Weather: Afternoon temperatures warmed yesterday when clouds moved in from the west, but they were diverted north. We got little moisture, a little wind, and enough humidity to moisture in the ground from evaporating.
Last useful rain: 12/8. Week’s low: 18 degrees F. Week’s high: 62 degrees F in the shade.
What’s green: Leaves on juniper and other evergreens, cliff rose, yuccas, chives, grape hyacinth, bouncing Bess, pink evening primroses, snapdragons, alfilerillo, blue flax, hollyhock, vinca, violets, sweet peas, coral bells, Queen Anne’s lace, Shasta daisy, anthemis, white and yellow yarrow, purple aster, cheat grass; bases of needle grass; rose canes
What’s gray or gray-green: Leaves on snow-in-summer, catmint
What’s red or purple: Leaves on coral beard tongues
Tasks: Afternoons remained too cool for working outside.
Animal sightings: Small birds.
Weekly update: Ground squirrels like members of the rose family. When they first appeared in my yard in 2005 they left mounds in the drainage ditch in front of the house. I remember going out in February in a rain suit and boots and stomping them down so the thawing water could move.
The next spring, two miniature rose bushes were dead, and two produced little growth. They still have not recovered.
A few years later a neighbor told me gophers had destroyed their peach tree. By then I had called a exterminator who told me there was no evidence of gophers in the area.
I slowly realized the problem was another rodent, a ground squirrel, when it began systematically attacking my cholla cacti.
In 2015 I had my apple trees cut down because only the root stock survived, and it never even bloomed. I replaced them with four crab apples. They did better, but one was listing in the spring of 2017.
When I touched it, it fell over. The root was completely gone. Crab apples like peaches are in the rose family.
Two years ago I ordered trees to replace it and the remaining apples. When I went to dig one hole, I opened a ground squirrel tunnel so wide I had to abandon putting a tree in that spot. It would take more dirt than I had easily available to fill, and would drain away any water. It also created a create air hole that would destroy roots.
Once I’ve unpacked the bare root stock I don’t have time to solve problems; I feel compelled to get them planted. I put the tree at the far end of the line.
This past spring I ordered another tree for that opening. Long before it arrived, I bought a tin can to stuff into the opening. When I went into the grocery store I had in mind one of those 4.25" wide ones used for whole tomatoes. This being Española the store didn’t have whole tomatoes, but did have whole jalapeños. I bought the cheapest ones.
My only problem was what to do with them. I opened the can on trash day, and drained the liquid in the sink. I put the peppers in the trash, and saved the can.
When the bare root tree arrived, I stuffed the can in the hole and packed it with a little dirt. It must have worked because the tree survived.
When I saw that hole last week under a block, it took me a few days to realize the ground squirrel was targeting that crab apple at the far end of the row. The tree may have been more than 3' away, but that animal is an engineer.
I faced the same problem this time. There was no visible mound left by the digging, and I needed to fill the area under the block to keep it from rocking and breaking. Instead of hunting for dirt somewhere, I bought soup cans that are 4.25" long and 3.25" wide.
I had learned one thing from my past experience: I didn’t want anything I had to discard. Broth would have been ideal, but I accepted what was available. Condensed tomato soup. I put the contents in a colander and ran water until it was completely washed away and became dinner for the bacteria in the septic system.
Tuesday it was 46 degrees. I went out with the cans and tools. I used the chisel to lift the block, then pushed the steel point down. The ground was wet, but cold. The chisel sank into the hole. After pushing it down every few inches I was able to punch the dirt into the tunnel. The cans just fit the amount of dirt the critter had evacuated.
I put the can ends on the outside, so nothing could crawl into them. I don’t need my neighbor’s snakes.
On the crab apple side of the block, the tunnel continued unseen under the alfalfa and other vegetation.
The ground squirrel can reopen the tunnel, but now I’m walking out there more often to check. It tends to stay away when it thinks it’s being watched.
Now I think I know why those miniature roses are still doing poorly. I suspect tunneled air spaces are still under them that prevent the roots from growing much.
Notes on photographs:
1. Remains of gnawed crab apple root, 7 May 2017.
2. Ground squirrel tunnel opening, carefully hidden by grass, 11 December 2019.
3. Soup cans filling ground displaced by the tunnel, 11 December 2019.
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