Friday, September 9, 2011

Building Up and Breaking Down

 I find baby trees all the time. Sometimes I can transplant them. Of course, sometimes they die. They need to be moved when they are dormant. In the fall. Sometimes I am not patient and that usually results in a dead tree.

 I lost my cherry tree this past winter. It was a big producer of fruit and an anchor for the corner. I needed to put something in place of the cherry tree and I also wanted to honor my friend, Paul, with a memory garden. I wanted to do it when I wanted to do it and I planted the two small maple trees in the middle of a summer heat wave. They have taken root and seem to be quite happy with the new location. It was meant to be.

Last fall, I planted two small maples with great care. I amended the soil and carefully dug them up and planted them with much attention to the roots. I watered the hole and then I watered them daily. I mulched around them and put cages around them to protect them from he who mows. They look so sad, these carefully planted trees. I weeded them and added more mulch this week, but I am almost certain that one of them is pretty much gone.  I suppose I will just stick with my impulse planting.

 This is the front of the garden as you enter the park. See how happy those little maples are? That free mulch is being put to good use.

 This peach tree will be in the garden, along with all the trees you see up to the front. It will be almost 45 feet long and about 10 feet wide. That is a whole lot of mulching, let me tell you! I made it around the peach tree yesterday. I am laying the barrier and spreading the mulch that he who loves his tractor and bucket delivers to me. I am also digging a small trench around the entire garden to make a definite break in the grass growth. Or, if you prefer, it is a moat around my kingdom that the  mowers dare not throw grass!

 I am putting rocks in my moat ... just for looks. Two frog planters have made their way to the new garden. More will follow as I find them. Paul was a frog lover.

I like this frog. He looks happy. He had an accident over the weekend when a little girl tripped over him and broke his leg off. Her Grandmother brought her in to tell me and insisted on paying for the damage. He survived, thanks to he who loves Gorilla glue. The money will go towards another frog. Who knew a gorilla would save a frog?

The weather is so nice to work outside in that we don't know when to quit! I did not start supper until 7:30 and then I just heated up some leftovers. The only time I have been in my office this week is to check in campers and take reservations. Have not even sat down in there for three days. Good thing, too, since he who relieved me for a mere hour this past weekend broke my chair.

He was adjusting it and now it just sinks to the lowest position. The chair that I have to sit in from 11 til 7 nearly every day when the pool is open. The chair that did provide a measure of comfort ....... before he broke it. Nobody has been able to fix it, since he does not know what he did to it. Harvey offered to fix it with a wooden brace that would limit movement in the chair. I declined his offer. Good thing the season is at an end.

6 comments:

Brian Miller said...

i think your gardens look great...we should really plant more trees....

i know all about the throwing of grass in the mulch...and the pain that it brings...smiles.

Teresa said...

I love to look at your garden pictures. Heck, I love to look at all of your pictures.

Remember the site contest you did last year? Would love to see some more of those photos.

SkippyMom said...

YAY for free trees and they are looking good. Bravo!

Sorry about the chair. I hope you figure out what is wrong with it.

Chickadee said...

I love those frogs! What a great idea. And the gorilla saving the frog sounds like a great children's book ;)

squawmama said...

Your gardens are always wonderful
Have fun
Donna

Anonymous said...

We have a transplanted maple tree (from my mother's place) in our backyard. It is now huge and great shade. We brought a second maple tree over and planted it in the front yard. It was a maple for two years and then turned into a mulberry. I do not know how that happens, except to say that it really gives nice shade now. It is a fruited mulberry which means all new wood must be cut off each year so there is a major pruning event that happens every fall. The maple, on the other hand, just drops lots of leaves and keeps on growing taller each year. Wishing the same for your maples.