A column by Jane Ford, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel<\/p>\n
This year we\u2019ve had 80-degree weather in March, which forced our plants into an early spring, then drought conditions moved in to stay, and, on June 29, a storm of epic proportions blew through and dumped debris (dirt, roofing shingles, tree parts and assorted junk, such as children\u2019s toys in my backyard) from someplace faraway.<\/p>\n
All of us have stories to tell and have had more days than we care to think about sweltering without fans or air conditioners because the power lines were laying everywhere, all tangled up with downed trees. Many of us have taken refuge with friends or relatives until the power company could do what they do best. This will be an Independence Day week we won\u2019t forget and will all be sharing stories about for many years.<\/p>\n
Sadly, in our city, so many trees were torn from their moorings, ripped in two and scattered all over our homes, cars, streets and landscapes. I\u2019ll bet some of our tree parts and other bits and pieces that were picked up by this veracious storm were then dropped off on landscapes east of us as it continued its rampage.<\/p>\n
If you have had serious damage to your trees and would like to know if they are salvageable or what you should do, call the Allen County office of the Purdue Cooperative Extension at 481-6826, and ask for Ricky Kemery, horticulture educator.<\/p>\n
In a crisis such as this, professionals who take care of clean up are scheduled to the max so the telephone queue stretches longer and longer and makes it more and more difficult for them to answer distress calls. I know this is difficult, but patience is the key to getting through this thing.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, here are a few tips to salvage what can be saved so that when everything is finally cleaned up and put back together, your valuable plants will still be there:<\/p>\n
In this kind of situation, there is no reason to worry if things aren\u2019t cleaned up immediately. Don\u2019t let anyone push you beyond your ability to handle the situation, either financially or physically.<\/p>\n
And in the meantime, try not to get angry if things aren\u2019t being done as quickly as you would like. Tree removal and power line crews have been working around-the-clock to take care of the situation and are doing a wonderful job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A column by Jane Ford, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel This year we\u2019ve had 80-degree weather in March, which forced our plants into an early spring, then drought conditions moved in to stay, and, on June 29, a storm of epic proportions blew through and dumped debris (dirt, roofing shingles, tree parts and assorted junk, such as children\u2019s toys in my backyard) from someplace faraway. All of us have stories to tell and have had more days than we care to think about sweltering without fans or air conditioners because the power lines were laying everywhere, all tangled up with downed trees. Many of us have taken refuge with friends or relatives until the power company could do what they do best. This will be an Independence…<\/p>\n