Squashed

Everybody's cold wet heavy slop fell last Saturday night. That's when the power went out. Mine never did. Mine stayed on.

It's Wednesday afternoon and I am getting more reports of clients still trapped at home by the snow; no plows for long driveways and private association roads, and no power after all these days. They got a foot more of that heavy wet slop than I did and just like mine, it turned to cement when it froze.

The majority of my baby trees and shrubberies were squashed down by the six inches of slop I got. I saw some light damage to a group of very large rhododendron along the driveway in the ridge top garden next door. All the shrubberies over there are squashed too. Only the melt will reveal the damage. So far it is looking light.

I've been keeping myself occupied while semi-snowbound with some plumbing repairs over there. They were finished today, passed inspection and the water was turned back off for winter storage.

I can only imagine what damage I will find in the gardens I tend that got an extra foot more of heavy wet slop than I did. The best thing to do at this point is let all that heavy slop completely melt, then clean up the damage when it is lighter, easier to do and safer for the plants. The gardens will grow on.

There is a beautiful stand of clumping bamboo to the left of the culvert. It should bend not break. This was a 'hope it bends' snow.

Uh oh! The road grader is up here. "My side of the road is fine. Leave it alone!" I hate when blocks of salted compacted snow avalanche into the garden.

Not. I have the best snow plow dudes in all of Haywood County. They are the best! Nobody gets snowed in up here unless they want to. The Rattler never closes.

It makes me wonder about long driveways and private roads in high end neighborhoods. They don't get plowed by any government agency. It's left up to capitalism. So they don't get plowed anytime soon, if at all. It's even harder when a foot and a half of wet slop freezes into cement. Plus plenty people here act like they live in the south and snow don't last.

I've been to town twice to help keep myself occupied. Went to the Lowe's for plumbing parts when it suited me. Town was running smoothly. Had all kinds of power every where I went. Plenty snow, but the damage I saw looked minor to none. How is it that these high end neighborhoods are without power going on four days now? What happened? These places are only on the edge of town distance wise.

It makes you wonder about the infrastructure feeding these places. In the last great 'hope it bends' snow of 2008 I was without power for four days, but I am 25 miles north towards nowhere, high on the low spot. I did get the full eighteen inches of heavy wet slop that time though.

Look at my Witch Hazels. My, how well they have grown. I will have late winter blooms in no time. The Doghobble and grasses behind them are squashed. I'm thinking the grasses and Joe Pye are likely to be toast for the year. The Doghobble should bend quite fine.

The Under Garden has transformed into a pattern of lumps in the snow. So it will flow through the winter, an ever changing, colored canvas of living earth in and out of the white cold of the barren time.

Squashed in a 'hope it bends' snow. The garden grows on.