daysingarden
A garden diary
Nor’easter of March 2018
Nor’easter of March 2018.
Actually, we’ve had 2 March nor’easters. The second one, on March 7, hit this area hard with around 16″ of heavy snow, but no wind, thank heaven. We didn’t lose power. Much to be thankful about. Today, March 8, the temp is above 40°F. The heavy snow should be off the tree branches shortly, and we will see exactly what lasting damage happened in the garden.
Some damage is already apparent. The old pear tree was uprooted. Like the old apple tree a few years ago, it just sank to the ground, managing to miss the fence, the benches under it, the picnic table, and a river birch. I will miss its blossoms this spring and its perfect shade this summer.
Daisy, our Labrador retriever, will miss the fallen pears, which she dearly loves to eat. The birds, bees, wasps, and various critters will miss them as well.
Now we get to clean up the debris and think about how to replace it.
I’m worried about the hemlocks. One is leaning precariously over the shed and garage. These hemlocks have suffered from hemlock wooly adelgid the past 2 years. I don’t know the extent to which they have been weakened by this. Even if they bounce back once the snow melts off of them, will they be so resilient the next time. Good question for the tree guy.
Under mounds of snow are 2 tangled dwarf river birch trees that previously had nicely rounded shapes. It’s hard to tell what the structural damage to them is. We’ll know when the snow falls off. The redbud at the far left looks all right.
The white pines always look in dire straits after a snowstorm. But they are so limber that they almost always pop back the minute the snow is off them. Branches of a Japanese maple are hanging over the young white pine in the photo above. They could cause big damage to the pine if they fell. I’m not fond of the Japanese maple. I am counting of the white pine as a screen between our windows and the neighbor’s windows. I think it’s time for some severe pruning of the maple.
The American hollies are still little trees and are totally buried. Are their branches cracked or just bent over. We will know in good time.
The magnolia lost one dead branch that needed to be pruned anyway. Mother Nature took care of that for us. Otherwise, the snow-covered bare branches of the old tree look beautiful against a blue sky–even with the power lines in the background.
I’m delighted that the young crabapples stood up so straight and tall in the snow from the nor’easter.
The bird feeders and bird bath are covered with snow. A chickadee greeted me this morning with dee-dee-dee-dee. It seemed to be demanding some action to remedy this situation as soon as possible. The mourning doves and juncos were busy under the feeders, although I don’t think they were finding much to eat.
A few days ago, I took out the table and chairs from the shed and returned them to their rightful place in the wildflower corner. Then I took some photos of crocuses, the harbingers of spring. Looks like my excitement about spring was a little premature.
I took the snow pictures in this post around 8 am this morning, March 8, 2018. It’s almost 3 pm now. Most of the heavy snow has fallen off the trees, and I should be better able to determine what the nor’easter wrought in my garden. I’ll hope for the best.
Is that why there are no really big trees there?
Fruit trees don’t get too big even when they are old, which mine were. It’s true that heavy spring and fall snows are hard on trees.
Some of the tallest trees in the world live in our neighborhood, but our weather is quite mild, and lacking severe storms. The trees are remarkably stable too, which helps.
My goodness, that’s SERIOUSLY cold weather. No wonder the crocuses give you so much joy.
Hopefully, this spring snow will melt quickly and the crocuses will be back!
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