by Karin Yeske
What is with this weather?
It’s the question that is leaving Regina residents cringing-- especially those who depend on fall for some extra time to landscape.
Photo: Ryan Hoffman's unfinished backyard sits frozen on Oct. 10. According to Environment Canada it was the coldest Oct. 10 Regina has seen in 130 years.
Ryan Hoffman is a Regina resident who has been working on his backyard for three years. Due to the cold and rainy weather, his plans for a lush lawn will have to wait.
“If we had just one more week of nice weather we would have had the backyard finished and no mud in the spring. That’s hard when you’ve got kids,” said Hoffman, a father of three. But what he dreads the most is a possible repeat of spring 2009. “If next spring is like this spring, it will be at least June by the time we get sod,” he said.
Dan Codd, owner of Dan-Lee Enterprises Inc, a landscaping company, said fall is an ideal time
to plant for the coming year. Anything from shrubs to sod is appropriate for the season.
But the weather is putting a freeze on his business.
“We can’t do anything. We can’t dig in the ground,” he said. The ground has been too wet and
soon it will be frozen.
He and his workers haven’t been able to work since the beginning of October. Codd says
his business is a graveyard compared to last year. “Last year we worked right up to Nov. 1.
We are still getting calls from people,” he said.
Calls that may have to wait till next year.
Thanksgiving weekend brought early flurries to Regina with temperatures well below average.
The chills were a result of arctic pressure from our northern territories, according to Environment Canada.
Codd says the unusual October weather is something we can’t control. “All it is, is a waiting game. What can you do when Mother Nature takes over?” he said.
Though the local forecast calls for warmer weather this week, Codd isn’t crossing his fingers.
“We’ll believe it when we see it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ryan Hoffman plans to turn up the thermostat and hopes he can lay sod down before the winter sets in for good.
