The Snowplow Does Some Gardening For Me

Living in the north country means having your driveway snow-plowed after every snowfall. Herein comes the dilemma: the snowplow or the garden?

To defend my kitchen garden at the end of the driveway from the winter's moraine of driveway gravel, i installed two sections of fence separated by an arbor--a lovely transition from the parking area to a green and flowering "room."

The male in my household comes down firmly on the side of the snowplow and faithfully removes the fence sections every November. In April, after snowmelt, i may have to remind him to replace them.

Every spring i find that the snowplow has done some gardening for me. Three years ago, i found a hosta growing in the woods. How did it get there? It took me a while to piece together the story of the snowplow nicking it out of the side of the driveway and bulldozing it into the huge snow fort at the end of his run. Fortunately the hosta survived. As did a lady fern the following year.

This week i found mitella (miterwort) and lamium refugees from my white garden at the front door camped about 20 feet away in a grove of maidenhair fern.

Of course, the question is not EITHER the snowplow OR the garden. The question is: the snowplow AND the garden.