common ground : trees

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

I have a tree, and other random house news...

Who would think I'd get excited over a little ol' tree!

But, my having a "tree" out here has become a pretty big deal.

When we first put the contract in on the house, there was a beautiful maple in that exact spot. It was planted when the house was first built, so it was about 10 years old; just big enough to have a little shade and because it was a maple (my favorite tree), I was looking forward to a pretty show of leaves this Fall. Fast forward through the long dry spell we had here in Southwest Missouri, and an owner who had moved out, deciding that yard care and maintenance were no longer needed. By the time we closed on the house the yard was a disaster, the tree was dead, and the landscaping was a barren wasteland. Needless to say I was one unhappy camper.

(last week at the new place)

So once an official arborist had declared it long gone, we had to wait for the right time to transplant a new tree. Evidently October is a better time to plant as it's cooler, and the tree has a chance to settle in before freezes, and will be ready for the warmer Spring growing season.

I didn't realize there were so many kinds of Maples, but my one request was that it be a showstopper for Fall. Here are a few facts about our pick:

The Shantung Maple is a midsize ornamental tree that is great for small yards and it tolerates alkaline soils, drought, and strong wind. The Shantung Maple steps up to autumn with leaves that are gorgeous golden yellow flecked with red before they launch into orange. The Shantung Maple differentiates from other maples (Red Maple and Silver Maple) in that the canopy is denser and the leaves are more delicate, which is reminiscent of a Japanese maple but with much greater toughness Tolerates full sun and drought resistant.

Growth Rate	Evergreen or Deciduous	Height Mature	Width Mature
3' Per Year	Deciduous	25'	20'

(Next three images from Google Images)

This year, it only had a small leaf show, but the golds were gorgeous, until it decided that it was a little too stressed out to do much else. It was staked and mulch added, with a bag watering system that you fill once a week, for a measured release of water. Of course Hubbs was thrilled that I was adamant about us buying the most expensive little maple on the planet, but Hey, as a "leafpeeper" who only has one tree out front, it has to be a Fall Showstopper.

In other house news, the carpet is in and we moved furniture from the storage units into the Dining Room (or should I say "squeezed" into the Dining Room), downstairs family room, Kitchen (so nice to see my white farm table and china cabinet), and lot's of other random pieces of which I have no idea what to do with. We're in the process of trying to sort through boxes at the storage place that are priority. Right now I'm seeing lots of boxes that say "Basement Decor" and I'm just trying to imagine what kind of ~~crap, junk,~~ er, goodies, might be in them. This house is only about 2/3 the size of the old one, and I'm already thinking a Spring garage sale probably will be on the calender.

We've been in "move mode" for about a year now and I have to say I'm pretty darn worn out with the whole idea of it. And the way it's going, we might have things somewhat put together by Thanksgiving. Gosh, when I was younger I could decorate a new house in a few days. Remember "The Stepford Wives", uh yeah, sort of. Ugh, I was a lot younger then...

(I did locate a few boxes marked "Turkeys", so they came on over to the house.) OK, I'll have some pics of the basics in a few days. I won't be able to wait till the rooms are complete to share, otherwise I might have to give up blogging altogether...just kidding!

joining these parties:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Share Your Cup at Mrs. Olson's
Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours

I'll be back later with the winner

from the Elliott-Heath Pillow Give Away.

Have a great week,

xoxo,