Why I Oughta...

Spring seems like the season of biosolids-application posts and today is no different.  Last week, I posted a series of photos showing my use of biosolids in the parkway.  And, then I talked about how I was going to use biosolids in a vertical-mulching application to try to help remedy by clay soil problem by our front porch.  In that post, I referenced how I added organic material to the stump grindings to help the Triumph Elm tree thrive.   As another step towards helping these stump grindings  breakdown, I threw five gallons of biosolids on top of them - right next to the new tree - where some tulips are coming up.  You can see that in the photo below.  I didn't work them in the ground, but, as I keep up with the 'vertical mulching', I'll likely add even more surface biosolids like this batch below. The combination of organic material (and nitrogen) are going to be critical to making this bed a desirable place for plants and shrubs in 2023.  At least....that's w

This is the third in a series of posts related to the removal of our large, 70-year-old (but in decline) Norway Maple tree in our front yard.  First, I shared photos of the tree being removed .  Then yesterday, I showed photos and a video of the stump being ground out .  Today, I wanted to talk a little bit about what comes next.  After doing a little bit of digging on the Web about what to do after you grind a stump, I've come to the conclusion that I needed to think about both amending the soil with organic material AND....being deliberate about adding nitrogen.   The stump grinding left behind A LOT of small pieces of wood.  A mulch of sorts.  But, about two-feet-deep. I knew that we're going to plant a new three here, so I wanted to be proactive with the soil.  I also knew that I'm dealing with a LOT of hydrophobic mulch in this area, so anything I do here will likely help.  In fact...I'm pretty sure the act of grinding the stump - AND all the soil and mulch in th

Earlier this week, I shared photos (and a video) of the removal of our large, 70-year-old Norway Maple that was situated right in front of our wrap-around front porch.  This tree was an important landscape feature for our home - we site'd the house back purely to SAVE this tree.  But, it had to go.  That removal and subsequent processing into rounds for splitting was phase one of the project.  Phase two is to remove the stump.  A few days after they removed the tree, the team came back with a giant machine to grind the stump.  The drove the machine up front the front and started to grind the stump down.  See below for a look at the start of the stump grinding: Here, below, is a close-up look at how the machine grinds down the stump into shredded wood.  The operator ground down the stump about 24" in total depth. Stump grinder removing a Norway Maple stump The whole process didn't take long - maybe 20 minutes of grinding.  Here, below, is a video showing how far and fast t