Sunday, November 2nd, 2008
I made a vow a few years back. I vowed that I would never buy trees from Arbor Day again. Obviously, I didn’t have much luck with my first batch.
I think the problem with the last batch of trees was that I put them in planters over the Winter. They didn’t do well in them. The planters froze like big ice cubes and only one or two of the trees survived. Since then, I told myself that I was just going to buy the more established trees.
Well, as usual, I softened my stance on the subject. I thought about it a few days ago and decided to give another round a try. This time, I would plant the trees directly in their permanent homes right from the start. Since they ship the trees in the early part of November, the soil is still soft enough to get a shovel into.
I became a member (again) at ArborDay.org. With membership, I got 10 free Blue Spruce trees. I then ordered 10 Norway Spruces. Yesterday, I received the Blue Spruces in the mail. I was pleasantly surprised at the health of them and immediately planted them along the edge of the lawn and the woods. Since the trees are less than a foot tall, I also put bamboo stakes next to each tree, so I don’t run them over with the mower.
I have yet to receive the Norway Spruces, but since I liked what I saw with the first batch, I decided to order 10 more Norway Spruces. That will be 20 in all. I am going to spread them in between the Blue Spruces towards the front and side of the property. In about 10 years, we should start to see some growth.
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Monday, September 8th, 2008
I feel like I am living a re-run here. I mean, I don’t mind planting the same trees as I did at the other house, it’s just repetitive, that’s all. I really do like watching them grow.
Yesterday, we went up to Lowe’s to return a bum flashlight I had bought the day before. I didn’t even notice the package was open when I bought it. It was obviously a return that was put back on the shelf. Whatever. I got a new one and it is wicked bright.
While we were there, Laura pointed out some $10 Cleveland Select Flowering Pear trees. I do love it when these trees are priced at, or around, $10. We grabbed five of them and put them on the cart. I also picked up eight Blue Spruce trees to plant in various places around the property.
I decided to plant the pears up near the road in a row. I think they will look really good up there when they get larger, especially in the Spring, when they flower.
These are a few of the Blue Spruce trees we got. I planted the other five up on the hillside. I mowed that sucker again yesterday and didn’t like it. If I could fill the whole thing up with pines, I would be happy. I am going to plant these three in the back somewhere.
I am fighting myself not to get in the car to go back up and get more of these trees right now.
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Thursday, May 8th, 2008
We took another trip to a different town today. We went food shopping at Stop and Shop in Colchester. Colchester was a pretty neat town, but a little busy for my taste. It was cute with a nice park right off main street. I think it may have seemed busy because rush hour was getting close.
While in Stop and Shop, I felt a bit tired. I kept wondering why. Then, I remembered what I had done all morning…raked leaves. By the way, Stop and Shop’s prices were waaay lower than Whole Foods. We got about triple the product for just a little mo’ money. That’s cool with me. I think we are still going to go back to Whole Foods because I like the atmosphere. Stop and Shop seemed much more like just buying food to survive. If I am going to go out somewhere, I like to have an “experience.”
Anyway, back to those leaves. Since this propery is a bit larger than our other one, it is taking a little while to get used to. One thing I noticed was that there needs a lot of raking to be done. There are many gardens (which are very nice and right up my alley), but they need a bit of TLC because of the Winter. The good thing is that they have a nice variety of plants already planted. There isn’t much in the way of running out to the nursery to get new stuff. Yesterday, we went to Home Depot for some spruces and pachysandra. I got the spruces, but there was no pachysandra to be found. When we got home, I noticed there was pachysandra already scattered throughout the front. They were just kind of buried with leaves.
A few days ago, I decided to it would be best if I picked one area per day to rake. There is no sense me killing myself and I can always use a nice break from the computer. I already did about three or four areas and things are starting to come together. Today, I did part of the big front garden and along the front of the house.
Believe it or not, this area had three tarp fulls of leaves. One tarp full equals about four wheel barrow loads. Crazy. If you are wondering what the heck a tarp full is, it’s me laying a big tarp on the ground and raking the leaves onto it. When it’s full, I pick it up like a big sack and carry it into the woods.
The front of the house was easier with only one tarp full. I needed to get the leaves away from the house because, well, it looks better and I can also get to the foundation for insect spray.
After I am all done getting all the leaves up, I am really going to focus on getting the lawn in order. I already have been doing some stuff, but it needs to be raked and reseeded.
Also, this is the month I get my new ride on lawnmower. I am planning on this towards the end of the month, so there maybe one tough day with the push mower.
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