We
finished planting the golden willows yesterday. I’m almost as tired and sore as
I was muddy (see photo below), but I’m excited that someday our windbreaks will
grow to be beautiful havens for all kinds of birds and animals. Of course,
there’s many an hour of watering and weeding between now and then! Today,
I’m pounding in steel fence posts to anchor the tree cages which will prevent
the willows from becoming mule deer banquets. (The other trees were planted in
the main windbreak, which is already protected by a solar-charged deer fence.)
I
have my folks to thank (or blame?) for my tree-tending tendencies. Mom and Dad are adept at
transforming plain and desolate places into lush, verdant landscapes. To be
honest, when I was young and helping them with their arborist projects, I
didn’t wholeheartedly share their enthusiasm. Those spindly little seedlings
sure seemed to be more trouble than they were worth. Little did I know that
years of patient and persistent tree husbandry would reap such amazing rewards!
“Aren’t
you glad that we have no trees left here at the house, waiting to be planted?”
Hubby asked this morning at breakfast.
“Yep,”
I replied wearily, thinking that life would be a lot easier if I took
tree-planting off my agenda from henceforth.
After
irrigating this morning, I stopped by the mailbox. Guess what was in it? Ten
little blue spruce saplings from the Arbor Day Foundation!
No comments:
Post a Comment