East Texas Yard Updates

Hi, My Friends,

Happy Mother's Day. 

How are you? I hope you are doing well.

I thought I'd share an update and some pictures from our East Texas weekend house. Did you notice the Texas flag? That is a new one. 

One of the questions I asked on the day of the showing was. "What is the deal with this soil?" 

I didn't get a good answer. The soil here is very sandy. It's called sugar sand by our next door neighbor because it sticks to everything. We've been better about tracking it into the house. We have indoor and outdoor shoes. The soil here is a deep layer of light colored sand over a clay subsoil. Grass will mitigate the effects of the sand and that is our focus this growing season. 

We have fertilized. It's the rainy season so right now we are getting enough rain but we will water in some of the areas closest to the house when the heat of summer arrives. Here are some before and after shots. 

The previous owners allowed cars to drive up to the front door. The position of the wall blocks seemed to invite guests into a circle around the big tree next to the driveway. 

Bill was opposed to that and quickly put a stop to it. My suggestion was that by moving the blocks it would make the circle less pronounced and therefore there would be less of an invitation to drive right up to the door. 

I moved the wall block border back in February. The image below was taken this morning, May 8th. 

Now the tree bed relates to the bed that lines the front porch. 

That bed around the tree won't be watered so we are filling it with cacti and succulents. Some cacti was already there. 

The rocks that previously surrounded the tree now offer a welcoming entrance to the paths we created through the woods. 

Here is the driveway now. It's filling in nicely after fertilizer and a few plugs transplanted from the raised bed area. Bill was not wild about the wall blocks used as a border but borders are necessary for keeping the sand away from the entryways. We turned the red scalloped edging blocks upside down for a cleaner look. Again, these are so needed to keep the sand at bay. 

We've opted for no edging around the tree with the antique wheel barrow. 

This is the daffodil bed. Once that greenery has died back, Bill can easily mow around this tree. 

Hopefully, we get a little more grass there. 

Our only plants besides the daffs are low growing juniper. These aren't my favorite but Bill loves them. 

I have so much say around here that it's nice when he inserts a strong opinion. These do not need a lot of supplemental watering. 

The bed on the way to the carport is my current problem. It's full of liriope and day lilies but little oak suckers are everywhere. I'm afraid I need to dig everything up and start over. 

We have two severely damaged oak trees after the 2021 winter storm named Uri. 

Texas A&M suggested waiting a year to see how they would leaf out in 2022. 

When I look back on images between 2021 and 2022, I don't see much improvement. 

May of 2021

The lower canopy is much more full. The upper canopy has changed very little. 

May of 2022

We have another one in worse shape than this. A tree man is supposed to come by and have a look to give us an opinion. The concern is dead limbs falling from the trees. A Texas child was severely injured last fall due to a limb that was damaged during Uri. We had a mild winter in 2021 so the sap had already begun flowing to the limbs in order to produce leaves. That sap froze which is what has caused the damage. 

Both of these trees are near power lines so I don't want Bill to trim or take these down. 

Our pine trees are dying at an alarming rate. The canopies turned a rust color after the winter storm but they seemed to rebound and new growth appeared. They can look okay one week and then the next, the canopy is rusty again. Eventually, the tree is dead enough that it falls over. 

According to Texas A&M, the trees were already stressed due to a species of Pine Bark Beetle. 10 days of abnormal freezing temperatures finally did them in. 

Will we lose all of our pines? I don't know. It depends on their stress level before the freeze. If you have been following, you know that the goal was to live in the Piney Woods. Many of the these pines were not native and were propagated by loggers. They were fast growing pines perfect for logging but they are less resistant to disease and intruders. Bill has taken down two of these giant pines. One was in the path of our camper. The other one was in the big back yard. 

 I was nervous about this but he studied what to do and he practiced on smaller trees. 

He made the cuts and the trees fell perfectly. My heart was beating like crazy. 

As the canopies of the pines fall off, I can see more light filtering in the woods which means we will have more natives growing back underneath.  

Right now we are leaving what falls as long as it's not in the path. 

If they annoy me visually, Bill pulls them to "Yucca Circle" to line the path. Cactus and yuccas seem like strange plants to have in this area of the country. We are on the edge of the Post Oak Savannah which might explain it. I'm not sure if they are native or were introduced but that is the reason for the nickname. 

I feel strongly that we will have enough pine logs to line the path in this circle. 

Our neighbor came to dig up the old septic systems and to retrieve the lid to our old septic tank. He then filled in the holes. Hopefully, the grass will fill in quickly. 

The blocks surrounding the old septic were moved to create our fire pit. 

Bill strung some outdoor lights for us. 

We brought out our table and chair set from home so that we don't have to drag chairs down to the pit every time we light a fire. 

These changes are monumental because it officially means that all the eyesores are gone. 

The crumbling path, the dying pear tree, the propane tank and the spirea right out the back door, the exposed sewer hook up for a camper, the old blue septic barrels, the metal stacked on the other old septic, the ugly tan out building. 

This has been a slow process but it's such a great milestone. 

That is all for now. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. 

Katie 

Click the link to our country house page for more stories and updates. 

Lessons From The Garden/Uri Update

Hi, Dear Friends,

How are you? I hope that you are doing well.

If you have been following, you might remember that I spent a lot of time in the garden last year. 

It's my place to escape when there is crazy going on.

2020 had a lot of crazy! 

I don't know about you but the week before Covidversary, Bill and I both felt weird. We were out of sorts, if you will. I'm a believer in cyclical depression. I had it every February since it was the month my mother died. There was something familiar about the weather, my brother's birthday, and Valentine's Day that brought back those memories of that February when I was ten years old. After decades, freedom came by recognizing what it was and that I had a choice. I could remain positive instead of giving in to my feelings. It worked. I can think about my mother in February but not descend into a pit of depression. 

Since it was the first anniversary of lockdown, I thought our funk related to that but we did give in to some reflections about the past year. I cannot believe it's been a year. It went slow at first but then it flew by.  My initial thought, last March, was that I needed to focus on what God wanted to teach me. That if the time wasn't used for reflection, then the lesson would get lost in the struggles. There have been a lot of blessings that have come in the last year, but there has been pain as well. There were victories in some areas but failure in others. 

One shortfall, is that the busyness of life, once again got in the way of Bible reading. My hope is that I'll begin each day with reading and reflection but as soon as that coffee is in my hand, my chores begin. There is always something that needs to be done around here. Many times those chores were garden related and many hours were spent out in the yard last year. I did a lot of pruning, clipping, clearing, planting. 

The unpredictability of the situation made me feel that life was short and it led me to plant some roses, hydrangeas. These were plants that I always wanted and I never took the time to find a place for them in our landscape. I wanted to savor the joy and beauty of our garden. 

We fell in love with our new trees out in East Texas. 

Spring of 2021 was on the way. We have the place out in East Texas and that landscape was getting started. The yard in town was in good shape after last season. I could focus my time and attention on our new property.  I was happy about how everything looked. My gardening skills were increasing and I was proud of that. I was ready to garden out in the country. Gardening was something I could control at a time when everything seemed out of control. 

Hello, Uri. 

Weather is unpredictable. Bill read me the forecast 10 days prior to Uri. When he said that it would be 2˚, I didn't believe him. It would be easier to believe that it would be 111˚ in August. 2˚ was unheard of in our lifetime. It ended up being  -2˚ at our place in East Texas and it was 1˚ here. The temperature dipped below freezing for 10 days. Bill and I were spared the other problems that had become national news but we had annoying issues just the same. By the time all was resolved, I was over it. I never want to see snow again. (at least until next Christmas.)

So let me preface this by saying, all in all, we were blessed but my garden and yards took a hit.

 

Things looked terrible.

 Even the southern gardening experts don't know for sure what to expect because this was unprecedented. 

As I looked around, it wasn't lost on me that the garden that was my solace in the last year was decimated. My beautiful pines, junipers, roses, hydrangeas, crepe myrtles, gardenias, azaleas, and bulbs were all at the mercy of nature to recover or not. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." popped into my head. Had I created an idol by creating a beautiful yard? Did I value it above other things? Life last year was unpredictable. I couldn't control what was going on in the lives of others. I was learning that I couldn't worry about them either and that I needed to leave others in God's hands. He loves my friends and family more than I do. The garden was my escape - a place of solace. I found that I was less inclined to give in to worry when I was out in the yard. 

Yet, it can't be a replacement or escape from my spiritual growth.

 It can be held on loosely, if that makes sense. 

Something that I thought could control was, of course, completely out of my control. My control over the garden was an illusion. It's a gift to be enjoyed and not idolized. 

I have a big corner on southwest corner of the yard that was decimated by the storm. Three 25 year old wax leaf ligustrum shrubs are dead. One in particular had grown in such a way that it was a beautiful small tree which canopied over my garden statue. I couldn't have done it if I tried and I loved what nature had done. It was an entrance to what I called my "Secret Garden".

Bill remembered that the storm of '83 killed a lot of wax leaf ligustrum. I knew that they were probably dead but I gave them time to recover. After several weeks, scratch tests showed that they were dead. Snapping some branches confirmed it. Experts are saying that they could grown back from the root but I don't have 25 years to get them back to what they were. Not to mention that I'm leery that deep freezes could be in our future. My gardening guru also confirmed that they were dead. I could wait a few more weeks to see but I didn't need to wait. Coming back from the root wouldn't be pretty and I'm not that patient.

I cut them down this week and I cleaned up all the leaves from the beds. The rock terraces got some attention. 

Here it is after Uri. 

 I stare at that ugly area wondering what to plant. 

Before Uri.

Death in the garden is an opportunity for change. I'm not one to cut down something that is still alive in order to achieve change. It has to be dead or dying in order for me to alter the landscape. 

I don't know what I'll do. It won't look the same but I hope that it will look pretty. 

This world is not our home also came to mind. 

While I'm to find joy in God's creation, it's no substitute for God. 

That area of my "Secret Garden" is no more but the opportunity to create something new is ahead. 

In the meantime lessons from the garden continue. 

"God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble." 

Thanks for stopping by! I always appreciate it. 

Katie

Tulips, daffodil and pansy pictures are current. The rest are from my archives. 

Damage In The Garden From Uri

Hi, Friends,

The weather has warmed up. 

My family, friends, and acquaintances have all had their power restored. There are no more black outs and the water is safe to drink. We are allowed to do laundry again. Pipe repair still continues for many people. The grocery stores are restocking. Life is returning to normal. We're waiting on the plumber for a clogged drain.  My new phone arrived today so Siri will no longer be talking to me in the middle of the night. 

It's going to be 76˚ tomorrow. 

 I've been able to take a walk about both yards and look at the damage from the storm. 

Here are some pictures. This will help me document what happened and how the recovery goes. 

If this ever happens again, maybe I'll know what to expect. 

The house in town: 

Our dwarf nandinas are a gorgeous red. The leaves on the rose don't look dead but they look strange. 

I'm not sure if they will fall off or not. 

Before the storm, I watered everything. I covered the beds with blankets. On Monday the 8th, the high was 66˚ the low was 35˚. The next day the high was 35˚ the low was 28˚. The temperature was below freezing for 10 days. The highs and lows were both lower than predicted. 

We got 6ish inches of snow with the first wave. During the first wave the temps dropped into the twenties at night. It was during the second wave that the temperature dropped to record or near record levels. It was 2˚ one night. The next night it was -1˚. We got a little more snow with the second wave. 

It has never been that cold since I've been in Texas. My mother in law may have seen it but she doesn't remember it ever being that cold. 

This is a sampling of what I found when the snow melted and we took off the blankets. 

Tulips weren't there before. 

Hello, Pansy. 

The bed below looks bedraggled but I think it will bounce back. There was angelonia in here. I don't know if it will come back or not. Snapdragons have had some die back but I don't think they are dead.

The little oxalis is going to be fine. It is tried and true. The monkey grass looked terrible during the storm but it looks okay now. 

A fern left in the ground had severe die back but there is still green underneath. 

My ferns, begonias, angel wing begonias, kalanchoes spent the winter in the green house with no problem. The first year I had the greenhouse, I lost everything in it when it got down to 8˚. Even with a heater, I didn't trust it this time, so all of it was moved inside or into the garage. Before the storm, I put pots of pansies in the green house and covered them with a blanket. They did great and they will be fine with sunshine and water. 

My azalea looks fine. 

Hopefully, my tradescantia pallida will come back from the root. 

My nandinas have some yellow leaves. I think these were the most recent growth this winter. 

My wax leaf ligustrums look frozen. They were about 20 years old and they were beautiful. I think they are goners. My pittosporum looks odd. I'm not sure what's up with it, 

I brought all of my statues inside so they wouldn't get damaged. It was one less thing to worry about. 

The bigger urns and fountains were left out and they seem to be okay.  They don't have cracks that I can see. 

My plants in that garage were covered with blankets. This spider plant was in a cart and was near the garage door. It suffered die back but it should be okay. 

 

Now for the yard in East Texas:

My blueberry juniper sustained severe damage during an ice storm that came with the first wave. 

They had ice, snow, and then more snow. They may have even had freezing fog. 

Their low was supposed to be -2˚ but I can't verify that. 

Bill went out after the ice storm to put a light on the well, saw the damage and sent me pictures. 

The pictures do not convey the magnitude of the damage. I took the pictures below when I got there. 

The far north east corner has the limbs sheered off. It was like the top limb broke and took down everything underneath it. These are so large that Bill couldn't pull the limbs away from the tree. We'll need to chain the limbs to the truck and pull them away so that he can chop them up with the chainsaw. The wood is beautiful so he'll make something from the wood. 

First let me say that we are very blessed to have been spared power outages, water mains bursting, etc but if you have been following our journey, you may recall that there was very little that I liked about this house. That tree was the first thing to capture my heart. I loved the vista with that tree in it. 

I'd just stare at it.

I was going to plant one in our yard here in town but it was the wrong time of year. By the fall, the correct time to plant, we had already bought this house. 

 I'm not letting him chop it down. It will probably never look the same and I'm not sure if that side can ever recover but we'll get used to how it looks. It might be a little lopsided for the remainder of its days. 

In the grand scheme of all that people suffered, it is a little thing. 

We have a smaller one at the front of the property and it was damaged too. 

I've since come to love many things about this house and property so these losses are small but still sad.  

I was also excited about my gardenia out there. It had already leafed out for spring. It's very crispy. 

There is some green near the base so I'll wait and see what happens. 

The daft daffodils got zapped. My gardening expert thought that any stems about 3 or 4 inches high should be fine under the snow. That is what they were when we were there on the 7th. They continued to shoot up in the warm days proceeding Uri so many of them were about to bloom. It seems like nature should have sent them warning signals. They will forever be known as the daft daffodils as far as I am concerned. I will love them anyway. 

I removed drop cloths from the front beds and the plants look bedraggled but that is about it. 

I've jumped on a Facebook plant group. Many people lost all their tropicals and seed starts in their green houses. Many of them shared stories of the loss of their rare plants. 

I feel very blessed that I've had so little damage. 

I think that the blanket of snow before the -1˚ saved most of it. 

Snow is beautiful but these low temps were like nothing we have seen. 

Nature is resilient. So much will come back. I know that I would like to trim down what I would like to save going forward. I realized that if our electricity had gone out, it all would have been lost. I would have saved the plant from my brother's funeral and a kalancho from a student. They would have been by the fire with Bill and I. 

That is all for now. I'll keep you updated on how things recover. 

Thanks for all of your kind wishes for our state. I know we weren't the only ones to get hit by this storm. 

I hope they are all well and recovering too. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Katie