The first rains of the Fall in Encino

The first rains of the Fall are always wonderful. There are a few things to do if you haven’t done so already.

Some things are easy, like placing indoor house plants outside for some rain. They love it. If you have not purchased a rain barrel yet, now is the time to experiment, placing it under a downspout. I have a few and my water bill is small. Now is the time to dig out a sunny area for planting lettuce and peas. Hopefully the cooler weather is here to stay and the slugs and snails won’t arrive for a while. Grow lettuce quickly with plenty of water and preferably no fertilizer. This is is also the best time for putting in native plants and trees - their roots will have time to get established.

My fruit trees were under constant attack from squirrels, birds and raccoons. So I individually wrapped pomegranates and persimmons in brown paper lunch bags. Surreal as that may sound, I now have lots of fruit, which I will have to pick – the bags are wet.

Then there are always a few more ambitious things to think about doing if you haven’t gotten around to them. Perhaps now that the ground is soft, consider digging a trench for a pipe to run greywater from the house to any fruit trees, maybe with a small bioswale (google it). It is inexpensive. If your driveway is old and you are thinking of replacing it, do it with something more porous. That way stormwater seeps into the ground instead of straight out to the street like it does now. Stormwater flooding in the Encino hills is really amazing to see during downpours.