I seem to have kept Mr. Wonderful very busy in the garden removing things. The hinoki cyprus, seen here in a photo from April 23 of this year, was the first to go.
We were waiting to see how the sumac beside it would do this year. Last year it was an ugly tree, but it was twice as tall as the fence and had quite a spread. Its full canopy of leaves provided needed privacy that we weren't willing to do without.
Unfortunately, this year the tree showed no indication of filling out quite so nicely. Rather than sprouting leaves along the full length of the branch, this year the sumac only sprouted tufts of leaves at the top. (Mr. Wonderful reckons it looked like something from Dr. Suess.)
So again Mr. Wonderful had the big job of removing the tree. Now that it's gone, there is a disconcerting amount of open space where it and the hinoki cyprus used to be. For privacy's sake, we want to plant something in its place. Perhaps another oak tree (or two). Those are great because the dead leaves stay on the tree all winter, and well into spring as you can see in the top photo.
Sometimes things have to be removed not because they are ugly, but because they take up too much space. (Here is where we say good-bye to the weeping caragana tree.)
The weeping caragana tree is crowding the nootkas. No branches are growing where the caragana blocks them from spreading. Since the nootkas were planted for privacy and the caragana is just an ornamental tree, this is bad news. It means the caragana has to go sooner rather than later. Like today.
Can you see a difference? I see a difference.
All photographs belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without attribution.
9 comments:
Karen, you have also a Mr. Wonderful?
Sigrun
Yes, Sigrun. I took the idea for the name from you. I hope it's okay?
Wow that was a great work Mr. Wonderful did. Hurray for him. There is a very big difference now. At least it looks like it has more breathing space unlike the other one which seemed to be crowded.
Thanks for dropping by and have a nice weekend.
WOW!!!! You have been busy! So sad about the Caragana....did you put it somewhere else or just biff it?
If we could get a day without torrents of rain, I would love to get out and play. The ground is so soppy that one gets mired easily... The plants are being beaten to pieces...we hope it will soon stop!
If biff means "chop it up and put it in a yard bag for the city to pick up with the garbage" then we biffed it.
Hope your rain stops soon.
lol, i can't stop laughing!!!
mr. wonderful he is.
It's always hard for me to remove anything although I'm constantly moving things. Love your photos and look forward to seeing what you choose as replacements. Wish we had some of your sunshine here in NY!
Mr. Wonderful deserves a little relaxation time after all that work. It's a shame to lose the privacy from the sumac. (I didn't think last year's photo looked ugly).
Rest in peace, Caragana.
I will also be interested to see what you end up planting.
Apple, we've found that it's not practical to move trees with established root systems. I do move smaller plants, but often as not I tend to lose them anyway. (But I do try.)
Zoey, the angle of that 2005 photo is very complimentary. The elm hides most of the ugliness. And, unless we somehow kill the root of that sumac, we're going to get plenty of replacements -- whether we like it or not, all over the yard.
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