Sunday, October 23, 2016

Late October Photos

The grass is recovering very well, although the rainfall levels are still very trim.  We finally received a quarter inch of rain last night, which is enough that I can mow today.  Temperatures also dropped from the low 80's to the low 60's.  That's still warmer than normal, but cool enough to work with.

The gardens are well past their prime and will start being removed wholesale this week.  We're also projected for a light freeze this week, which will kill the vast majority of the remaining greenery.  I included photos below only because it's amazing to still have a blooming garden in any capacity in late October.

The standard lawn photo.  The color is finally restoring to darker green (helped by a very small amount of iron) and the problem areas are filling in nicely.  What hasn't yet filled in will need to wait until spring.

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The new cable box installation by RCN Cable.  When installed, this was canted twenty degrees, and they had broken the mower guide wire that I had specifically notified them was present.  They had promised not to break it.  Fortunately, they missed destroying the irrigation system by about a tenth of an inch.  Complaints were met with a completely uncaring response, including the supervisor, so RCN will never have me as their customer.

Note to RCN:  I will not approve commentary from your customer service agents.  It will be deleted.  I have repaired the wire--as I told you I would do as I don't trust you on my property again--adjusted the box as well as I could from the top, and am repairing the lawn damage.  Just go away.

I'll plant a rose garden around there, plus a few hydrangea. I have the roses cloning in my office now.

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The garden section close to the house in the back.  While worn, this isn't doing too badly and will probably be the last section removed after it finally dies.

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A section just to the left of the above, somewhat further from the house.  This has seen better days, but still looks OK.  Or at least the red and blue salvia do, most of the other plants have visibly faded.

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The dahlia by the front door is doing fairly well.  Please pardon the mess, a nest of swifts lives above the doorway and they never clean up...

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Friday, October 21, 2016

Organic Feedings Done

I dropped the last blast of soybean meal (identical to September's slightly lower amount) of 2 1/2 bags of soy, 125 pounds, over 10,000 square feet of lawn.

The drought continues, even today, although it's not severe.  We've been without significant rainfall for 12 days, and don't look to receive appreciable rain during the rest of October.  Consequently, I've been watering a bit, but the amounts are reduced since temperatures are no longer in the nineties.

Conversely, the gardens look incredible for mid-October.  The warmer than average weather has been very good for them, although they're noticeably aging and starting to die back just due to reduced sunlight and reaching the end of their lifespans.  I have photos on the docket for the weekend.