Why I Oughta...

A couple of days ago, I posted about how I planted an unknown Japanese Maple that I bought from the orange big box store .  I know, I know.  But...it was just something I did.  That is the fourth Japanese Maple in our backyard, but it also was the 'gateway' to even more.  My research into what that tree could be turned into a lost few days digging around the Web.  In terms of numbers....This Spring (2023), I've now planted three Japanese Maple trees - a small Emperor 1 , that unknown red laceleaf upright and this small, low-grafted Waterfall Japanese Maple .   Doing the research about those three Japanese Maples on the Web lead me to a new (to me) place:  Mr. Maple.  Their site is MrMaple.com  where they sell a huge variety of Japanese Maples in 1-gallon nursery containers.   The guys at Mr. Maple make it easy to sort by growing zone (I'm 5b), sun-exposure, species (Acer palmatum, Acer japonicum and Acer shirasawanum, etc) and...

In May, I planted my third Japanese Maple tree - a small, container-grown Emperor 1 Acer palmatum that is upright and carries red foliage.  In that post, I mentioned that while it was the third Japanese Maple that I planted, I had lost one - a Tamukeyama weeping tree- so, I was really on number two.  Today, I'm planting another Japanese Maple that checks some of the boxes:  weeping and lace-leaf.  But, it is also green.  My first green Japanese Maple.   Back in December, I mused about how I should add a 'few Japanese Maples' to the garden this year .  Going from one to three is 'a few', I suppose.  But, I'll let the cat out of the bag - I'm not done this year.  (eek!). That post from 2022 referenced this original overview (get to know) post showing a few Japanese Maples that work for Zone 5b .  On that list was a tree called a Virdis Japanese Maple.  Well... according to Mr. Maple , the Virdis is also known as the Waterfall J...

One of the things that I had on my 2021 to-do list (#25) was to 'buy a conifer of meaning' .  I feel like I *did that* when I planted the Weeping Nootka Falsecypress that I bought this Spring from Wannemakers.  That was the 55th tree planted in total since we bought the lot and the third of this year.  And after cleaning up the full list this Spring , I had 34 alive.    We then added this Emperor 1 Japanese Maple - bringing total to 56 total, 35 alive.  Fourth tree for the 2021 season. Since then, I planted two Harvest Gold Hargozam crabapple trees as replacements in our Belgian Fence espalier - but I didn't include them in the 'official count'.  So, I'm doing that now.  58 total, 37 alive, six trees for the 2021 season. Which brings me to the tree in this post #59 total, 38 'alive' and seventh tree of the 2021 growing season:  another conifer 'of meaning'.  A dwarf Japanese White Pine.   I've been thinking/dreaming/watchin...

Back about a week ago, I posted a preview of where we were going to put our firepit area in the backyard with a little gravel area surrounded by some beds and (eventually) linked with a little path from behind the Northern Red Oak tree.  One of the new things that I'm planting in the border bed between the lawn and the firepit is a new tree.  And it isn't just *any* tree.  It is a tree that I've been thinking about for a while - based on my musings about how I should add a couple of Japanese Maple trees to our yard .  In that post , I included both the traditional (and widely available) Bloodgood Japanese Maple and mentioned that there had been a tweak to that cultivar to make it even more Cold-weather-hardy (for our Zone 5b) with something called the Emperor I Japanese Maple tree.  Ever since then, I've been looking for an Emperor I tree.  I've come across a few - in various sizes and costs, but they were all too expensive for me.   As is the wa...

Yesterday,  I posted about the purchase of a Red Fox Katsura tree from the Morton Arboretum Fall Plant Sale and talked about how it has a columnar habit and purple-ish leaves that turn green as they mature.  This is the 52nd tree that I've now planted on our property and the 17th of the year - matching the high-water mark of 2018 when I planted 17 trees, too.   This tree is VERY thin.  Like, VERY thin.  I was told it is a two-year old tree and has very little limb activity going on.  The top of it is so tall and thin that it is now drooping over in what you would think was a weeping habit.    Here, below, is a photo showing the tree with the top weeping over and the one branch that exists.  I dug a nice hole, removed the clay with the post-hole-digger and heavily amended the soil with composted manure.  I need to buy some bamboo and straighten out the top.   Below is the tag that shows the height (40-60') and spread (25-4...