Running a Temporary Water Line

We do not have a large yard but we have a lot of gardens with paths running between them.  I do not water a lot, but when I do, threading the hose around then winding it back up is a lot of work. Jim, always looking for ways to make things easier came up with a plan.

He put a Y connector on the back water facet.  On one side a water hose is connected for close by watering, a washing machine supply line is connected to the other side.

The washing machine supply line runs to a short PVC pipe fitted with a connector and elbow.  At the other end of the PVC pipe is another elbow connected to PVC pipe running underground the desired length.  Since it will be disconnected in the winter, freezing is not an issue, so it is only buried a few inches deep to be out of sight.

A box buried in the ground and lined with pea gravel provides a place for the other end of the PVC pipe, fitted with a water facet, to come out.

A water hose and nozzle are connected and kept nearby.  A piece of scrap wood provides a cover to prevent accidents.  Water is turned on and off at the main faucet.  It is definitely easier to move two separate fifty foot hoses than one hundred foot one!

Stop the Insanity

The weather has finally warmed, and like everyone else, I am taking advantage of it.  It can be a bit harder for me to work outside without distractions as I am the neighborhood go to person for plant questions.  My neighbor has a row of shrubs forming a hedge and decided to clean them out. It was a bigger task than she had anticipated, so she asked me if it would be okay to cut them back to about three feet. Being full of old, unproductive and dying wood, I recommended taking them down to about six inches.  I got a look from her and her husband as though I had said to take them out.  I reassured her that that is what I do and she sees how mine turn out; they put out new growth from the ground rather than being top heavy and naked at the bottom.  She proceeded to cut them back to about three feet with horrible, jagged results.  My son asked why she did not cut them back farther and she said she was afraid of hurting them.  I have seen this happen many times with many people.

Rewind a few years.  The same neighbor, knowing my stance on circumcision, decided to brag to me of her son's.  She told of how she could hear him screaming all the way down the hall and thought, "that's my boy!"  I have also heard variations of this (usually horrified by the screams, but still undeterred from circumcision) many times from many people.

What is wrong that people put more thought and caution into cutting old shrubs than perfect newborn boys? Plants need to be pruned, children do not.

For more information on circumcision, see Don't Mess With Mother Nature.