He Knew He Was Right

1) I let mother nature blow them away. Coincidentally, this made the neighbor's list of the top 10 most hated ways other get rid of leaves... 2) I crush small handfuls in my hands. You know which leaves I mean: the ones when you open the door and a bunch of them are packed into the corner of the door frame, just waiting to get in the house. If they're dry, and a broom isn't handy, I just grab them, rub them together in my hand, and toss them to the side. That's right; I let them know who's boss. 3) I sweep them out of the garage, the basement hallway, the kitchen, and any other place into which they've made their way. 4) I rake, and I rake, and I rake. Ok, enough of the enviro-friendly leaf disposal stuff. I have a lot of trees, and sometimes I just need to bring out the big boy toys... 5) I use my leaf blower (gas; not electric) to move them into a small wooded area on the side of my lot. Overuse of this tool, though, was also noted on the neighbor's most h...

Well, a few people have been asking me where the foliage pictures are, so I thought I would share some fall shots from the yard, taken before the leaves really started covering it. First, though, here is proof of the old adage that you can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. I finished restaining the deck a few weeks ago. I'm glad that's done as it looks considerably better than it did a month ago. But, I won't be happy until I have a new one. Or at least do something about the rails. Why it was built with four rails on one side and three on the others has been bothering me for some time. Further, those four rails are all 2X6s while the other sides were made from 1X6s, suggesting that the last side was probably made from leftover wood. Still, if I take the picture emphasizing the nicely turned maple a bit better, the imperfections on the deck don't quite stand out so much... Here's one of my burning bushes. Travel prevented me from seeing them in their dee...

Look, the trunks are white! This was the first tree I planted, back in 2007. Kind of non-descript as a sapling, I was assured that at 4 or 5 years of age the brownish trunks would whiten. Now, I wouldn't want my teeth this shade of white, but I really like the way it stands out now. When the leaves fall off within the month, this tree --visible from the kitchen window--will offer some interest to a somewhat drab area of the yard. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Powered by ShowMeBlogger.com

I recently noticed something similar about some of the trees in my yard and the research I've done on my family. I wasn’t in this house long when I recognized a problem with the four maple trees that were at the top of my driveway. Planted too closely, there was inadequate space for them now that they had matured. Several arborists gave me differing ideas on what to do, all involving felling at least two of them. I combined their expertise in deciding the two that had to go. One of the remaining trees is magnificent, maybe 40-feet tall, and just as wide. The other is not quite as wide, but just as tall. Together, from my window, they have a great profile. From the curb, however, the story was different, with a noticeable concave mass missing from each in space formally occupied by the other two trees. I had been assured, though, that they would grow out. While not there yet, three years later, they’re filling in nicely. Perhaps in a year or two they will have fully rounded out. ...

I've taken down more trees here than I ever thought I would. Mother Nature has knocked a few over, old age got to a couple, and some poor landscape design (planting big trees too close to each other) and troublesome shedding have led to the demise of others. My intention is to plant at least one tree for each one that comes down. I'm a bit behind in that regard, but I will get there. Some of the trees I have planted and described below are coming along great, while the progress of others is slower. I'll apologize here for some of the weak pictures: green trees don't always stand out when photographed against other green trees or shrubs--many of the pictures were taken only so that I can check growth over time. Further, I don't always take a picture of something I plant--it's just not something I think to do. Still, I think they all help tell the story. Among the very first trees I planted was a white (paper) birch. Few trees make me think of northern New England...