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Cottage Gardens

Has everyone battened down the hatches?

11 years ago

We are expecting some high winds today. I brought in the last small bistro table and chairs from the garden in case they might blow away. Brought in my few Halloween decorations too. Now I only hope the tall old serviceberry shrub in the garden weathers the storm, it's been propped up on one side for several or more years and probably stable by now; but I've never removed it for fear of starting all over. They say the ground is really saturated so trees more than likely will topple somewhere. Just hope it doesn't happen at my house.

Good luck and be safe to all Cott.Gardeners in Sandy's path!

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Comments (6)

cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
11 years ago
Hope your serviceberry makes it through the storm, Schoolhouse. We are braced for a major impact here in the DC area. I am hoping all our big trees make it. We are expecting power outages and Old Town will once again be flooded. Expect to see pictures of people in canoes navigating Union Street.

Stay safe and dry. I will be sleeping in the basement tonight!
schoolhouse_gw
Original Author
11 years ago
Checking back with you cyn427. How goes it? Perhaps you aren't able to get online right now but hope you and yours made it without too much damage. So far it looks like I only lost a branch off the ancient lilac.

Take care.
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We have an hour before it's set to hit here. The wind is up already. I got two big way-carts full of sugar maple leaves deposited in their piles. I didn't need any more on my East border but I hope the remaining leaves will disappear with the storm. Seventeen sugar maples is more than anyone needs! But they're like children: which one would you give up? I planted 3 pots of obedient plant. I don't know why that one has been hard for me to keep. Going out now get the last few blooms and then hunker down. Through Indiana the wind's been fierce but the hard rain seems to blow through in a half-hour or less.
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Oh yes, we lost power... It went off at 5:30 pm EDT Sat. night and just came back at 5:15 pm EST today, Sunday. 24 hours and 45 minutes (but who's counting). Our line goes over the river and through the woods and they always seem to save it for last. Telephone went off today too, so I couldn't get online (dialup). Temperature in the house got down to about 51 degrees by this afternooon. At least I had my pot of (cold) coffee and the Halloween candy... I went down to the beach this morning - the beach grass buffer zone repelled the waves and there's no damage to the cliff. The beach looked wonderfully smooth as if the storm had ironed it. Just one guy and two happy dogs walking on the sand. The danger zone down the beach was OK too, the water was up to the cliff, but didn't take a bite. I checked with my neighbor - the tree that came down on the property line laid a few branches on his hot tub, but it still holds water, so he's not worried. I'll get an arborist to remove the tree. Last night was hairy at the time of high tide, when the winds and waves were roaring. I was very thankful for my battery-operated radio which helped distract me from the sounds - it was dark so I couldn't see what the trees and waves were doing - all I could do was listen and hope. I jury-rigged a support system for my bent-over wisteria standard so it's upright until I figure out a better support. The good thing is that it will probably bloom beautifully next year. A storm got it last year and this spring was the best bloom it's ever had. Some people beat their wisteria with bats and savagely root prune them to force bloom - I just wait for another storm. Did I mention how nice it is to have heat in the house? I was NOT looking forward to another cold night, or morning rather, with temperatures forecast for low 30's overnight. Bed is nice and warm, but getting up in a cold room can be unpleasant. Not to mention getting dressed. I was also worried about the more tender tropical houseplants And now I can open the refrigerator and freezer without fear. Is the hurricane season over yet? Claire
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Good gravy, I'm so glad I don't often watch the news, and wasn't reading all of this. The wind was awful here, but as everything was still in pots waiting to be planted, I just snuggled everything up against the west-facing side of the house, and let 'em fend for themselves. Several pots got blown over, but nothing too tragic--they have all gotten to be VERY good friends, as they're all mashed up next to each other so that they can't blow around/down too much. I finally was able to get some peppers planted out yesterday--got about 40 into their containers, and staked every dang one of them except for that beauty that I got from Greg at the swap; it's back up against a wall, though... Freeze? Good thing it didn't--I was completely unprepared for it. I figured: if it freezes this late in the game, then we're all in trouble! Still, if it's cold enough to "frost" but the breeze is blowing, the moisture can't settle on the plants... at least, judging by if I have to scrape my windshield in the morning!
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It doesn't look like there is going to be any let up here either. The weather report for tomorrow looks the same as that for today and it has been coming down non stop all day long. We got about 18 inches although shoveling it feels more like 18 feet. There is no place to put it. Mount P is getting higher on our lawn. You know it's alot of snow when that mountain of snow starts to take shape and grow. The city has declared a state of emergency so no one can go out on the roads.
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cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
11 years ago
Schoolhouse, we lost power last night and just got it back about two hours ago. Other than that, we came through unscathed. Glad you fared so well also. I amused myself as the winds blew by imagining what the new master bath might look like if the leaning tree were to fall on the house. As long as I was dreaming, I also added a walk-in closet! Ha!

You are so sweet to check on me. We consider ourselves very lucky, especially when we see what happened in NJ and NY. Thanks so much and here's hoping that old lilac comes back more beautiful than ever next spring!
mnwsgal
11 years ago
Glad to know that both of you and your homes and gardens were spared any serious damage from Sandy. We are seeing so much devastation along the East Coast. MN is in a valley of calm between two fronts.

My brother works for the telephone company out of Texas and travels throughout the country helping to restore telephone service. He has been in CA recently but expect he will soon be out East.
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
11 years ago
Thank your brother for everyone, 'gal! We have power co. workers from Alabama and Arkansas and probably many other places. I know one thing-we really are all in this together and I hope those who travel to help know how grateful we are (even those of us who were lucky).
Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
11 years ago
I hope everyone in the metro NY, CT and NJ area are all OK. What devastation there. Last halloween we got 19" of heavy, wet snow that did a number on the garden. This year we had high winds from Sandy, but not as bad as we had thought. A couple fence sections down that we'll have to fix, but all in all we were spared this one. Didn't even lose power. Glad to hear you guys are OK.

Kudos to all those phone and electric line workers who work 18 hour days trying to get everyone back on line.

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