By Mike Armstrong
Writer, Carbon County Comet
I think most residents in Carbon County will say we had a brutal past winter. Living in Hanna, there were 17 days when the roads closed except one day. I couldn’t go anywhere by car except in town. Public works in Hanna did an amazing job of getting the roads open for our town, especially since the snow didn’t go anywhere like in years past. Usually, the wind got rid of a lot of the accumulation. Plus, it seemed past winters, some days would hit the mid-30s, maybe even a day or two in the 40s, which would melt some of the snow.
Not this year.
I had snow on the sides of my driveway that went above six feet. My driveway, more than once, had waist-high snow. I am blessed with a neighbor who dug me out with his small but mighty loader, which shoveled me out of every major snowstorm. If it weren’t for Perry Goodrich and his miracle machine, my back would have been in way worse shape this year.
I still did plenty of shoveling.
Winter didn’t break until the first week of May.
A little stat I kept track of during winter, Carbon County had some snowfall every week from Halloween until the first week of May.
EVERY WEEK!!!
This kept my gardens in check.
Usually, we get some warm days in April and my crocus, daffodils and even my irises start to bloom, only to be killed by a blast of cold weather that usually occurs.
This year the flowers waited and I have enjoyed seeing flowers bloom and last longer than any time I can remember.
All the snow made the ground lush and green when it finally melted. When I drive to Saratoga or Rawlins on US 30, I am struck by how beautiful the land is around me and we are in July.
Usually, by July 4, the landscape is fairly dry looking.
I have been in Elk Mountain on several occasions and the town is gorgeous with its stunning greenery. The same happened with Encampment/Riverside when I visited. I imagine Little Snake River Valley is the same, although I haven’t been there yet this summer.
My gardens are sprouting all sorts of beautiful flowers and they are lasting.
I have two dwellings that are next door to each other and I have put in a lot of gardens over the years.
19, all told.
Honestly, if I could meet the guy who, 20 years ago, started to put in all these gardens, I would kick his ass and ask him what was he thinking?
That was a younger me, by the way.
The snow softened up the ground to where I have been able to weed and get the grass out easier than in years past, but it has been a major battle reclaiming these gardens.
In addition to the gardens, my lawns need mowing almost twice a week due to all the moisture we have received. I admit I put fertilizer in as soon as I could this spring, and that has helped make the grass thrive.
I wish I did not have to work relentlessly every day on the yards, but there truly is no choice. The past few summers, I admit to not being very vigilant about keeping up the gardens, and in trying to recover them, I am paying the price for the years of neglect.
I have literally had to take chunks of ground out in my gardens because the grass and weeds had become so dominant. I save the bulbs and plants that I can.
I am making headway, but I have no illusions. I will be working on getting these gardens back in shape until the summer ends.
Still, there is great satisfaction at how many flowers are blooming and lasting this year. It really is beautiful.
It does inspire me to make time to get the gardens back to their glory when I first put them in.
I know the gardens were helped immensely by the snow melt that happened in May and the showers we got in the first weeks of June.
I am begrudgingly grateful for all the snow we got.
Does this mean I want a repeat of this last winter for a great garden next year?
Categorically NO!!
But at least if it does happen, I know there is at least some good to come of it all.
That will be of some solace, I believe when I face waist-deep snow in my driveway again.
