Why I Oughta...

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...

It is finally time to call a couple of dead trees:  Three Japanese Maples didn't come back this Spring.  They tried - leaf'd out from the graft - but now...they are foliage-free.  Two of them are from Mr. Maple - the upright Seiryu Japanese Maple and First Ghost - back by the firepit.  Both...are now on the LOST TREES list.  The Seiryu is one that I really was keen to see grow as I planted it in the shadow of the dying Flowering Cherry Tree.  That tree died last year, and now the JM is gone, too.  That leaves a big empty opportunity for a shade-tolerant tree.    The last one was the Inaba Shadire high-grafted tree.  Below are a couple of photos showing the skeletons of these Japanese Maples.  First the Seiryu followed by First Ghost.   Sadly...these are the fourth Japanese Maples that didn't make it just this year - with the unknown laceleaf tree from the orange big box store was pulled and replaced by an Emperor 1 earl...

This post deposits two things into the [garden diary]:   the loss of a Japanese Maple and the planting of a different one.  First, the loss.  Last Summer, I planted a 2-gallon Japanese Maple that was mis-marked.  It was labeled as an Emperor 1, but was had dissectum or laceleaf foliage .  I marked it as an 'unknown' Japanese Maple - likely a Takukeyama.  That tree was purchased on May 12, 2023, so I had a decision to make.  By May 11th (this past weekend), the tree was not leaf'ing out.  The scratch test showed that the trunk was still alive, but no buds had opened up.  With the one-year warranty running out, I opted to yank it out and get the store credit.   This marks the second loss of trees this year - the first being the Silver Maple that I removed earlier this Spring .  Two trees lost, zero planted.  But, that is about to change thanks to the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale.  A few days ago, I posted about the ...