Why I Oughta...

Another day, another tree that we planted in the yard.  This one, while isn't technically in the "dwarf" category, is another purposely-small tree:  A Hakuro Nishiki Dappled Willow Tree.  Welp....this is actually - according to the tag - a "Deciduous Shrub", but in Tree Form.  So, I'm calling it a tree.  I'm pretty sure that this is a grafted tree, but I can't really tell where it was grafted.  I'll post some closer photos if I can find the graft spot/line in the tree.   But, since this is a tree, this is #35 in terms of planting since we bought the property in 2017.  This is a tree that we had (and I bought it on a whim) back at our old house in Elmhurst.  We planted it on the northside of our backwalk, adjacent to the garage.  It was a stunner.   I loved how it looked.  Nat loved it, too.  It shoots out these beautiful - and almost celebratory - willow limbs that are full of color. Pinks, greens, whites.      I don't have a post

This marks the eighth tree that I've added to our backyard this season - and all eight of them (so far) have been conifers.  This one being a Dwarf Alberta Spruce tree.  The most recent tree that I planted was this Weeping White Spruce tree earlier this month .    Those of you who have kept up with things around here, you may remember that #8 on my to-do list for the season was to plant some conifers .   These eight trees are all small (tiny Hemlocks, especially!), but this is the first "dwarf" tree in the yard.   But, all of them are conifers.  This one was picked out by the Bird for her "Earth Day Tree" this year, but it took us more than a month to get into the ground.    And it is planted right adjacent to last year's tree that she planted - a Chanticleer Pear flowering tree .   So, eight conifer trees.  Plus three conifer shrubs - when we added these Gold Cone Junipers to the other side of the property .  Just yesterday, I showed off the brigh

Look at this Gold Cone Juniper being all showy with it's new gold foliage.  Compare this photo to what this shrub looked like when I bought and planted it in early May of this year.   Remarkable difference in the color.  Also note that the new growth is, indeed, kind of *loose* in terms of opening up the shrub a bit.  What I learned when I first bought these is that they need to be wired or twine'd up ahead of Winter .  Reminder to self:  wire up the Junipers this Fall.

All the way in the back of our lot is a tree that the kids climb from time-to-time.  Back there, underneath that tree was the sweetest little variegated hosta plant that I just noticed late last Summer.  By then, it had been trampled by little kid feet.   This Spring, I decided to be proactive and get it out of the spot where it was going to be stomped on and move it.    Last May, I picked up two different hosta varieties (Christmas Tree and Fantabulous) and planted them around the large Oak Tree that we have a rope swing hanging from in the yard.  If you go check out that post, you'll see that the landscape plan calls for hostas around the tree .   So, I figured, I'd take this little hosta and move it to right around that tree.  This photo doesn't really give you a sense for the scale of the leaves, but they're small.  And the color of this is quite nice - the variegated edge is yellow, not white.    This is one to watch this Summer.  If I can get it establishe

The last time I posted about this Weeping Cherry tree in the far reaches of our yard was back in April when I showed the buds that had set the previous Fall .  Today, it is struggling.  Not dead yet, but on the way to being put on the "LOST" list.  You can see a few green leaves on some of the limbs, but most of them are bare.  Some of the limbs have dried leaves on them.  Perhaps overwatered?  I'd be surprised if it was because the tree didn't get enough water.  Polar Vortex, maybe?  Not sure. This was one of our Earth Day Trees from 2018 and it seemed to be doing just fine last year.  However, it *did* have a shoot come off of the trunk - below the graft - that I thought was an indication of a totally healthy tree.  However, now... in retrospect, it might have been a sign that the tree was struggling for life and it sent out the shoot to ensure that it has enough energy to survive. 

Way back in January of this year, I posted a link to a 2019 gardening trends piece that mentioned that "gabion-style walls" were going to be hot this year .  If you aren't familiar with a gabion wall, go read that post where I unpack the whole thing .  On a recent run to pick up a sandwich out by Seven Bridges one weekend, I came across Ike & Oak Brewing that has these large gabion walls set up around their patio.  You can see a few of them in the photo above.    On trend, it seems.

This year, I'm trying a few different things with my yard including tending to it by myself (instead of having someone else cut it), trying Milorganite instead of a traditional 4-step synthetic fertilizer program, mixing and spreading my own herbicide blends and even trying to use a soil temperature tool to time the application of various things .   There are a few more things that I have planned including the application of this product you see in the post above.  But, first...a soil test.  Yes, I'm going to test the soil we have, but I'll post more about that when it arrives.  I have a few choices to make in terms of how to pick the areas for testing. Now, back to this package of The Andersons Humic Acid.  As I've talked about in the past, I've been spending more and more time looking at other folks on YouTube talking about their lawns and what-have-you and one of the products that I've seen a few times now is Humic Acid.  I poked around and this art