Rain update for San Francisco Jan 16 2019

Happy New Year, everybody. Our hopes and wishes for a successful, healthy, prosperous and happy 2019 to all!

At MBLC, we're thrilled the rains have finally returned. The accumulated grime, dirt, grit and pollution from over 180 days with no rain has finally been washed away and our plants are able to breathe again (honest, this was a huge problem for us as the dry season dragged on - especially for Arbutus trees).

But as we all know - there is no "normal" anymore with our climate. Our rains were late in starting, and we've now gone from drought - to flood. Again. Sigh. Believe it or not, we are still about 3" behind normal for the rain season (again, though... what is normal?)

So, we all need to be vigilant during these heavy downpours. What looks like a normal planter bed may in fact be an at-grade poured-in-place concrete planter, with a drain leading to the sewer system under the soil. These drains get clogged - just like the drain holes in planters. If they do, when we have heavy rains, the planter will quickly fill with water and become a pond (see pic taken earlier this week in Mission Bay).

Most plants can't tolerate these conditions and will quickly die - so if you see water accumulating in your planters, give us (or your landscaping firm) a call to get out as quickly as possible (if you're a client, you know that for us, it's almost always the same day).