TERRA GARDENS  Monsoon Update
Wow, right?

I came home from our July family trip to stories of, “You wouldn’t have believed the rain!”  “They’re calling it a thousand year storm!”

That whole week we were cleaning up debris, cleaning out rock dams, and just making sure we’re ready for the next “big one.”  Unfortunately, that could come at any time, and not just in a thousand years.   NOAA (The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association) has confirmed that we can expect these larger, bigger storms that dump a larger proportion of our average rainfall in a shorter amount of time.  So the 3-4” downpour of one monsoon is already roughly 1/3 of the 12” average that our area receives annually!  Of course the mountainous areas receive more, and the plains, less.  But as we’ve seen, sooo much sediment got washed downstream. So…are we prepared?

Unpredictable moisture and what to do about it…

Terra Gardens is hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.  Most of the difficulty is in not being able to predict when or how much water will be coming.  We could have violent monsoons like the one we just saw, longer periods of drought, or both.

We have seen the swales and berms overwhelmed, retention ponds totally filled up, and rain barrels overflowing (for more information about water retition, click here).   Perhaps erosion is the biggest concern.  Many roads, pathways, and arroyos were filled with sediment, and the water diverted channels.  Problems have been uncovered, but they are solvable, even advantageous.  Our clay soil can hold on to the water for up to 30 days, but in these big storms, so much runs off the surface.

If you can capture the water on your property with mulches, berms, and French drains, you can keep that water working for you and the vegetation.  You’ll have made a sponge that can slow down erosion and help refill aquifers!
This  is a lovely example of a  “rain garden” on the grassy side of West Alameda, made by The Raincatcher in conjunction with the City of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe River Association. After the rains, it was beautiful. The plants act as a natural filter for the stormwater runoff before the excess goes to the water table.
Here a curb cut allows some of the street water to drain into the lowered area and through a debris screen.  Beneath the collection area a pipe directs the water to the rain garden. If that fills up, a second debris screen strains the water again it before it flows to the Santa Fe river.
In comparison, at a low point 400 feet downstream, no correction was made. You can see that the crashing water completely washed out the earth under the sidewalk! What a testament to the intelligence of design and the power of water!
Here we see the all too familiar silt deposits at the low point.
A word about rain barrels…
If your rain barrels are full and uncovered, and you don’t drain them within 72 hours, they will breed mosquitoes.  The easiest solution is to cover your rain barrels with mesh so that mosquitoes can’t lay their eggs, or even better, install canals and gutters to directly feed the vegetation passively, away from the house.  Water building up near foundations can cause costly cracks that don’t show up until the spring thaw. Rain barrels can also be fitted with overflow spouts to directly feed the spillover to trees and shrubs.

Irrigation services…
After our last newsletter, some of you were a little confused about our irrigation services, so let me clarify:

  • If you receive monthly or bi-monthly landscaping maintenance service, we will continue to service your irrigation.
  • If you only require irrigation turn on/turn off service, 2018 is the last year Terra Gardens will be providing that service.

Unless we receive above normal rainfall, please don’t turn your irrigation off.  Rain sensors should only turn off if we have received an inch in the last 24 hours.

Looking to the future:  What can we do now?

  • Maintain healthy landscapes from the soil up.  Heavy erosion and improper soil conditions like heavy clay can lead to the nuisance and cost of having to replace plants frequently. To bypass this, its best to add aeration and moisture retaining material to the soil, like organic cotton burr, mushroom compost, and your composted kitchen waste.
  • Water judiciously.  Overwatering is quite possible, given the current conditions.  Since our soil can hold water for a long time, overwatering simply results in more pruning and trimming later.  Under-watering is, of course, the normal culprit of many lost trees and plantings.
  • Compost on your property.  While Santa Fe does not yet have composting pick up service, we can easily  turn  our kitchen and yard waste into fantastic soil amending material.  Garbage disposals, on the other hand, simply chop up the valuable green material and mix it with our fresh water source, which then has to be treated.
  • Use only natural fertilizers, weed suppressants, and insect repellants.  Please call us if you need suggestions, or contact the local Santa Fe Master Gardener Association for methods and means.
  • Follow instructions, as my dear 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Meidam always used to say. This is especially important when using fertilizers and sprays. If you are unable to do that, your results will be less fabulous.
  • Plant trees.  The best time to plant trees was 20 years ago, as Agua Fria Nursery advertises.  The second best time is now.  In the high plains our tree canopy cools the understory by 10 degrees!  Find a water wise tree to enhance your landscape, and be sure it’s the right tree planted in the right spot.  As we slowly lose the canopy of aging elms, it’s more important than ever to maintain our cool little spot by planting trees more appropriate to the coming years.  Additionally, deciduous trees can really reduce cooling costs in the summer, yet allow winter sun to penetrate for warming.
  • Be kind.  I like to think of our planet as a one-room schoolhouse—we’re alllearning something.  It thrills me to have met almost everyone receiving this email, and to know that many of you are practicing these methods already.  I hope the information shared here be helpful to all.