Trees.

<groan>

I've spent my whole damned spring break planting trees.

Digging holes. Did I mention that I live in a volcanic area, and that I have 6 acres of sand and...ROCK? 18 holes.

Hauling compost. Loading, hauling, and unloading a large 10 yard cart. 36 times. Over the rocks.

Watering the holes. Dragging 200 feet of hose all over the 6 acres. Of ROCKS.k

Dragging the 18 trees all over the 6 acres of ROCKS to get them to the correct hole.

Filling hole, planting tree, pruning, raking compost/mulch smooth.

Oh, I forgot. wire "cages" to keep the sheep, horses, and deer off the trees. Cutting the wire and creating 18 cages.

I have 8 trees left to plant today. Tomorrow? Not done. Then I get to put together 3 different irrigation systems, totalling 1,000 feet, and clean up after the whole project before heading back to work on Monday.

I'm tired. For those who've made it this far, I will now have 18 deciduous trees, (plus last year's fruit trees) to add interest and color to the 6 acres of rocks, sand, and Juniper trees. I'm putting in:

sugar maple
quaking aspen
a couple of different birches
a couple of different crab apples
mountain ash
hawthorne
ginkgo

18 of them, total.

Years down the road, long after the aches and pains are but an evil memory, you will be patting yourself on the back for making such loveliness possible.

BTW, don't wait-- the INSTANT you come inside from working, shuck off the clothes, scarf down four ibuprofens, and stand under the hottest shower you can tolerate for no less than 15 minutes or so. This will cut the crippling pain you will feel the next day by about 25%-30%.

experientially,
Bright

I've been doing exactly that every day. We got the last of the trees in last night, and will be running irrigation lines today. I must say that the trees really do look happy!

Most of them are about 4-6 feet tall at this point, and I'm looking forward to watching them leaf out.

the local Forest Service will sell me 50 windbreak pines for $25 (sweet huh?) but I'll have 50 pines to plant all at once

I'm gonna get a ditch witch and lay irrigation lines and since the trees won't be very big the holes won't need to be much larger than the Ditch Witch will make, but I'll still have to compost em

lucky for me the critters won't eat the pine trees but with 30-40 mile per hour winds a normal occurrence around here, a wind break is essential

Like Tygr said, you'll be so grateful you have those trees in the years to come but I hope you get some rest and feel better soon

Still the desert, though. I lived in the Mojave long enough, 3 decades, to remember the wind quite clearly. I still catch myself rolling my eyes when the locals here complain about "wind." Here, the wind only blows when there is some new weather front moving in. It can be a light breeze, or it can get gusty, but it doesn't blow constantly.

Where I lived before, all trees planted ended up growing on a slant to the east; the prevailing winds came out of the south and south west, and the trees all "leaned" the way the wind blew. Even street trees; people would stake them firmly, but of course, once the tree is taller than the stake....

In addition to the pines for windbreaks, that area also used tamarisk, "trees of heaven," russian olive, and desert willows. I would never, ever, ever, plant a tamarisk (invasive root system) or, heaven forbid, one of the demon "trees from hell," as I used to call them. They send up suckers from roots tens of yards away from the actual trunk and will take over an area in a short period of time if allowed to; I spent years with chain saws, shovels, etc. trying to control them.

The russian olive and desert willow are nice, though. They make a nice secondary or triple layer along with the pines. Good luck!

to help through the winter too with blowing snow

I'm thinking it's too cold for the desert willows here but I loved those in PHX

with 50 trees I can do a double layer along the west and south of pines. it's desert here to so I'm gonna begrudge anything that takes water once it's established. I have 5 pines here now that are bushy all the way to the ground and 25' high.

I just need 50 more just like them LOL

I am in awe of your energy. But it will all be worth it, it really will. This is the best thing any human can do: plant trees.



Cher

and worth the trouble and work to put them in. When I moved onto my sliver of property it was barren except for one pine and one Eucalyptus. It was windy and exposed to bright sunlight all day. I planted two Purple Robe Robinias, a Chinese Elm, an Acacia, a pear tree, a plum tree, an ornamental cherry, a Ginkgo and a Chinese Pistachio. I'm not done. I still want to put in a Saucer Magnolia to replace one the gophers ate and a Jacaranda once I get a cement slab removed from the space I want to put it in. Some of the trees have already matured enough to provide shade and a wind break along with some shrub hedges I planted to shelter my ornamental plants. You will find that the enjoyment they give you will make all that effort worthwhile.

I've still been working on running irrigation lines every night. I have 8 trees left to go, and can get them done this weekend. They're fine now, since I soaked them good at planting time.

I'm now making nightly laps around the acres to check on every tree; a few are beginning to send out their first leaves already!

Last night we ran 400 feet of poly tubing from a water source, through the orchard, and out to the end of the new trees. Watching us unroll and untangle a 500 foot roll of poly tubing was certainly entertaining for the neighbors. Everybody was fascinated. The chickens, who range in the orchard. The horses, who kept following us around and nosing into everything because it was past their dinner time. The cat, who "pounced" all over the tangled up mess repeatedly. Plus the human neighbors, of course. Attaching fittings and turning the water on is a snap. The hardest job is unrolling the stuff without a kink.

I still have to attach fittings for the fruit trees in the orchard, and I have one short (30 ft) piece of poly tubing left to run to one tree, and I'm done. Whew! Just in time for Easter, which is a good thing. It looks like we may be lambing this weekend.

It is just as good for me as it is for the trees, that daily hike out to check on them, admire them, and talk to them. ;)

Of course, people will think you're crazy if you say so. Nevertheless, it's true. One of my only real lasting griefs for leaving my Maryland garden is the big pin oak tree with the bench under its canopy of downswept branches and the bluebells planted among its roots.

I miss talking to it. I planted a purple autumn ash here in our raw-from-the-contractor lot in New Mexico, and I go out to encourage it regularly. If we're here long enough (I hope we're here long enough!) maybe it will become as good a listener as my dear old oak tree.

We have some huge, really HUGE old cottonwood trees in town, a couple on one of my regular walking routes. I always greet them respectfully.

wistfully,
Bright