As if a rollicking good Independence Day storm wasn’t enough. The weather provided additional fireworks on the 5th of July.
Just like Independence Day, yesterday’s tempest was a late afternoon special. It started with a ferocious wind and clouds that turned everything dark and ominous…
The rain came down, and yes, I’ve said this already, but I really need to fix the garden basin that’s nearest to the fence. That compost bucket sitting in water is really embarrassing. It’s supposed to be in the highest part of the basin, not the lowest…
I’ll conclude this post with a brief lesson in how not to trim a desert tree. The photo below shows a mesquite tree that was blown over during the July 4th storm…
Before its untimely demise, this tree had been trimmed like, well, a tree. It looked like the mesquite equivalent of a lollipop.
Although the tree trimmers were well intentioned, they weakened the tree. Removing the lowest branches from desert trees like the mesquite makes the tree unstable and vulnerable to toppling in high winds. That’s what happened on July 4th.
So, if you’re sharing your space with a desert tree, let it grow into its natural shape. Yes, it will look like a bush on steroids, but it will be a much stronger tree.