Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Tree Maintenance

We have a pond in our backyard. It is a small Japanese style pond with a fountain that comes out of one wall and it is very shallow with rocks in the bottom and a tree in the middle. We clean the leaves out of it regularly to keep it nice and clean looking but recently the owner of the house noticed that the tree was getting pretty big and that means a lot more leaves.

A few days ago, I spent 2 hours picking up leaves out of the pond in anticipation of the owner's visit to look at the tree. We actually have two trees in the yard but one is in the back yard and one is in the pond.

So yesterday morning, the owner came over and trimmed both trees. I was afraid to do it because I wasn't sure what kind of tree it was and didn't want to kill it by cutting back too much or cause a lot of sucker branches because they just look ugly. Apparently from his trim job, I could have pretty much cut anything I wanted and it wouldn't have hurt it...good to know for next year.

While he was there, I worked on my yardwork in the backyard (which wasn't in the plan when I woke up that morning) but managed to get it all done so at least that is one check mark on the To Do list...now I just need to get the front beds done.

So anyhow, these are pics of the two trees before and after he was done.


Pond tree before trimming



Backyard tree before trimming



Pond tree after trimming



Backyard tree after trimming


They look a little bare now but I am hoping that with spring around the corner, they will sprout leaves soon and be a lot easier to maintain for a while.

I also found out while he was here that he owns the field behind our house, and the papaya tree that is right next to my kitchen window. He said I could have any papayas I wanted...nice to know because up till now, I have been just letting them sit there, and this tree puts out a lot of papayas. They are a Japanese version so the insides are kind of hollow but I can still eat them in Papaya salad or after they are ripe just as fruit.

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Grandma's Pillowcases

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