Do-Over!

So last summer, too late into the season, Matt and I planted a tree at the end of our little driveway. The Japanese Beetles killed it in less than 3 months.

This spring, at the right time, Matt and I replaced the tree, with the tree I really had wanted last year: a Cleveland Flowering Pear Tree. It's a fast grower (approx 3 ft a year!), hardy and is very low maintenance as it naturally grows in a pear shape. We re-dug the hole and mixed in miracle-grow tree/shrub dirt to help it get a good start. I'm hoping it grows like a weed!

full grown Cleveland Flowering Pear

 The other news to share is the side yard.... I have cut back into the crazy weeds every year. The above picture with Oliver and his truck, the 'grass line' is right at the clothes line - there are 2 blankets on it. This was year 1.

This was the view from the far side looking back at the house. Reese gives you a bit of perspective on how much scrub was there.

 So the rock in the middle of the picture is right where the clothes line was. The weed whacker and I had quite a time (on several Saturdays) clearing out the side yard. This was about as far as I got year 2.

Last summer, I cleared all the way to the far driveway, circled down the driveway (see below) and really opened up the yard. While this is great to get rid of all the scrub and expand the use-able yard..... it also means that when you are sitting on the couch in the living room, you now have a clear shot all the way across the yard and into our lovely neighbors' yard and living room windows. Not the best. Don't get me wrong! We have wonderful neighbors and feel very lucky! But, some kind of visual edge to the yard wouldn't be a bad thing.

Enter our new 6(!!) Green Giant Arborvitae! They are fast growers (3-4 ft per year!!), super hardy and since we bought them so small (1.5 gal) they were only $15 each! I call that a victory!

Here they are all planted - the wider angle really lets you see how much more yard we have now. We planted them 5 ft apart to allow each tree 2.5 ft to grow width wise before they start to grow into each other to form a hedge. 

This view is taken standing in our yard looking towards our neighbors with our new green giants. I know they look small now, but in a few years they will hopefully create this!

If they do well, we might extend them down the driveway a bit - but that's for another year!