I thought some of you all would like to see the difference between March 8, 2006 when this was taken and June 16, 2010 with that last photo. March photo was taken late afternoon to light up the west side of this old house. Notice the green mulch shading the daffodils and sucking up the extra moisture. Sandy loam soils on this home site. Heavy red clay down about 24″ or so. Notice there is a Black Walnut tree growing behind the house. To thrive, this species of tree needs well draining soils about 36″ deep above ANY layer of clay that keeps water from draining away.
Pocket Gophers are another good indicator of well drained soils. They require at least 16″ of sandy, well drained soils or they drown out down deep in their tunnels during wet spells. Any locations where you see lots of Pocket Gophers will grow shallow rooted Peach trees and most varieties of daffodils. Gopher tunnels normally are about 6″ deep. They cache roots and tubers in storage chambers about 12″ in diameter (30 CM). Pretty common to find large clumps of the tuber forming flower “Spring Beauty”. Less common to find them moving large numbers of jonquil or daffodil bulbs.
They simply LOVE tulips, gladiolus and all vegetable plants. During the summer they normally do not store extra foods as they have plenty to eat that is fresh. They sometimes come up above ground at night and eat the tender shoots of some short growing plants.
This old farm house is near the rural community call “Snow Hill” about 14 miles from my house. I never thought to ask how it got named that. You can Google Map this area by satellite. It is highway 144 off of Highway 49 between Mt. Pleasant and Daingerfield Texas connecting Omaha and Naples Texas on Highway 67 with highway 49. Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas