More trees? Yes, please!!

It is that time of year again! When Beltrami County posts the tree order form and I get creative when thinking of new places I could plant successful little tree-lings throughout my yard.

I didn't plant anything new last year. We didn't know what we were doing with the pond or garden, I didn't know how much time I would have devote myself to watering, and I was already overwhelmed with tending to my gardens with an infant. This summer will be about the same, but Logan can be outside more often with us this year, and he takes by himself now!



My future trees:
American Plum. We planted five trees, 2 springs ago, and only two survived.  I would love to make plum jam (probably not until I'm retired!). I also love the little white flowers on these trees, they would do wonders for attracting bird.

Lilac. Planted fifteen, 2 springs ago, and only one died! I want to have more to fill in the driveway area, so that in a few more years we have a hedge and don't see the road.
Sandbar Willow. I have a perfect spot near our old pond that still holds water. I think these would be amazing as a filler plant.

Rugosa Rose. I love these flowers, they will be planted near large rocks that line to the hills to our walkout basement.

The trees come in bunches of 5. I'll order one bunch of each, except lilac will be 15. I think this will be it for this year!

Project 22 Complete

Well, I screwed up. I was completely convinced my tree order was Lilac, Mountain Ash, and Black Walnut. Turns out I was partly wrong. I ordered Lilac, Mountain Ash, Hazelnut, and Plum! Oh well, nothing lost, and I did order 5 more trees than I thought. We had to get creative to find space for the Plum trees but I think it all worked out perfectly.

The Plum will have nice little white flowers in the spring and we planted them so we can see 1 from the driveway, 2 near the pond, and 2 on the east side of the house. 

This is near the front of the house. I am so excited for the white flowers that will be on the Plum's when the trees mature.

The Hazelnut were all planted together in a space previously reserved for 2 of the Black Walnut. We left enough room between each tree and filled everything in with new soil. The area was along the tree line in a woodland-grass type area. 

1 little tree.

You can't tell from the picture, but there are 5 Hazelnuts planted here!

The Mountain Ash were planted where they were designated to go. 3 near the pond, 1 opposite a small grove of trees from the garden, and 1 in the large flower garden.

Buds/Leaves

Home for 1 of the trees!

3 of the trees will line this side of the pond.

We also transplanted the raspberries in the newly tilled garden off the front yard. Some of them had been a little dried out but even if only half come up we'll have a great amount for next year.

Raspberry bushes

The Lilac were perfect, 15 planted at the end of the driveway to create a barrier when they are fully grown. 10 on one side, and 5 on the other.

Lilac Buds

Arbor Day Weekend - Project 22

The planting weekend is finally here. I've been waiting for my trees for months!  On the list of planting for the weekend: 5- Black Walnut, 5- Mountain Ash, 15-Lilacs, and 20+ raspberry bushes.  I had the spots planned out a head of time, and walked around with my husband this weekend to make sure they will all go where I had envisioned. It should all work out perfectly!

The Black Walnut will have to be planted on the edge of our 'forest yard' in order to maximize the sun. I have spots planned for 3-4 of the trees for sure, if I can't find spots for the other 2 they may be given away. We are a little far north for these but I'm hoping we have another mild winter for these until they get used to the winter temps.  It will take 9-10 years to get walnuts on the trees, and the leaves will change color beautifully in the fall which will  wonderful against our mostly Pine and Aspen wood line.

The Mountain Ash will be spread out along the tree line in the backyard. These just might be my favorite tree. I love the color of the berries, and they have beautiful white flowers in the spring.  We feed the bird through the whole year so these trees will be a great addition for the birds.  I have spots for 3 trees planned out, so again, if we have 2 leftovers they will be given away.  Also, the pop of color from the berries will add a lot of depth the our yard.

Then the Lilacs, and who doesn't love Lilacs!? We ordered the most of these because they are going to be planted along our road/driveway.  This will eventually block the view of the neighbors across the street, the cars driving by, and hopefully be a deterrent for the dog that poos in our yard to go somewhere else... or poo in the ditch, I don't really care as long as its not in my yard! We have 15 new Lilacs going in and will grow together for a beautiful barrier.  A separate project for this spring will be to move a huge Lilac because we are building a shed in its current location. That is not this weekend though :) 

Last, we were given raspberry shoots from a neighbor and we are prepping a nice little spot on the edge of the yard (in the woods) facing east. Hopefully the plants will root well and we can get them to thrive over the summer for a harvest next year!

I will post pictures of our new little additions after the weekend! Happy Arbor Day!

(All photos from http://www.arborday.com/ )