Some years ago, there was an ornamental tree on the south
side of my townhouse that I could see out a window. That tree blew over in a
storm some years back; the tree was removed and the stump dug out. A hole was
left in the earth that still existed until this morning.
I thought that the area looked empty and thought that another
tree should go there. As a kid we had an apple tree in our backyard, so I
sentimentally would have liked to see an apple tree in that spot. After a few
years of no action by the Association, I decided to take some action. I spoke
with my next-door neighbors who said they would have no objection to a tree in
that spot. I wrote to the property manager asking for an okay to put an apple
tree there. To my surprise, I got a response back after a few days giving me an
okay to plant one.
On Saturday I went to a nearby garden center. The people
there were very helpful and helped me pick out a Macintosh sapling on their
lot. They also gave me some helpful advice about planting it. I bought the
sapling and a sack of planting soil that they recommended. Somehow, they
managed to fit it into my car and I was off. By coincidence, that was the day
after Arbor Day, the traditional day to plant a tree.
Home from the garden center on a rainy day
Saturday and Sunday were quite rainy, but the forecast was
for dryer weather on Monday. So, Monday had to be the day. I parked the tree in
the plastic pot on my back deck and removed the yarn used to temporarily tie
the branches up to fit the tree into my car.
The rain was heavy on Sunday night, so I waited until the
ground drained and dried a bit. After a breakfast of oatmeal, egg, a bagel, and
a large mug of high-test coffee I was raring to go. First, I had to cut through
the sod.
One foot deep, 28" in diameter.
As the people at the garden center recommended, I dug a hole
one foot deep and 28” in diameter. I placed the tree in the hole and cut away
the plastic bucket with a razor cutting tool. I mixed the sack of planting soil
with an equal amount of native soil and little by little packed it around the cylinder
of soil that was in the bucket, packing it with my hands as tightly as I could
to avoid any air voids.
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| View from the South |
Finally, I replaced the sod as best I could.
Not so easy to put the sod back
Lastly, I brought Olive out to see the new addition. She did
not seem to have much reaction to the tree; she was more interested in playing Frisbee.
"Well, at least he didn't try to plant a tree in the middle of the living room like he did last December!"
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A few bits of dog humor I collected over the past few months.
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| How else would humans know that it's time to exercise? |
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| How true. |
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| You knew he was a working dog when you married him. |
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| More cat humor than dog humor, but I have heard that cats have secret names known only to themselves. |
