The weather station has recorded .71 inches of rain for the month of February. Last night's freezing temperatures brought some snow and a lot of ice to Pine Cove. From what we have heard, Idyllwild, Mountain Center and Garner Valley were spared the snow part. Lucky them! If you have to go out, be very careful. The roads are icy around Pine Cove. Hopefully the sun will come out and melt off some of the ice.
Here is the latest from the CA Dept. of Transportation.
SR 243
[IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
CHAINS OR SNOW TIRES ARE REQUIRED FROM PINE COVE TO LAKE FULMER
(RIVERSIDE CO)
So if you have to go down to Hemet or the desert, you are good to go. If you are heading down to Banning, you will need your chains or snow tires. Not too bad.
The night time temperatures are expected to continue to be in the 20's for the next few nights with more snow possible tomorrow night. With these freezing cold temps, please be sure to provide a warm, dry shelter and fresh water and food for any animals you might keep outside.
Also remember to disconnect any outside hoses. You can cover your outside faucets as well. The hardware stores sell insulated covers for them for around $5. It is worth the price not to get up in the morning and have a frozen pipe.
Please, please, please remember that if you are leaving the hill, turn your water off at your customer shut off valve.
This is the best way to prevent a broken or frozen pipe and catastrophic water loss while you are away from your mountain home. Remember that all water that runs through your meter is your responsibility, no matter the reason. There is a big misconception that if you have a leak or pipe break, that you will not have to pay the water bill. This is not true, but we hear it time and time again. It is so much easier to prevent a catastrophe than it is to repair the damage afterwards.
Showing posts with label hose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hose. Show all posts
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Monday Musings
Welcome to the last week of January 2011. Time is whizzing on by as per usual. Before you know it, spring will be here. All this nice weather isn't helping either as it is really giving me a whopping case of spring fever. I am trying to control my gardening urges as I know winter is not over and I would be fool hardy to even thing about starting to planting things right now. So I console myself with cleaning out the beds, removing fallen branches and needles and planning what I want to do in the garden this spring. It will be hard to go back to winter after several weeks of such nice, mild weather, but I know we aren't done just yet.
If you really can't resist the urge to get out there plant something, bare root trees can be planted during the winter, however, I do not fancy having to go out and water them in the cold, so I stick to fall or spring for my tree planting. But, if you are brave and don't mind doing a little winter watering, you can go ahead and plant a tree right now. Just be mindful that if you do and we do not receive a generous amount of snow or rain, you will have to go out and water that tree in the cold!
At my house, this creates a problem because I have disconnected my hose to prevent my pipes from freezing. Of course, I could always hook it back up, however, the snow from my metal roof slides off right in front of the hose and it doesn't take long until I have a 4 foot high mountain of snow there. I also do not want to be caught with my hose hooked up during a storm and have to scale that mountain to try to disconnect it after it has frozen. So no hose would mean toting buckets of water out into the yard and frankly, it just doesn't seem worth the effort when I can just wait a few more weeks and not have to deal with the snow and cold in the garden. Once I think the worst is over, then I will do some tree planting.
It is easy to forget that even though the weather isn't hot, that sometimes our trees and plants need watered during the winter. A lot depends on how much snow and rain we get and how good your soil is and how well you have mulched. Now is a good time to do that since the snow is gone and the daytime temps are pretty nice. Just remember to water around late morning or early afternoon so the water has a chance to soak in before any freezing could occur. And remember to disconnect your hose when you are done. Covering you outside faucet is a really good idea as well.
Try to avoid planting trees during the heat of the summer. This is probably the worst time to plant, as they will need an excessive amount of water just to stay alive. If you are like me and don't want to brave doing it in the cold, then just opt for spring or fall planting. While you will still have to water, it won't be as frequently since the temperatures won't be as hot. If you plant in the fall, which is really the best time in my opinion, then it isn't long before the snow and the rain helps you along and you don't have to do so much work. Just be sure to check on them and make sure they are getting enough water and supplement them if they need it.
With a little care, we can help our trees make it through the winter months, nice and health. Healthy trees are better able to fight off diseases and make it through the long, dry summer. Now is also a good time to add some compost to the soil and put on a layer of mulch if you haven't already done so. We still have FREE MULCH just for the taking, so stop buy and pick some up. It will slowly decompose and enrich the soil by making a lovely compost and you won't have to do a thing. Mother Nature will take care of it for you. What could be easier?
If you really can't resist the urge to get out there plant something, bare root trees can be planted during the winter, however, I do not fancy having to go out and water them in the cold, so I stick to fall or spring for my tree planting. But, if you are brave and don't mind doing a little winter watering, you can go ahead and plant a tree right now. Just be mindful that if you do and we do not receive a generous amount of snow or rain, you will have to go out and water that tree in the cold!
At my house, this creates a problem because I have disconnected my hose to prevent my pipes from freezing. Of course, I could always hook it back up, however, the snow from my metal roof slides off right in front of the hose and it doesn't take long until I have a 4 foot high mountain of snow there. I also do not want to be caught with my hose hooked up during a storm and have to scale that mountain to try to disconnect it after it has frozen. So no hose would mean toting buckets of water out into the yard and frankly, it just doesn't seem worth the effort when I can just wait a few more weeks and not have to deal with the snow and cold in the garden. Once I think the worst is over, then I will do some tree planting.
It is easy to forget that even though the weather isn't hot, that sometimes our trees and plants need watered during the winter. A lot depends on how much snow and rain we get and how good your soil is and how well you have mulched. Now is a good time to do that since the snow is gone and the daytime temps are pretty nice. Just remember to water around late morning or early afternoon so the water has a chance to soak in before any freezing could occur. And remember to disconnect your hose when you are done. Covering you outside faucet is a really good idea as well.
Try to avoid planting trees during the heat of the summer. This is probably the worst time to plant, as they will need an excessive amount of water just to stay alive. If you are like me and don't want to brave doing it in the cold, then just opt for spring or fall planting. While you will still have to water, it won't be as frequently since the temperatures won't be as hot. If you plant in the fall, which is really the best time in my opinion, then it isn't long before the snow and the rain helps you along and you don't have to do so much work. Just be sure to check on them and make sure they are getting enough water and supplement them if they need it.
With a little care, we can help our trees make it through the winter months, nice and health. Healthy trees are better able to fight off diseases and make it through the long, dry summer. Now is also a good time to add some compost to the soil and put on a layer of mulch if you haven't already done so. We still have FREE MULCH just for the taking, so stop buy and pick some up. It will slowly decompose and enrich the soil by making a lovely compost and you won't have to do a thing. Mother Nature will take care of it for you. What could be easier?
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