Snow the four letter word!

I knew our nice dry winter was too good to be true, but we did need the moisture.
 Not only did it snow for 3 days but it also rained off and on for 3 days.  This is the only reason we don't have 3 feet of snow on the ground.  I think the wet heavy snow measured about 8 inches before it started melting down.
I posted pics from the start (more or less) and the finish of the snow.    

This is to show the working "dry" creek in action.  Starts with the drainage from the road.

Drains some from the roof and garden.

The cement behind the mound is drainage that comes from the roof and goes under ground to the creek. 

 Yuccas and southwest desert plants do much better in colder wetter climates if they are high on gravel/sand/fast draining soil mounds and not in low wet areas.  Wet feet can kill faster than the cold. (usually)

 SW desert oak, high and dry.  First year in the ground, we will see how it does.  

Yucca baccata, with wet feet!  This was planted here before the path went in that blocks the drainage.

Lucky for me it does not stay wet for long.

New path is damming the water from draining.  I hope the put a drain pipe to the dry creek and eliminate this water pool.

This is a good shot of a good micro climate working well.  More than just heat from the wall, drain the water away and drain the soil.

If I could do this over again I would have made a berm/mound with better draining soil for this yucca elata. I lost its friend the Joshua tree that was planted next to it.  It might still be here if it was high and dry. 

This Yucca elata sits atop of this mound without problems.  This mound is high enough only native soil is need for drainage. 

This is King-Kong of my garden world.

  My big Yucca brevifolia is going to be just fine after losing its crown to last years winter kill.     

And this is where the road, house, and garden all drains. I think it is big enough too name!  It is also where I get all my extra dirt from.(when dry!)