Creating a Garden in the Desert in Summer in Dubai

Summer in Dubai is hot, don't let this fool you. It was 30c at 7am and the fog means you can't actually see more than 500ms.

1pm in the desert and car temp on leaving the dog park. it took 20 mins to get home with air con on and the temp dropped only to 48c, it was actually 44c outside.

And don't forget the humidity

So this all means we don't sit outside in the garden day or night, we go outside only for short periods of time and we shower and change clothes after most trips out.

The garden suffers, surprisingly due to the humidity it means there is lots of moisture in the air and we water late at night.

June.

 Midday sun, in fact most the day there is very little shade

Some shade in the afternoon briefly when the sun is blocked by the house for a few hours

Early morning shade

Despite us living in the desert out cactus does need watering still and we do so with a slow drip feed

I bring the chair pod in for the summer to protect it from the sun and so I can use it

July

I brought these flowers back with me from the UK, they were from family and friends for my birthday. This is after the flight, sadly the air con in the house meant they didn't make it through the night

Surprise sunflower in the garden on my return

Climbing plants have faired well

Our cactus had a baby

Some rare time outside, but the dog will insist on going out so to ensure he doesn't over heat and I don't forget him, I sit out there with him.

Local date trees. Did you know these palms need 40ltrs of water a day to fruit

The occasional clouds, very rarely does it rain during summer

August

Been away for 3 weeks, the grass has grown

The sand sweeping is back on again, it's the bane of my life, gets in the house also

Climbing plants need more water than Peter was giving them

The outside/communal areas really need tidying up, but they do provide additional shade for the garden and the house

A thunder storm over head, looked promising but came to nothing, 5km further inland it chucked it down

So there's our garden for the summer, I'm back in the UK now and Peter will join me for the last 3 weeks, there's no one to water the garden so it'll be interesting to see what survives with the humidity levels dropping also

Do you get to enjoy your garden?

Do you ever just sit in your garden and relax? Or like me, find there is always something that needs doing and by the time you've finished, you realise you've spent all day in the garden but working, not relaxing.

This is the garden at the end of summer. it's very humid in Dubai and the plants, tree's and grass just grow and grow.

We've installed an irrigation system to allow us to water next summer without standing out in the heat

The climbing plants are taking hold now providing some privacy in the garden from people walking past

Upstairs balcony is set up, but cushions etc have to come inside every night or they get covered in sand and there has been some rain here this winter.

Seeds planted in November are now producing fruit, veg and flowers. They germinate really quickly in this climate.

4 days later.

Now.

The lawn has been reseeded, twice, it doesn't help that we have a dog who likes to dig.

Whilst the garden looks relaxing and inviting, it takes time and effort every day to set it up, especially having to sweep the sand and clean the table and chairs daily.

The balconies get covered with sand, the windows too and I seem to spend all my time cleaning and setting up just to be able to sit outside for 5 minutes to drink my now cold cup of tea.

So this is what I use most of the time, this balcony area off our bedroom, you can see the sand on the floor, swept only 3 days ago, it gets in the bedroom.

I can't be bothered with taking the pod cushions outside unless I'm spending the day at home and only put the chair cushions out when we have guests in the garden and we BBQ.

 The garden today after sweeping and hosing the patio down.

When the summer comes everything gets put away and covered to protect it from the sun. I can't be bothered to spend the time setting the garden up just to show you what it can look like, just for a photo.

The idea of a lovely garden with cushions, umbrellas and decorations is nothing but hard work and therefore it rarely happens. A lot of our neighbours have maids whose job it is to set it all up and put it all away at the end of the day on their behalf.

Do you spend much time in your garden? When you do are you just relaxing or working in it to create a relaxing environment that you rarely use?

Creating a garden in the desert - getting ready for winter in Dubai

Winter in Dubai, means getting outdoors. I spend the summers in the UK as that's where our families live and as I don't work there's no need for me to get cabin fever stuck indoors when temperatures reach 50c.

Summer is very humid in Dubai of which the moisture helps the plants, shrubs and trees to grow. Peter mowed the lawn a couple of times.

The garden was overgrown, covered in sand and several repairs needed carrying out, the umbrella cover had disintegrated.

I lost several plants, the tree had to be cut back after a couple of days of high winds and some rain, typically after I'd cleaned all the sand up and had to do it all again....grrrrrr.

New shrubs were purchased, seeds have been sown, umbrella repaired and we're now enjoying the outdoor space again. That was until we had our annual storm and everything got covered in sand again, however it did help the grass seed to grow.

One Daily Positive - Week 17

Fantastic news this week Child 4 asked 4a to marry him on Sunday. She said YES. It'll be a while till the wedding as they're saving for a house.

It's getting uncomfortably hot now. Averaging 35c in the day, with the car temp reading 10c higher when it's been sitting in the sun on the drive.

My medical aid approval for the Bone Marrow test still hasn't been approved, they're waiting for my blood test results, but didn't ask for them.....doh!

Made the monthly phone calls home on Saturday, lovely to speak with everyone. It was also Thing 3's 1st birthday (my great nephew) on Saturday (it has been noted that no cake was saved for me lol) and 3a broke her ankle in a trampolining accident in Australia at the day out she'd arranged for Child 3's birthday.

112 Sunday started with cleaning the kitchen and dining room after yesterdays roast dinner. Spent the day sorting out some art and craft projects I want to do. Went for a swim at lunch time and spent the afternoon taking photos at the beach and the evening at Dubai Marina wandering around after dropping Peter at the train station as he was off to airport and spending the week in Kuwait.

113 Monday I was bored by 10am with nothing to do so I visited the Garden Centre and called in to see a friend, home via McDonalds for Bob's 5 year anniversary meal and spent the afternoon sorting through photo's and doing some gardening once the sun set and it had cooled down.

114 Tuesday Took Bob to My Second Home for a couple of hours run around. Spent the rest of the day just chilling out and got distracted by my new sequinned cushions, so took my laptop out and had a coffee, putting together a couple of sponsored posts for May.

115 Wednesday Spent the day with a friend at Festival City. Stopped off at Ras al Khor Nature reserve and forgot to bring my camera battery. Peter arrived home mid evening.

116 Thursday It was a very windy and humid day, spent most of it sweeping up the sand and managed to drag myself out to do a food shop after a migraine.

117 Friday We went for coffee and had lunch out at Dubai Mall, wandering around the new Fashion Mall. Spent the evening in front of the TV.

118 Saturday woke to another water leak in the bathroom and no electrics. Peter cleaned the garden and outdoor furniture. I popped to the shops and had a coffee. Had friends round in the evening for a BBQ and made our monthly phone calls to the kids and 2 Mums.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - Can I visit the Burj Al Arab? 
TriumphantTales, TweensTeensBeyond and PoCoLo - Women only in Dubai

District Cooling. Keeping cool in Dubai

It's almost summer in Dubai. The temperature is hovering around 35c in the day and 24c at night. If you've never lived in a country with heat like this, you'll probably won’t have thought how we keep it cool enough to live in.

There's a huge difference between 2 weeks of holiday sun than to living and working in these temperatures.

When we lived in the UK, our central heating system was never notched up above 21c. I was in the UK this February when the temperatures plummeted below zero for over a week during the heavy snow and the country couldn't meet the demands of heating houses, offices and shops. Our boiler broke down in the house we rent out to our tenants. I purchased them 3 heaters to keep them warm while we waited a week for the gas company to repair and then install a new boiler. I was on hold for almost 5 hours on the phone to get the repair booked. In general as long as you have enough money, you can keep warm.

Now imagine living somewhere where the temperature is higher than 21c almost all year round, reaching almost 50c in June and July and work out how to keep cool. The aircon units have been switched on now and they will run pretty much 24/7 now until the end of November. Taking a cold shower isn’t an option as the cold water tanks can run out the tap at 42c.

Our Villa has separate air-conditioning units in the bedroom and 2 central units, one for each floor. We pay huge electricity bills up to £250 a month to keep cool.

But for apartment blocks, offices and Malls, the demand is high for multiple use so this is where District cooling steps in, with centralised production and distribution of cooling energy, via underground pipes to cool the indoor air of the buildings. They cool sea water which is then piped into the buildings where specially designed units use it to lower the air temperature through the buildings air conditioning system. It’s rarely any cheaper to use this method but it does allow the country to keep up with the demands.

In every district around Dubai, you'll see buildings similar to these below. It took us a while to work out what they were for.

Viewed from the Burj Khalifa, you can see the size of the building and the area it has to cool.

Week 158 Bluewater Islands and Dubai Eye. Man made island a 210m high Big Wheel
Week 159 Dubai Marina - Reflections
Week 160 Dubai Frame. A window between the Old and New Dubai and a 150m high glass floor.

Week 161 Dubai Marina 3 years apart.

Week 162 Dubai Water Canal Bridge Construction and reconfiguration of roads

Week 163 New Metro Line for Expo 2020
Week 164 Hoover Dam 2002 - 2010
Week 165 Dubai Opera House What a difference a year makes
Week 166 Unfinished buildings. The Pentominium
Week 167 Mixing the old and the new. Coventry Catherdral
Week 168 New Dubai Metro Station 
Week 169 Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa 
Week 170 After the Address fire 
Week 171 The Opus Building