Pruning And Shaping

In 1984, I got a job at a new location.  Across the street was a very small park.  It had a reflecting pool and a statue.  And was surrounded by old Saucer Magnolia trees that bloomed in early Spring.  I fell in love with those trees.

The trees themselves were pruned nearly skeletory with the branches forced at odd angles.  So even when not in bloom, they were "unusual".  I immediately bought 2 saplings and planted 1 in the front yard and 1 in the back.  I have enjoyed their blooms for 3 decades.

But they don't naturally grow into the odd branch angles I also loved.  It takes an arborist's skill to do that.  And I am no arborist.

But I try to shape mine as best I can.  Every couple of years, I go at them with saw and loppers to remove the excess growth, clearing out deadwood and internal branches that "clog up the appearance".

I spent most of yesterday doing that on the backyard tree.  Here is the BEFORE pic...

Some branches were drooping so low, I couldn't walk under them.  Other branches were crossing each other or being shaded by others.  So I decided to make some major changes.  Loppers and an electric chain saw can do wonders!

I didn't do it fast.  Shaping a tree takes consideration.  Some branches were easy to decide to remove as they were all droopy and there were uprights that had no value.  I removed those first and then stood back and considered the tree from all sides.

After that, things went slower.  There was one branch in a low position that was in the right place, but had a cavity I knew would fail as the branch grew.  I used the chain saw on it below first and from the top after.  THUMP!  Clean branch collar cut!

After that, I started small, trimming upshoots and crossed branches, always removing the lowest ones.

The AFTER pics...

It looks better already, and I have a few new branches growing out at odd angles that will at least suggest the masterpieces at Rawlin's Park.  The lawn is covered in tree cuttings...

There is more to do higher up in the tree, but it was enough for the day.  It was hot out and close to dinnertime.  After all the gardening and some seed scatterring and raking around the newly-tilled meadow bed, I was soaked in sweat from hair tips to toenails.  It has been a week of 90+F with high humidity and another week of it forecast.  So (not to be indelicate but utterly practical), I stripped and stood in a hot shower to wash off all the sweat and salts.  I felt great after THAT!

And then fed the cats, made a nice dinner for myself (deboned chicken thigh cubed with whole mushrooms, shallots, and garlic over angel hair spaghetti with soy sauce and toasted sesame oil.  With a side of beans, beets, and a large tossed salad.  Then watched some MSNBC news commentary.  Good way to finish a day.

Next, I'll do the same on the front yard Saucer Magnolia. 

Commercial Returns A Memory.

I saw a commercial today where some city types were in a country diner and asked about how hot/spicy the meal was.  The waitress said they had to sign a waiver, and the guy in the next booth snickered.

I've been there...

During the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, a friend and I decided to camp in Canada for 2 weeks.  We had been at the place 3 years before in the regular campgrounds, but we had decided to try some "primitive camping".  There were 2 options for getting there.  You could be electric-motor powered to the sites by the camp with some weight limitations or they would just give you a canoe and you were on your own.

I am a good canoer and an experienced camper.  And I wanted to hike through the woods each day.  My friend said he was too and wanted to do the same.  Falser words were never spoken...

We loaded our backpacks full of dried food, tiny white gas stoves to heat the dried food with water, and tent etc into the canoe.  We struck out early in the morning.  I being the smaller guy in the front to guide the canoe and he being the bigger stronger guy in the back.

I immediately realized that my friend had the canoe-paddling skills of a cow.  I'll continue about that another day.

But the point is that on the way out of the US, we barely could gas up on the even/odd day on my license plate.  We  had 2 hours and stopped at the last Chinese retaurant before crossing the border.  And it was a real Chinese restaurant.  There were real Chinese people eating there.  The menu was in Chinese!

So we saw an old guy eating a dish of chicken and red bell peppers and that looked safe so we said we would have that.  They weren't bell peppers.  They were some hot pepper that would peel paint off walls.

We utterly died!  I'm a real wimp when it comes to hot spicy things.  "Mild" makes my scalp drip sweat.  My friend likes "hot chili" and even he was sweating.  The old guy laughed and ate 3 superhot peppers while we watched.   But we were  very hungry and poor, so we ate as much of the chicken as we could.  We still remember the 100 Megaton Chicken...

We got into Canada just before midnight with a full tank of gas.

Chicken was not a success on the trip.  More about "special chicken" tomorrow...

The Deck Is Too Hot

When I decided to have the deck I built 25 years ago, I decided to go for the composite material base (over pressure-treated woof posts and joists).  At the same time, I was sufficiently worried about a HUGE oak tree hanging over the house that was starting to drop large branches.  So the tree went (saved a dozen 6' long 4" branches to use to smoking meat on the offset smoker).

But 2 things happened.  First, the removal of the huge oak tree let a lot more afternoon sunlight onto the deck, which I thought a "good thing".  Second, I discovered that the composite deck base heats up a lot more than plain wood does. 

The cats alerted me to the heating problem.  They ran out on the new deck when the oak tree was removed and ran back into the house.  I put my hand on the deck and took it right off fast!  It's HOT!  My kitchen temperature probe said it reached 115F!  That was not something I expected OR was warned about. 

Temporarily, I have put outdoor carpet runners (by name and literally) in some paths that get the cats safely to the stairs out to the yard and to shaded spots on the deck. I am looking into awnings (openable/closable like Sunsetter and possibly permanent ones) that will keep the deck cool. 

The heat on the deck isn't constant.  It is shaded about noon to 5 pm.  But a couple hours before Noon and after 5pm, it get seriously hot.  Even I have to put a towel on the top rails so that I can stand there leaning on them.