The Gas Man Cometh*

*I assume it will be men, though my initial consultations have been with a woman from the pipeline company.

Last Year’s Lilies

The gas company is replacing the gas main down my street and my corner street. They are also replacing the service line into the house, and relocating the meter from inside the house to the outside wall. In the course of doing that, they will bust through my new drywall to remove the old meter and pipes. They will repair it, and I may have leftover paint from two years ago when it was done (I’ve got the record of the paint selection if not). I understand this busting through the wall and replacing sections of drywall is relatively straightforward, and I’ve got no issues with that.

But they have to dig a hole in the middle of my yard!!! Underneath where the lilies are!

Last year, with Rocky

Apparently, my gas service has a complicated history, with a valve installed in the middle of the yard in 1987 and repaired again in 1992. Huh. Who knew their records were that good? And, are they really that good?

So most gas line replacements involve creating a hole in the street where the line starts, and a hole at the house where it ends, and they thread through a plastic replacement liner. But mine is more complicated, and the hole they have to dig is at the most spectacular part of my new garden. It’s inside the fence, protected from deer, and the most sunny part of the front.

Aiming right for the house

When the marking service came out, he tromped on the poor little lilies just poking up their heads. Digging a hole will be a disaster if I don’t do something first. So of course I will.

I once saw a magazine article about a short-term garden rescue. It involved digging up plants and tossing them on a tarp with plenty of their dirt around the roots. The tarp was dragged into the shade, and sprinkled several times throughout a three day period. Afterwards, everything went back. That is my plan for this. It might work. It might not.

I’ll also dig up the hellebores at the house. They are hardy, spread easily, and a bit invasive, so I don’t want to plant them in a place where they would seed themselves around freely. This inside corner has kept them nicely under control. I know the new meter will be big and ugly hanging on that wall. I may need a new bush to put there. But there isn’t much of another option for the hellebores that would keep them from spreading, so we’ll see. The good news is they are likely to do well.

The hellebores in front of the house
The meter will be here

This is scheduled for Friday, April 3. I picked the first available date, because the earlier it is, the smaller will be all the plants when I dig. I figure if they plan to grow more, that gives them more resources for recovery. If I had stopped to think, I would have picked the following Monday, in case the job spreads into more than one day. If they have problems, I may need to hold the plants over a weekend, which will add stress.

But who knows what the world will be like by then, two weeks from now? I’m assuming I’ll be strong enough to dig all the plants the day before they are scheduled to come. Because the hellebores are hardier than the lilies, I could dig them a day earlier, spreading some of the work.

And if I’m sick, either I hire someone by phone or else just let it happen. The world is ending, people are dying, and I am worried about my flowers. Sigh.