life and death in the garden

The last few days have seen Robertson's summer season revert to a more normal pattern - of summer storms. We had a dry start to February. Then we got several fierce storms, the one on Saturday afternoon resulted in a 6 hour power outage. The rainfall has not been great, but 16 mls and 11 mls is better than nothing.

As a gardener, I would have to bemoan the damage which these fierce storms can inflict. Swirling winds can cause damage, by blowing trees in unexpected directions, for which the trees have not developed enough "strength". Trees develop their strength in a way akin to an athlete developing muscle tone. So, in an area with predominantly southerly or westerly winds, trees lean slightly with the wind, and the main strength of the trunk is also developed to withstand winds from those directions. So, it is not surprising that several young trees in my garden have been snapped over, and have fallen to the south. The storms came up from the south - from Kangaroo Valley - but the winds associated with the storms obviously caused a swirling, ripping effect upon these trees. And so they have snapped in the unexpected direction, as the winds have swirled around, briefly, from the opposite side to the prevailing wind.

Oh well! I have tried to apply a Darwinian approach to gardening - survival of the fittest. Some trees grow quickly, then get snapped off or have their roots loosened in the light Robertson soil, ("wind-rock damage") causing them to be permanently weakened or damaged.

Meanwhile, a thick fog has enveloped Robertson, allowing those plants which survived the storm to grow in a warm, moist atmosphere, and to put on even more growth.

Such is life; Such is death - in the garden.

*****

Oh, and if you think I am being melancholic, try having a look at Anni's blog. Today's entry is ironically entitled "On a cheerful note". You can take the woman out of Finland, but you cannot take Finland out of the woman. (Nor should one!)