Lyonothamnus floribundus asplenifolius AKA Catalina Ironwood lost a branch. With the cold temperatures, there will probably be some dieback as well.
Ceanothus covering the sidewalk. I shook the snow off and it's now possible to walk beneath it again.
Albizia julibrissin (Mimosa) the top of which was resting on the main electrical and phone lines. I cut all of the dangerous branches away but this trunk is too big for my little chainsaw. At least now when it falls it'll only do damage to the garden. Once the snow has cleared, we'll call in a tree service to cut the rest of it.
The thirty year old Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood' split in so many places that I don't know if the remaining bit will be able to recover. Time will tell.
Part of the maple fell on the fence.
The non-gardener even helped this time as there was so much debris to be cleared away just to make the paths passable. This area behind the greenhouse never looks particularly good but it's looking particularly messy with the limbs that will need to be cut up to fill the yard waste bins once they're emptied.
"Pretty is as pretty does"... at least you ended the post with a smile, the rest of it is quite dreadful. I'm always astonished at the power of snow, taking down huge trees and massive limbs. I hope your maple survives this unnatural pruning.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be a while until we all find out what this weird weather has done to our gardens but the hardy plants should be just fine. Gardening is all about change, right?
DeleteLots of cleanup here too from high winds/rain, but much easier to accomplish than in your conditions -- be so careful, Peter!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Denise. On the bright side, plant losses are an opportunity to shop for more.
DeleteWhen you mentioned the tree on the power lines, but didn't mention what tree it was, I wondered. Damn. Your Albizia julibrissin. Gawd I hope the end of this white nightmare is just about here.
ReplyDeleteThings are melting off pretty well. Main roads are clear/side roads still slushy. Garden is still covered in snow.
DeleteHeavy snow is so damaging both to woody plants and their owners. In 2014 we had heavy snow in September which destroyed millions of trees. We are still seeing tree damage from that storm. Hope yours recover.
ReplyDeleteOh my, snow in September must have been awful. Where do you live?
DeleteCalgary, Alberta. We are used to all sorts of freaky weather here.
DeleteOh yes, you're no stranger to cold weather. I used to live just south of Whitehorse Y.T. Do you write a blog? When I click on your name nothing comes up.
DeleteSomeday I will write a blog but currently life is too darn busy. I enjoy living vicariously through others though. LOL
DeleteWelcome to the snow sucks camp. The shot of the enormous Mimosa trunk was shocking. I'm so sorry you lost so much, and have so much cleanup to do. I hope this nightmare ends soon.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad our hopes of a warm winter were dashed by the cold and snow but all this cleanup will give me something to do in the garden.
DeleteI bet yours isn't the only Acer palmatum that took a hit. Ten years back we had cold or ice or something, and pretty much every japanese maple in the neighborhood either died, lost 1/2 of its branches (from splitting) or died on the top. :(
ReplyDeleteSad news about the Acers in your hood. When we went out for a walk earlier, there were trees broken or down all over the place. Oh well, gardens evolve over time.
DeleteI'm sorry to see the damage, especially to such venerable trees. I hope things look better when you can get in there properly and sort them out.
ReplyDeleteThanks R.D. It'll be interesting to see what survives and what doesn't
DeleteHaving had this kind of winter loss, I feel for you and your garden. When our Korean maple split in a winter storm many years ago, Mark bolted the cut together and it healed and kept on growing. You might try it with the Bloodgood if possible
ReplyDeleteMost of the limbs were too far broken but I may try this idea with the ones that only split. Thanks for the idea.
DeleteI love your ending to this post!
ReplyDeleteWhat a mess we have now, piles of water logged snow, still a foot deep. You have some serious damage to your garden. Ours is bent and bowed, but I haven't' seen any serious breakage yet, except the huge limb that is down out of one of our big fir trees, and a couple of widow makers still hung up in the tree. I think we'll be calling a tree service too, if ever the snow mess is over.
Thank goodness it's mostly over and the big melt has begun. I'll have lots fun with the spring clean up this year.
DeleteYou certainly do have a mess to contend with. I hope your weather improves and you can get out there and clean up. Maybe your city will do a special pickup for larger messes due to the storm otherwise it will take quite a while to fill bins enough times to get rid of your downfall. I hope nothing else is damaged. Your poor acer.
ReplyDeleteWe have an old truck that is parked most of the year but it will come in handy to fill it up and haul some of the extra mess away.
DeleteHow heartbreaking, Peter. I hope everything fares better than you may currently expect. The damaged Acer makes me want to cry.
ReplyDeleteGardens are all about death and rebirth. Part of the Acer is still standing and, if it can heal around where the sides split off, may just survive. On the positive side, the shade beneath the tree will be much less dense. Wonder if the Renga Lilies will make it through.
DeleteOh dear, sorry about the snow and wind damage. I know we have a lot of little branches down from the ice storm, but I didn't notice any large trees down. Several neighbors have recently cut down large trees, though, so the neighborhood has a different feel. I hope most of your trees, shrubs, and perennials will be OK.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beth. Time will tell. My plant collection needed some editing anyway.
DeleteI hadn't realised that snow could do so much serious damage, I'm so sorry your beautiful trees have suffered so much.Hopefully the snow will go soon.
ReplyDeleteI've seen snow do a bit of damage before but this record-breaking amount of heavy white stuff has downed trees all over town. Tree services are starting waiting lists and will have plenty of work for many weeks.
DeleteSnow. Beautiful. Sheltering. And deadly. I shudder at the damage you suffered. We were fortunate - we only got about 1/10th inch of ice in yesterday's storm, and it messed up the streets. But not the trees.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, how heartbreaking, I hope you acer will survive. I agree about snow; awful stuff.
ReplyDeleteWhat a rotten mess. Your snow has certainly behaved like a very rude guest. My advice is, don't invite it back.
ReplyDelete