Bleak Back Yard

Well, up until now I wasn't completely unhappy to see so many trees come down. Most of the pines were planted way too close together and were all unhealthy because they were too crowded. We thinned those out. They took down the junky poplar tree. No big loss there.

Then they "trimmed" my apple trees. My antique Grimes Golden apple trees. They are now about 1/4 the height they were. Yes, I know they definitely needed some maintenance. But I'm not running an orchard, either. I was less concerned with the productivity of the crop than with the overall health of the trees. I believe they are nearly as old as the house.

I was going to have my friend's grandfather come in and take a look at them. He is a forrester with much passion and knowledge of apple trees. Well, all trees. But he was very excited to hear that I had two Grimes Golden trees. Before they were just allowed to go wild for at least a decade. Now I'm embarrassed to show him what has just happened to them.

sad apple trees and yucky view of the factory's tanks and parking lot

The real tragedy of the day was my mighty elm tree. You may recall that it took quite a hit from a storm a few years back. The top 1/3 of the tree came down. Took out a nearby pine. Thankfully it didn't fall toward the house.

It got a good trimming after that and many people told me to just take it down. I wanted my forrester friend to tell me if it could be saved, and if we could work around it when we went to regrade. Sadly, I woke up to this sight this morning.



previously disguised view of the factory



mighty elm, reduced to its parts

Now it is too late to save it. I'll admit that I cried. I really loved that giant shade tree. It protected the back of the house from the sun. And wind and rain. I believe it is very old and it did not have Dutch Elm Disease. What a gem. The yard looks really different now. Bleak and barren. Maybe I'll get a picture of the whole yard later.



Mower Damage

My next door neighbor has been super sweet by mowing my front yard and my little strip between our houses when he has his riding mower out. I am so grateful for even that little bit of extra help. That's why I feel bad for being upset over this:

It looks like he bumped the trunk of my purple leaf plum with the mower. He probably doesn't even realize he did it. I'm not mad or anything, just worried about the tree. What if it doesn't heal, or gets disease or bugs?

Otherwise, it looks full and happy and healthy.

We planted it last April, and it looks so much better. I can't wait for it to get tall enough to provide a bit of shade and privacy on the porch.

Behind the Forsythia Mass

We are looking at the small area beside the house, on the factory side. This picture was taken from the sidewalk, facing the front of the house.

The massive shrub is my forsythia. I like it because it is large, established, and has pretty yellow blooms for a brief time in the spring. But. It is also massively overgrown. Again with the neglect of the outdoor things.*

There is a semi shady little spot next to the porch, where I've been meaning to plant some things.
Since there is also a small pine-y shrub there, the soil is acidic and that makes it a good spot for lily-of-the-valley. I love lily-of-the-valley. My grandmother had planted it at the cabin, and like many other things there, it has outgrown its original boundries. But that's okay, 'cause it's pretty. And is smells nice.

Who's that peeking through the branches? After a couple months of smothering the weeds with plastic and heavy objects, I pulled all that off last week, turned the soil over, placed the pavers to form a mini-walkway, and planted some plants.
At the back, on the left is a coleus from last year, that I tried to overwinter on the kitchen porch sill. It didn't do too well, got kinda wood-y, but it was still alive, so I figured I'd stick it in the ground somwhere. After I gave up on it, of course, it has decided to get all bushy, healthy looking and thrive. Go figure.

On the right, at the back, is some lavender from my mom's yard. She dug it up, just to see if it could be divided successfully. We'll see. It looked rather dead when I put it in the ground, but has since perked up a bit.

All along the front are some hostas that mom's friend Janie dug up and divided for me (to replace the ones I killed last year on the other side of the house), only she gave me far more than I knew what to do with. So I stuck the smallest ones in here, all in a row.

The soft, fluffy stuff on the far right front corner is artemesia silver mound. I love this stuff. It is so wonderful to touch. Nothing else quite like it.

And the small green plants in between the front and back rows are my lovely pink lily-of-the-valley that mom bought for me. Last summer. Which I never planted. But they've hung in there, so they should be lovely next spring. I also have some beautiful yellow hyacinth bulbs I want to plant here in the fall. I know it looks a bit rough right now, but it should be pretty in the spring.

And, since the electric meter is on this side of the house, I have been striving to keep this narrow pathway accessible for the guy who comes once a month to take a reading. I hate when they estimate my bill. I work hard at conserving electricity, and I don't like being overcharged. Not even for one month, knowing that they will give me a credit the following month. That also helps me to be aware of how much I am using. So, these pavers are for you, meter-reader-guy. Or gal. Whatever.

*Please forgive the Buffy-speak. I've been watching the series on dvd since Greg at Petch House posted this a few weeks back.

Tree Identification Needed

The tree on the left is my biggest tree, and the only one that offers any substantial shade on the house. (The one on the left is a junk locust, and it has tripled in height in the past five years. It'll grow fast, but need to be taken out sooner.)

But my big tree is old and majestic. And I love it. I just don't know what it is.

It offers a lovely canopy under its willow-y branches. It makes cool, sun-dappled shade on the hottest part of the house.Here is a close up of the leaves:

As I've mentioned before, it has seen some storm damage, and I'm worried it may be near the end of its life cycle. I wouldn't be too surprised if this tree is as old as the house.

Can anyone tell me what kind of tree this is?

Slight Hail Storm Damage

We just had a brief hail storm here. Thankfully it did minimal damage. One small porch plant got knocked over. Strange, because it was in the middle of a cluster of potted plants. And my largest tree, the one I always worry about during storms, only suffered a few small broken branches and one sizable branch.

20 June 2008

This is nothing like the violent hail storm we had last summer. One year ago yesterday, in fact. I was almost home when it started, and I could hardly see the road. Most people were pulling over, but I only had about six blocks to go, and wanted to get home to make sure Oliver was safe. It was absolutely the worst storm I can ever remember, and it downed trees all over the neighborhood. My neighbor across the street, Mike, came out out on his front porch too, and we kept a close eye on the sky. I would not have been surprised to see a funnel cloud that day. We lost power for a couple of hours, although I don't know if it was the whole town, or just our street because of the giant tree branch hanging on the lines. No one was hurt, thank goodness.

Anyway, I lost about the top third of my biggest tree that day. It is the only one that provides major shade to the house, so I was really upset. And we were afraid it might need to come down altogether, but we've just let it go, and it seems to be doing okay.

19 June 2007

Another huge branch of it fell over the fence, onto the factory's yard. It did no damage to their building or the fence, and they were really good about it. They had many trees down elsewhere and had some of their guys to clean it up, and offered to take care of that branch for me. That was really great, because I would have had to hire someone.