Why I Oughta...

Back in July, I posted a photo or two about how I had to prune back some of the lower limbs on some of our Frans Fontaine European (Columnar) Hornebeam trees to make traversing the sideyard boardwalk a little bit easier.  They were encroaching on the pathway.   That is part of the collection of posts about these trees that you can find here:  [ Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam Trees ].   2026 marks their eight season in the garden and you can go all the way back to when I was first researching the trees and when eight 2" caliper Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam trees were planted in May 2018.  They were planted 6-feet trunk-to-trunk .   Over the years, I've documented their growth, leaf-fall, bud setting and opening in Spring. Here's what they look like right now - after eight seasons: They're big, and leafy.  But, they're starting to show some holes.   I haven't pruned these at all.  But, the neighbor to the north has pr...

In the Spring of 2023, I ripped out a pair of Rhododendron from either side of our back stoop and replaced them with a pair of Spring Grove (dwarf) Ginkgo trees .  They were in larger nursery containers at the time I bought them, but they were small.  Short.  Well...dwarf.  Which usually means they're very slow-growing.  I wrote this 'getting to know' post about Spring Grove Ginkgo and talked about how they were discovered as a Witch's Broom in Ohio.   That first Summer, they were stressed.  This is a sunny location and the hot afternoon sun beat them up.  So, I put up some shade cloth to try to get them through August.  That worked and by September, they were leafy and (mostly) green .  Ever since, they haven't looked back.  And are growing faster than I thought they would.   Here they are in October 2024 .   Over the years, I've posted Wintertime photos showing their 'frames'.   Today, despi...

Back around the border of the fire pit is a Redbud Tree.  I originally planted a weeping Lavender Twist Redbud tree in 2020, but it came cracked-in-half .  It came back alive, but I'm not sure if the tree was grafted or not, which means that the trunk was some other kind of tree.  I also sort-of lost track of where this tree was planted, because back in 2020, I planted it along the fence .    But...today....as I mentioned in the first sentence, we have a Redbud tree around the firepit.   I also have a memory of this tree getting stomped by some tree guys. However, it has persisted.  And, grown.   And, it *is* weeping.   But, now it is a multi-trunk tree. However, it is arching up and out (over the lawn and the firepit) and has taken on a nice shape.   I haven't documented this tree in the [tree diary], so I thought it was about time.    

I planted a very small, native Pagoda Dogwood tree in our backyard in the Summer of 2021.  Five years ago .  It was from a municipal native tree sale and was just a foot tall. Over the five years, it has grown up and out.  But, where it is planted is a little bit out-of-the-way.  Well...it is out-of-the-way now because the Weeping Redbud (Lavender Twist) bounced back after what I thought was it dying out.  That weeping Redbud has come back as a multi-trunk tree and has put on a bunch of size.  That means that this Pagoda Dogwood tree is now tucked in *behind* the redbud's foliage.  That doesn't diminish the Pagoda Dogwood, though.  Just makes it a little bit harder to see. I most recently covered this tree this past Winter when I posted a photo of the structure .  Each of the last three growing seasons, I've pruned this tree after it was done flowering.  2023 pruning , 2024 pruning and last year, 2025 pruning .   In each case...

A reader posted a comment on my pos t from May about the troubles the Arctic Jade Korean Maple was having and how it wasn't leaf'ing out .  They asked, not about the Arctic Jade, but about my first Korean Maple:  The Northern Glow.   My journey with Korean Maples started back in Summer 2024 when I first posted  this "Getting to Know" post about the tree after seeing it at The Growing Place in Naperville.  I planted it in July 2024 in the Island Bed in the middle of the Summer.   That is tough on any plant, but I think harder on ornamental maples that naturally want to be in part sun/dappled shade/full shade.  I ended up erecting a shade-cloth structure to help get the tree through July and August without getting scorched that first Summer.  Here, below, is a photo from August 2024 showing the size of the tree and the shade cloth that I had set up: Here is a post from late August that shows the state of the Island Bed .  (It was t...

#21 on my 2026 to-do list was to 'add another ornamental maple' to the garden.  So far, this season, I've planted a pair of them:  a North Wind Korean Maple (to replace the Arctic Jade) and an Alpenglow Korean Maple under the large tree swing.  Both from Iseli Nursery. Over the years, I've moved towards those Korean Maples. Acer pseudosieboldaianum. They have performed well (aside from the Arctic Jade).  They're more cold-hardy than Acer palmatums or Acer shirasawanum or Acer japonicum. But, the pull of the traditional Japanese Maples is still strong.  When I came across an Orange Dream Japanese Maple that was priced...ummm....right, I brought it home.   Also note... I still think about the full-moon maples like this one , too.  Below are a few photos showing the foliage, the tree form and where I planted it (in the back edge of the "Kitchen Curved" bed). The leaves in Summer are green with red(ish) stems: The tree has a low-graft and is about ...

I recently planted a new tree (more on that tomorrow), but before I get to that, I neeed to write up a post that cleans-up my tree planting list.  There have been a bunch of "LOST" trees that I never documented, and that skews the numbers.   It is time to get the data back to clean. Starting with the Belgian Fence, there are now just two out of five apple trees remaining. Next, while not technically TOTALLY DEAD, the small Baby Blue Spruce in backyard is toast. I called it on the Arctic Jade Korean Maple.   The Hemlock the rabbit gnaw'd at is dead .     5 of 6 dead now. The Northern Red Oak by the firepit is dead.  So is an Emperor 1 by the firepit.  All the Mr. Maple trees are gone.  The pair of Dogwoods by the garage are dead, too.   That brings us to this....."Updated" running tall 2026 is our tenth tree-planting season. Overall, I've planted 110 trees on our property. Before this accounting, I was claiming 75 trees al...