Why I Oughta...

All the same facts, details and situation from yesterday's post showing how I planted a Weeping Norway Spruce IB2DWs persist and stay the same for this - a second Weeping Norway Spruce - that I planted in the new conifer garden closer to the sidewalk - IB2DWs - extended.  See the photo at the top showing the location of this weeping, dwarf conifer and the Baby Blue Spruce tree that I previously planted here. As for keeping score on a few fronts, let's first start with the Fall Planting Tally.

Once I knew the large Norway Maple needed to come down, I immediately switched into tree planting-planning mode.  I looked around-and-around and thought about what we wanted in a tree: 1.  Disease and pest resistant  2.   Fast-growing 3.  Unique 4.  Something 'stately' and (when mature) large I worked with a few people to sort options.  The temptation of the Fall-Colors of the various Maple trees was strong.  But, ultimately, the experts that I consulted said that Maples make up far too-much of our local, urban canopy and that I should plant something different.   Further research sent me towards this narrow list called "Chicagoland Grows".   What is Chicagoland Grows?  From their site: Established in 1986, Chicagoland Grows® Plant Introduction Program is a unique partnership among the Chicago Botanic Garden , The Morton Arboretum , and the Ornamental Growers Association of Northern Illinois (OGA) , dedicated to developing, selecting, testing, and marketing a diversit

Last week, I posted a couple of photos of a tiny Ginko Biloba tree that I received in the mail that had suffered some shipping damage and had a bent-over trunk.  I ended up planting that damaged Ginko tree in the backyard - uncertain if it will survive .   When I sent in some photos of the damage that the Ginko biloba tree, they shipped me out a replacement tree.  This second one arrived undamaged and in slightly better condition.   Ginko trees are known to be pretty slow-growing, so I needed to stick this tree in a spot that I can largely ignore for a number of years.  Knowing I had one (already) in the backyard, I figured I should look at my front-yard tree planting wish list and pick out a spot that made sense.  My history of small trees is mixed, but one of the (more recent) success stories was the Bald Cypress that I planted a few Falls ago .  That tree started VERY small - about the size and caliper of this Ginko.  But, it has thrived.  I showed off the recent late Summer flus

I had a credit with an online nursery that was burning a hole in my pocket.  It came from a tree that I bought last year that died within the first few months of being planted here in Downers Grove.  When I saw an email that trumpeted a sale ALONG with Free Shipping, I decided to act.  I bought a four foot tall Ginkgo biloba tree.  I've been thinking about adding a Ginkgo to our yard for a long time, so when I looked at the total in my shopping cart was less than a few bucks for this tiny Ginkgo, I clicked the 'buy button'.   This isn't the first Ginkgo tree that we've had - we had a larger one that I planted in our old house that was given to me as a Kellogg graduation present from Nat's parents.  That one was at least 1.5" caliper.  This one?  About the caliper of my pinky finger.  This is the latest - and tenth tree that I planted this year, but it also is one of the smallest.  The most recent trees I planted were the Sugar Tyme Crabapples against the h

I've posted quite a bit about Japanese gardening and Japanese-inspired gardening over the years on the blog and dedicated a whole post last year to talking about Japanese Maple trees .  Well, the impulse to buy one got the best of me and I came home with a new tree for the yard.  This is the second tree planted this year - the first was the bareroot Shagbark Hickory .  This post is about the second:  a Tamukeyama Japanese Maple tree that I bought at Home Depot.  Here's the tag from this tree: And here's the tree as it stood pre-planting: Here it is in context pre-planting: And, the price:  $69.98 with a Menards-matching 11% rebate bringing the total for this tree down to $62.28.   This tree is a dwarf tree - and stays small.  I was drawn to it being 'medium-sized' in nature and thought it could play a nice role in the layering by being in the 'in between' area behind the border plants and in front of the larger shrubs in the back.  It is weeping and lace-l

I've done this before on the blog - where I put out a plan for future tree planting locations - mostly as a way to guide my planning, but also marking down a place for when I buy a tree on impulse and provide it a place to grow.  For this post, I wanted to specifically think about trees as they relate to the patio area and rear of the house.  I've identified five spots to plant trees that you can see in the plan below. I'll quickly mention each of these - but note, they're NOT in priority order.  But, they each are likely deserving of a specific tree type/variety/caliper.  So, let's consider this a macro list (for now). 1.  Backyard - focal on southside.  Across from large Oak.   This is what I think needs to be a substantial tree - something on the order of 2" caliper.  And, likely a shade tree. 2.  Outside of Kitchen window, patio shade tree.   This one, too, should be a more mature tree.  It is in a vulnerable position in terms of being out in the open, but

As part of my 2020 prep for the yard , my mind has started to wandering to tree planting and specifically thinking about tree planting in the front yard and parkway.   Above is a schematic that shows off some of the existing trees and my current (aspirational) thinking of what sort of moves I could make in 2020.  But, before I jump into the specifics of that drawing up above, let's look at the current situation. Let's start with our parkway tree situation.  Below is a shot from Google Streetview that shows off our one large Norway Maple parkway tree, the location of the 'old driveway' and this other tree that is just behind the sidewalk that I'm pretty sure is a Mulberry tree.  This Streetview image is a few years old and is of the house that was on site BEFORE we built, but the driveway location is pretty close to where the current driveway is located.  You can see the stretch of parkway between the driveway and the large Maple tree.  Keep that thought for a mo