We are in about the worst drought in the country.



That's us where the blue line (Rio Grande river) crosses into the red.

Scientific projections Show that for August through October our prospects for improvement are abysmal.


We started watering from our well in the end of April and have watered virtually every day since then to support our bloom season which has just started.

I'm not sure how long our well will continue being able to do this, certainly not through another three months, so I'm looking for a workable strategy.

Do we throw caution to the wind and just hope our well survives? Do we push another month of irrigation irritation? Do we wean our garden through July and then cut it off hoping our garden survives? Do we reduce watering now but try to provide subsistence moisture to the daylilies?

We appreciate group hugs of course;

But are looking for some advice short of replacing our daylilies with cactus.

Charley

Help

How many plants or how large an area are you needing to water?

We have just short of 200 varieties in ten beds spread around our house.

Charley

I know this wouldn't help immediately, but could you set up a cistern? We rented houses in NM that used cisterns. Interesting article here.
https://www.taosnews.com/stori...

We set up a cistern last year to collect rainwater, and it is working really well for us.

I will look into this, thanks.

Charley

Charley, how long do you water for each time (or how deeply)? Are you doing all the beds every day or rotating? Do you mulch?

You can cut them all off about 6 inches tall. This will preserve the plant long term without as much moisture. It will not need as much to support the entire plant. Also by doing this the plant is not putting energy into blooms.

You can also erect shade over them, to help conserve moisture.

Only water new ones that are small, do not water large clumps.

Only water NOIDs or more expensive ones, let cheaper more common varieties go.

Water in the evening so the plant has time to soak it up vs morning/day watering where the sun comes out and dries it up too quickly.

Install rain barrels/cistern for future use.

Mulch helps to keep the soil from drying out around the plants as quickly.

Great suggestions everyone.

We rotate and water about three hours per bed. Our soil is very sandy and the strong winds and low humidity dry things out very quickly.

Thank you!

Charley