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What a long hot summer it has been. We are about to complete nearly 3 months with little to no measurable rainfall in the Portland metropolitan area. Our summers are dry, some of the driest in the country, but this has been one of the
hottest drive summers on record
.
The impact your landscape is not as severe as the
wildfire problem
we have been fighting, but the rain forecasted next week is very welcome.
As we approach fall and the potential return to the rainy season, we are adjusting our irrigation accordingly. Outside of the spike of heat over the Labor Day weekend, our irrigation need last month has been lower than the two months prior. With the anticipation of rain and cooler weather next week, irrigation needs will be significantly lower and in some areas, we will even consider shutting some irrigation off, especially in shrub plantings.
This is a common practice that we have employed in prior years to help save you irrigation water costs. Rain will return consistently at some point in October, thus going into that stretch on the dry side is not a great concern. You will likely have larger than normal irrigation bills the last couple of months thus putting up with a few dry spots is likely acceptable to help offset these higher than normal water bills.
I'm sure we will be complaining about the rain shortly after it returns, but seeing it in the forecast, is welcome news for us in the landscape world.
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