few gully washers. Because of our rock and clay soil, a high volume of the good stuff, results in serious flooding. This dry creek, for example, isn’t supposed to be a creek at all, just an interesting addition to the landscape in this spot. But it had moving water in it yesterday.

The rain came so fast that the overflow pipe from the pool (only a few inches in diameter), was gushing, but just couldn’t handle it all.

This was the pool at 3:00 when we were still in the deluge. I thought it was going to overflow and started to worry about all the surrounding beds.

The path to the greenhouse and the vegetable garden looked like an aquarium for a while. Those plants, used to very little water and hot, baking sun, may be a little stressed for a while.

And the AC made terrible noises. I thought it was going to blow up! I turned it off and it’s fine this morning.

The migraine is gone and it’s cool and windy outside. Feels like fall. Real fall. Fall like they get way up north. Ahhhh. Jeans and long-sleeve weather. Football weather (oh nevermind, we’re not going to talk about that – Central Texas readers will know whereof I speak).

I’m about to bundle up and pull on my galoshes and head out to survey. Something I do most mornings. I know that one Candlestick tree – Cassia alata — was pushed over by the weight of the rain, but it isn’t broken.

I can imagine the plants – all recharging and taking deep breaths, ready for an amazing growth spurt and some fabulous bloom time.

I know some of the plants – especially some of the indigo spires salvias – will have brighter blooms. They’ll do that with even a little extra water, so there might be a show this morning.

While I’m excited about seeing the garden, it’s going to be an inside day — too wet and mucky to do anything outside. Organizing my office will be the perfect chore for a cool, breezy fall day, and it will feel good to finally focus on the inside for just a while. (A short while!)

Ahhhhhh….

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:13-06:00September 21st, 2013|Blog, creek, dry creek, flood, flooding, rain, rainfall, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

A little rain to help our drought-stricken gardens…

The drought continues in Central Texas — we closed the door on 2012 more than an inch below our average 4th quarter rainfall totals.

So this week’s substantial rainfall was a welcome drench for plants and animals. And of course, I had to go out into the garden to record the effect of the rain on my plants.

Don’t step in the puddles as you tour the garden.