Reporter-News Archives Tuesday, March 2, 1999 It couldn't have been a drier February By Jerry Daniel Reed Senior Staff Writer If you thought that February couldn't have been drier, you hit the nail on the head. It really couldn't have been. In Abilene, the official rainfall measurement for the month was 0.0, drier than which it's impossible to get. Only twice before has Abilene gone through an entire February without catching an official drop of moisture, in 1907 and 1909. And since city weather records started being kept in mid-1886, only three other months at any time of the year have been equally bone-dry. That's not all. The just-passed month was also the fifth warmest in the city's weather history, with an average daily temperature of 55.7. The abnormal figures above would be mere matters of idle curiosity if they didn't have real-life consequences to people who own pets and try to keep up a yard. Those that do must take heed that what works in a normal year won't produce the best results this year. For pet owners, the word is mainly that they need to get an early start, in reaction to that already made by the fleas and ticks. Thanks to new pest control products that hit the market in recent years, those critters can be held in check, if you keep at it. Veterinarian Russell Ueckert is particular sold on a topical ointment that goes by the name Top Spot ®. "It does wonders for flea and tick control,'' he asserted. In fact, he said, one of its main drawbacks is that so many people still haven't heard of it. The product comes in a small vial that you empty on a spot between your pet's shoulder blades, then let it wick through the entire surface of the animal's skin within a few days. It controls the major yard pests for a month or longer. More complete control may require that you spray your pet's environment as well, Ueckert said. Top Spot is available only at your vet's, though you can find yard sprays at any garden center. Meanwhile, the needs of grass, shrubs and trees have changed with the weather. Lawns, for instance, don't need nearly so much quick-release nitrogen this year as they normally would, but their demands for potassium, iron, sulfur and micro-nutrients have surged, he said. And to break up the baked-brick lawn soils, you need to aerate by using a machine that pulls a small plug of soil several inches deep every four inches, he said. Water thoroughly first, though, he reminds. Trees and shrubs can take a good feeding of the proper fertilizer, applied in holes dug six to eight inches deep to get at the feeder roots, he said. As for fruit trees that are blooming way early this spring, they're completely at the mercy of the upcoming weather, said Abilene Master Gardener Fred Perkins. "If we get any late freezes, we'll lose our fruit,'' he said. Vegetable gardeners who've planted their cool-season crops have to water their powder-dry soils, particularly since there's little promise of ample rainfall anytime soon. Prospects for greater rainfall than normal, or cooler temperatures than normal, are considerably less than even money over the next few months, according to the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below:  texnews.com Reporter OnLine Local News Texas News Copyright ©1999, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications