Careful What You Wish For!

Back in the winter I was complaining to Neta about all of the vegetation growing around the edge of the front pond. I told her I wish we could have a drought so the water level would drop enough to allow me to clear some of the large bushes and trees that were growing at the bottom of the bank.

All last year and through this past winter our ponds were both at capacity. Our front pond (and island), which is on our list to clean up (Item #9), contains a lot of scrubby bushes and trees; wax myrtles, maples and other overgrowth. We also have a few bald cypress trees growing up from and around the pond which we're keeping, but the scrubby stuff has become overgrown and needs to go.

From this past winter, but you get the idea.

As I mentioned, the vegetation that we want to get rid of all seems to grow right at or just below the water's edge. To even get within an arm's reach requires stomping through swampy, thick muddy areas. A couple of tree/bushes in particular were especially troublesome as they had large, multiple trunks and grew about 2-3 feet off the bank, so not easy to reach with the chainsaw. And so I wished and dreamed of drought.

Wish granted... Let me just say that Mother Nature hears our messages and seems to take them VERY literally. I didn't want it coupled with 90 degree days and brown and dying lawns, but I guess I wasn't specific enough. I'll be a little clearer with my next wish.

A clover patch in our yard

But the silver lining is...a clean bank along the pond.

It looks so much younger, like when your Dad shaves his beard.

Those stumps/roots will still sprout continuously and keep me on my toes with the brush cutter.

The clearing of all of this actually took place over the course of several months. I cut back what I could reach, hauled it away and waited for the water level to keep dropping. I had the last group of bushes cut back to just short stumps and waited. They put out a lot of new growth that I couldn't reach for a while, but this past weekend, on the hottest weather we've had, I managed to get it cut down to the current water line.

One particular bush required me to climb down the bank, stand on some cypress knees and cut out about a dozen or more underwater branches while Neta held them above the water for me with a boat hook. Ingenuity!

You can see from the pictures how far down the water level is. The lack of rain is real as we are about 9 inches below normal for the year, though lots of storms are forecast for this week. Neta has not been happy with my wishes as we have a vegetable garden and lots of new fruit trees and flowers to now keep watered regularly due to the lack of measurable rain.

Mission Accomplished!

Now that we have that job crossed off the list I would like to ask Mother Nature to bring back the rain. Normal amounts. Enough to green up the grass and keep the gardens and fruit trees happy, but not enough to require the construction of an Ark. That project is NOT on our list.