Huh, well that was a massive bummer to end the year on and no follow-up with the new life part!
As I mentioned at the end of that post, we participated in this wonderful Maryland program and got FOUR native trees for $25 each!
The Service Berry (Amelanchier canadensis):
We put this in our front yard; it will get about 25-30 feet tall and spread out 15-20, so should fill that half of the yard nicely!
It has beautiful orange and red coloring in the fall, lovely blossoms in the spring AND we can eat the berries!
The Willow Oak (Quercus phellos):
This big guy came to us at around 7', so that was a fun surprise (they were supposed to be "about 4-6 feet")!
I have never heard of it nor knew there were oak trees with these types of leaves. It's a decently fast-growing oak and loves water (like a willow!), so it's great for the spot in the corner of our yard where all of our yard drains to.
I went back and forth on how irresponsible it was to put an oak that close to neighbors' yards...it's one thing if it's existing, but to deliberately dump acorns on them?! Then I found out (from my kid's book 😄) that they don't start producing acorns until they're like 30 years old, so we'll probably all be long gone before then! Hashtag future owners' problem 😆🙊
The always-wanted Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida):
This will, of course, be glorious in the springtime. My neighbor's just glows and makes me gasp multiple times a spring! That is, if it survives. I'm aware that these are very prone to disease and issues and when I mentioned that, my tree guru suggested I get "another one just in case"....soooo that's how we ended up with four trees. "Soooooo, honey..." 😆🙊
The American Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana):
This came to us the smallest of the bunch and boy has it had a go! In the winter it looked like something had snipped it off - it was literally a 12 inch STICK in the ground! 😱
I thought for sure it was a goner, but a few weeks ago husband said he saw the teeeeniest buds starting! Woo hoo!!!!
Like the Dogwood, it'll get about 15-20' tall, so nice sizes to fill in under our oak and black gum and the neighbor's maple canopy.
The vastness of green...
...filled in with treeeeees!!! (We are clearly so not a sports family when I feel no need for open areas...so long as there's room to run in the sprinkler and set up a slide, 'they good'! 😆)
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| Current spring loveliness |
Compare that short, but happy, leaf-producing little guy in the foreground with his winter self...
All four seem to be thriving! Soooo happy!
The yard in the shed corner is still very naked and my poor shade garden is baking, but there's hope for the future!
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| Fall planting |
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| Spring Luxe! |
