Arbor Day Foundation

Twelve Flowering Trees

Now that I’ve retired from teaching in Higher Education, I’ve turned my focus to Palisade Posh. My LLC at the present consists of my art studio, managing the Airbnb myself and Posh Gardens. While the Cottage is what brings in the most income, the garden is what takes the most time. Currently I’m still building it out with the cutting garden being the next section to be developed. However, there is another aspect to gardening that speaks more to landscaping and beautifying the property as a whole. I’ve barely scratched the surface on this endeavor but I have started… Thus far, I’ve created the hardscape, laying out where flowers beds will be around the Cottage and along the exterior of Posh Gardens that runs along the drive through the property. This fall I also carved out some beds around the back yard of the main house. I planted some spring bulbs in these beds but the rest of the property that isn’t the garden has not been planted out yet, although I do have a landscape design plan for around the Cottage.

So, when I received fundraising literature from the Arbor Day Foundation this fall, I took notice. I wouldn’t say I’m a hard-core environmentalist, but I do believe in the power of and benefit of planting trees. We need to take better care of our planet and I think planting trees is an excellent way to do so. I decided to donate to the Arbor Day Foundation; it is one of the few nonprofit environmental groups that I can get behind. As a thank you for my small donation, the Foundation said it would send me twelve flowering trees. It was a first come first serve scenario, so I didn’t think much of it, as I had donated late.

This week my 12 trees, more like little sticks, arrived in the mail! I’m not kidding about the sticks comment, what arrived were twigs with roots; and they arrived in December! This is hardly the time to be planting trees even trees that looked more like a “Charlie Brown” tree than a legitimate flowering tree. It’s funny though how easily one can become attached to a little stick like tree. I am now determined to keep these tiny little things alive! The biggest challenge is that I’ve no idea where to plant them. Given their small size, I could easily see them trampled by humans, animals and or vehicles all by complete accident!

So, what to do? Luckily the trees came with a note on how to plant. As I have yet to figure out where I want to place these little trees, I opted to do the “heeling in” approach to planting which is a temporary solution that then gives you time to figure out where to plant your saplings. The first thing it said to do was to dig a trench with walls at an angle. Then you lay the trees in and backfill with the dirt you dug out. They had color coated each tree so you could tell them apart. In addition to this, I tied an orange tag to each tree, noting which variety they were. With the trees tagged and heeled in, all I needed to do is water  them regularly throughout the winter. To help me remember to do this, I planted them along the exterior fence near the main house. They are located to the left of my art studio. To ensure that they were not overlooked, I took the same orange ribbon and used it to robe off the area where I planted them. My thought is that come spring, I will dig them up and replant them over near the potting shed near the experimental raised beds. I can again section them off and tend to them until they are big enough to be easily identified as an actual tree. This should then give me time to figure out where to plant them. For whatever reason I’ve become very attached to these 12 little twigs and I’m curious to see if I can nurture them so that they can grow into beautiful flowering trees! Granted it might take 20 years for them to grow big enough to be noticed but I still think it is worth doing. It is my little contribution to making the planet a better place. My 12 saplings include:

Two Crape Myrtles

Three Eastern Redbuds

Two Sargent Crabapples

Two Washington Hawthorns

Three White Flowering Dogwoods

Since I have a landscape plan for around the Cottage, the main house is surrounded by Pecan trees and Posh Gardens is mapped out as well, I’m thinking these little darlings will eventually be planted around the Potting Shed. This area will be built out to include one if not two art studios, one for painting and the other for ceramics. The addition of these trees along with a few flower beds should round out the landscaping of the overall property. While the trees mature, I can figure out the irrigation for that area. These flowering trees will be a lovely addition to the landscaping and add to the overall beauty of the property! So thank you Arbor Day Foundation for allowing me to do my little part in taking care of Mother Earth and giving back to the planet.