Texas Drought 2011

Those who do not live in Texas may have heard that the state is suffering the worst drought in history. Those hardest hit are the ranchers and farmers. It is reported that the Texas cattle industry has lost over 5 billion dollars this year. Ranchers are having to sell off their herds because they can't feed them.  While the effect on us has not been that serious we have suffered some loss none the less.

The pictures below depict the effect on our lawn and trees. We would have had to hand water the grass to keep it alive and the city has asked everyone to cut back on watering. Most of our neighbors disregarded the request and their lawns look pretty good. Ours is way to big to water with a hose, especially in the back. You can see from the photos that most of the grass is dead and has been replaced by a very healthy crop of weeds. I guess weeds are a lot more drought resistant than St augustine grass. The gates I built have all sagged due to the weight and ground shrinkage. they will have to be dug up and re-set, with better footings I guess to keep them from moving so much in the future. The large tree in front of the circular driveway seems to be dead although there are still a few leaves on a couple of the branches. I doubt it will come back when the drought ends. But who knows when that will be.