Shrubs And Trees

When I moved here in 1986, the backyard was a mess.  As Julius Caesar might have said "Et haec habet duas partes". Playing on his famous ""Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres".  Sorry, I couldn't resist.  😄

But my new backyard was a half field of sandy sedimentary soil and half overgrown jungle with rich soil.   I spent several years pulling down vines and cutting down junk saplings and shredding/moving them to the sandy side to break down before root-tillering them in.  And it helped the sandy side that the County offerred free mulch.  That went in, too.  

Meanwhile, I was building a shadow-box fence around the back to keep the large dogs away from my cats.  Built a 2 level deck while I was at it.  Paneled, ceiling and lit the basement too.  And people ask why I don't want to move.  😛

But over the years, some trees have fallen and opened the jungle part to more sunlight.  Brambles and weeds thrived.  So a few years ago I decided it was time to plant new trees.  Not some Mighty Oak, but a few modest specimen trees.  Moderate size, but broad canopies and seasonal interest.  

So the backyard has 2 Sourwood Trees and 2 Dogwoods.

Those aren't mine.  Mine are still only a few feet high.  But mine will get bigger than that soon enough to shade out the brambles and weeds.

So, why not add more to the front yard?  I lost a tree, a burning bush, and 2 Golden Rain Trees.  So, a new Sourwood (in a better location for it), and Weigalia shrub.

That's a commercial picture too.  Mine is slender and 2' tall..

I probably won't see the trees mature.  I once read that planting an acorn is gift to the future.  If you have ever seen the fictional 'The Man Who Planted Trees' you know what I mean.  If not, watch it.  It's worth the time.

But mostly, I imagine how the trees will look 20 years from now.  And the imagining is OK for now.  The 2 dogwoods will burst with color in the Spring.  And the 2 Sourwoods will show brilliant gold flower clusters in late Summer and then brilliant red leaves in Fall.  I will see some of that as they grow and that is enough.  

I will nurture the saplings.  I will keep the vines around them clipped.  I will spread a small amount of fertilizer around their drip zone to encourage the roots to spread.  I will put a 5 gallon bucket with a small hole drilled in the bottom and fill it in times of drought to get them through their first few years. 

When I first moved here, I was driving home for one of the first times and admired the brilliant reds and yellows of some old sweetgum and maple trees.  They were a neighbor's trees but right next to my yard.  I was seeing them for the 1st time.

Someday, someone else will live here.  I won't know who they are (some new generation with a name I don't know yet).  I want them to suddenly see the Dogwoods in Spring flowering and the Sourwoods in blazing Fall color.  

It will be a gift from the past...

Uh Oh! And More Saplings

 Felt a hair move on my wrist.  Black spot.  Then it jumped away.  Danm, a flea!  Not after me, but it means it is time to change the 8-month flea collars again.  I thought they were good for another month, but I suppose their effectiveness diminishes toward the end.  

Brought a trailerload of cut saplings to the Mulch Center, but there are many more to go.  I cut down a dozen but haven't dragged them to the trailer yet.  My neighbors are probably tired of seeing the trailer full of them.  So I'll leave them in the back yard until I have a full load.

Need to get the brush-mower fixed.  I left gas in it 2 years ago and I can't start it.  Thought I had drained the gas then but I didn't.  I tried to clean the gas lines, but gas engines aren't my best skill.  On a scale of 10; maybe a 2.

My eyeglasses went weird lately.  One lens keeps dropping out.  I keep screwing the tiny screw tight, but it won't stay tight.  I need to dab it with a toothpick drop of cement.  But to see it well enough enough I need the funny on-head magnifier and I can't seem to find it right now.   

And the frame suddenly didn't sit on my ears properly.  I had do to twist the nose rests, bend the ear holders, even twist the frame a bit.  Why it changed, I haven't a clue.  It's not like I sat on them or something.

Well, I need new ones anyway.  A weird thing (to me) is that my vision is actually getting more normal.  I've lived most of my life far-sighted.  Could see a hummingbird 150' away but couldn't focus on a book without reading glasses.  

Now I actually need less close up help.  I can still see the hummers but can't see the colors well enough to tell males from females.  A few more years and I will probably see the car dashboard better!  

Maybe I'll die with 20/20 vision, LOL!

Unwanted Tree Saplings And Garden

I'm not as young as I used to be.  And parts of me don't work as well as they used to, either.  Between falling off the extension ladder and general aging problems with both knees, I get calf, thigh and rib cramps and finger clenches.  And sometimes lower back stiffness.  

Getting old isn't for sissies (as Mom often said).  So, these days I do what I can.  Aspercreme and Ibuprophen help.  As does sitting in the tub with hot shower water falling on me in the morning (to wake me up and get me more mobile).  I wish I was 60 again, LOL!

But I have gotten more active again lately.  I caught up on the veggie garden, though it has less than I used to grow.   Most of the crops I used to grow are now easy to find at the grocery store and at a decent price.  But there are still some things I can't get.  So I focus on growing them.

Heirloom tomatoes are still at the top of my list.  The grocery store does sell them (at $5 a pound) but the fools chill them for storage-life, and that kills the enzymes that produce the great flavor.  So buying those is pointless.  I have 14 heirloom tomatoes growing well.  They are behind schedule, but catching up rapidly in this warm weather and rain every few days.

Next is Italian flat beans.  I've never seen any in the grocery store or even a local farmer's market.  They have a better "deeper" taste than regular green beans.  I have 20 plants of those starting to climb the trellis.  I can find them canned sometimes, but they are very soft and usually highly-seasoned.

It is time to plant some Fall crops.  My favorite Spring and Fall crop is Snow Peas.  I've never seen those at the grocery store either.

I have trays of lettuces, celery, and bok choy on the deck.  You've never seen real red lettuce unless you grow it yourself.  And I grow red romaine lettuce too.  My green leaf lettuce is nearly lime-colored.  Makes an appealing salad.  

I grow bok choy and celery for the leaves (I don't get actual "stalks).  The bok choy leaves are great for making egg rolls.  They preventing the raw veggies inside from poking through the wrappers and add flavor.  Celery leaves are strong-tasting and add some "bite" to my salads.

But those are all planted now.

GOT to cut down all the unwanted saplings this weekend!  Job #1 now that the veggies (and flowers) are all planted.

Nothing much to see there yet, but "soon"...

New Yardstuff, Part 1

I am thrilled with the warm November weather here.  It is unusually nice.   It has been in the low to  mid 70s for days again, dry, and sunny.  Perfect for outdoor work.  

I roto-tilled the areas in the front yard where the tree stumps and roots were grinded out  a few days ago so that I could add topsoil, level the area and replant grass.  I filled fourteen 35#  kitty litter tubs (about 5 gallons each) twice and 4 more to complete the raking.

Those were about 1/2 stump mulch and 1/2 dirt.  I used it to completely fill one 4'x4'x4' compost bin in alternating layers with shredded mowed and bagged fallen leaves, and grass and kitchen waste from the old bin.  I was worried there wasn't enough "green" stuff to feed the worms and microbes, but it seems to have been enough.

I stuck in a kitchen thermometer probe (can't find my long compost bin thermometer at the moment) and left it there for an hour.  It went up from 70F outside temperature to 114F in the bin, so it is heating up well by microbial decomposition.  I did not expect it to start to heat up so soon!  😀. In a few weeks, it may get up to  140F and that it perfect.  

Thinking that it could use more greens for long-tern heating, I cast my eye on the wild english ivy growing in the far back yard.  Well, I had the collection bag on the self-propelled battery-powered mower, so off I went at it.  

I should mention that the ivy (English and Poison) are invaders from my backyard neighbor who simply ignores the back 10' of his yard.  I fight them (the plants) constantly.  Also, a previous side neighbor planted Some Damn Invasive Vine (which I keep forgetting the name of) which has gotten into my flowerbeds and raised garden paths.

So, it occurs to me I have a self-perpetuating source of green material for the compost bins!  If I have a fast-growing weed I want to eliminate, I might as well get some benefit from it.  I emptied a few trash barrels of old dried grass and leaves, so I can refill them until I have enough to fill the 1st bin with.  If life gives you lemons...

Having the mower in the far back, I also mowed around my 2 year-old specimen trees.  I want to build 4'x4' frames around them from old pallet wood, cover the inside with packing paper from Amazon shipments and fill it with mulch.  That should stop the underbrush vines from growing up the saplings until they get large enough to shade them out on their own.  

And by that time, the pallet frames and mulch should rot away. leaving the trees to grow naturally.  As the leader of the 'A Team' TV show used to say, "I love it when a plan comes together".

The next project is to get the DR brush mower working again.  I have a backyard of wild blackberries and undergrowth to remove.  But I left old gas in it for 2 years and it won't start now.  

The good neighbor guy across the street looked at it and suggested where I could spray "starter fluid" into the gas injector system.  I'll get at that soon.  And if I can't fix it, there are local mechanics who can.

But that's a future post...