Shannon's Garden: Yard Work and Snow

Since we left for Spokane last weekend I haven't been able to make a post since I have been too busy either in the yard or updating the information on each of my plants. But it has been snowing since Thursday and I am finally caught up with all my updating so here's a few of the things that have been going on...

One afternoon earlier this week I had been outside weeding and moving some rocks for my drip line when I noticed 2 ski patrollers in the yard next door (they moonlight as construction guys during the off season) looking up at some trees. My hopes were high; were they going to chop the trees down or just trim them. These trees are one of our banes of existence in the fall. All of the trees in our yard shed their leaves and we attempt to rake only to have the trees next door drop there leaves the day after, no fail. So I shouted to them to just cut them down and they replied back "were working on it." Oh, happy day.

The leaves aren't the only issue with these Lombardy Poplars. A few years ago we had some incredible winds come ripping through town. Several branches came down all over town, but next door one of the branches impaled itself through the roof of the garage! Of course the owner of the place didn't remove it, but just cut it off. We can only assume the branch must have sealed the hole... Last year another of the big branches fell from high up and got caught about half way down. Mason and I have been thinking at least on of the trees was going to come crashing down on to our house. So you can imagine my relief and excitement when I heard they were going to cut them down the next day.

Upon my return from Bible Study, I saw them with ropes and ladders and a few branches down. While eating lunch, we heard a huge crack and thud and looked out the window to see a decent size branch down. We went outside a while later to see how the guys were doing. They were rapping up! And the trees were still standing. Apparently there was too much rot for them to safely climb. Lombardy Poplars are short lived with an average lifespan of 26 years, these trees were close to 30 years old. So it wasn't too surprising to here they were going to have to bring in a big truck to safely take down the trees.

Meanwhile, I had been thinking that I could use some of the branches for a trellis for my Morning Glories and other climbers this year, instead of making or buying one. So I went rifling through the pile they had gathered and pulled out several nice branches. I let them lay in the yard a few hours before I buried them. My excuse was I didn't want them to grow back, but really I took a nap. At 5, I went out and dug holes for each and planted them. If they even think about growing they are dead.

Wednesday I was able to make a blueprint for my south and southeast bed so I can know where my perennials are for the future as well as figure out where to plant my new, precious baby plants. Thursday I returned to my summer job of painting houses only to drive home in a snow storm. Thankfully I knew it was coming and I had gotten so much done in my yard that I felt like I had been prepared and used my time wisely. Friday, we woke up to several inches of snow on the ground and it was still dumping. While I was eating lunch, I heard a huge crash and saw another branch come crashing down onto the deck next door and land across one of the satellite dishes. I laughed.

The rest of Friday and Saturday I spent gathering more information on my flowers, so now I can spend some time figuring out where I want to plant them. And since it is still snowing, I can't really think of anything better to do.

What the South Bed looked like before