I had a visitor in the back yard this afternoon.

I think he has taken up residence underneath the deck.

The battle against the groundhogs has begun.

This is what the critters did this winter.

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The Bridal Wreath Spirea was going to be so lovely this year.  Not any more.

Shrubs they’ve never touched before are really damaged this spring.

Even my beautiful magnolia is really not going to make it.

 

I know it was a long, cold winter for them, but honestly, even barberry bushes?

An ice storm in December 2013 took down big branches of our willow tree, maple trees, and apple trees. Doug spent a Saturday afternoon chainsawing the bigger limbs into smaller bits that could be picked up more easily.

We then spent two afternoons picking up the broken branches, loading them into the trailer, and then raking up the thousands of tiny twigs.

It  did seem overwhelming when we started, but bit by bit it was all cleaned up and the lawn was bare again.

Our garden pond was covered with at least two feet of snow this winter. Every spring we wonder if our goldfish and koi survived the winter. The previous winter we were slow plugging in the pond heater and lost all of our big fish. Only the small fish survived. This year we made sure the pond heater was plugged in before the first big freeze in December. In early April, Doug peeled away the last bit of snow and found a layer of ice around the pond heater. To our dismay, someone whom we won’t mention, had tripped over the extension cord where it was  plugged in, inside the garage. Fortunately, it must have gotten unplugged near the end of winter. We only lost one bigger goldfish. All the rest of the fish survived!

It’s been a long long winter. The snow came the end of November, never stopped coming all winter long, and hung on for most of April. Warmer temperatures finally came by mid April and the last bits of snow and ice melted away by Apr 25th. It sure is good to see the grass starting to green up and the perennials pushing up through the soil.