Thanks, Rita.
The drought and heat the last 2 summers killed off many of the big old cottonwoods that stand between the street and the creek. (The "creek" is 40 feet wide, so some might call it a small river) We have removed the dead ones on our property, but the ones farther down the street are on county right of way. I told county crews that they will present a hazard in the next big wind storm, and I was right. One fell today. I heard the very distinctive loud crack as it fell. We are in between rounds of tornados at the moment, so my husband took our big backhoe down to move it off the road.
We spent a day this week cutting down large trees that were leaning dangerously.
While we were *just* under the tornado watch
, I went out and mulched everything I could, hoping to soften the hail's impact.
Hail can really compact the soil, in addition to ruining the plants and trees.
