A Gardener's Diary

So far, March has been a very generous month. Temperatures have been mostly in the 40’s, with smatterings in the 50’s, and today’s high should be in the 60’s. Add sunshine on those above freezing temperatures day after day and you get very satisfying snow melt.

Yesterday I was walking up the driveway and noticed something on the ground under a crab apple tree.

At first I thought it was a bird’s nest where oak leaves had collected, but when I got closer I noticed the circular artwork was made out of grass.

I find small, round balls of grass frequently when doing my spring clean-up in the flower beds, always nestled at the bottom of dead flower stalks or lily clumps, but they are never this large or perfectly in-tact.

Carefully lifting, or at least tilting it on it’s side, I noticed a burrowing in the dirt.

I did put my finger in the hole — and it does tunnel, but I didn’t want a nip from a mouse or vole, so I left it. Interestingly, this was built after snowfall. The chosen crab apple tree was planted late in the fall, along with other crabs and evergreens. The “grove” is situated off the side of the driveway, so looking at them is quite easy. And something this large would have been easy to spot. I never quite knew what these were, but always had in mind some sort of insulation for a small rodent, but this find seems pretty evident. Obviously, this structure was build for protection from the cold. The oak leaves fit perfectly in the middle. I hope whoever built this “home” was snug and warm.

I put the roof back and left it alone. One piece of advice for what’s in there — stay outside and leave the tree roots alone!

#nature #signnsofspring