Landscaping (Day 404)

The trees and shrubs we've been buying were stacking up on the property, so with the delivery of another bunch it was time to plant the trees. They'll grow roots in the winter here, when the ground isn't frozen. We had our first hard frost around the 1st of December, but it was still mild (40s in day, 30s at night).

Tim Hamm, a hardscaper from Sequim, had been building some small rock walls for us and had his small tractor on the site. So on Saturday Dec. 5th, he divvied up the big piles of top soil (30 yds) and bark chips (15 yds) that I had delivered last summer. He moved them around the property, closer to where plants and trees would be going. That saved me a couple days behind a wheelbarrow and a sore back. I started digging tree holes in the morning and planted about 8 by early afternoon. When Tim finished the first rock wall, he helped me for an hour and we planted another six trees. It was getting dark and cold, so I left the remaining 4 trees for another (milder day). Plus our friends Ken and Deb Olsen were arriving that night and I had to do a serious scrubup with Lava (soap) to be presentable.

After our wholesale tree cutting last year to clear the lot (60-80 trees), we've replanted the following:

2 Leyland Cypress
3 Giant Sequoia
6 Western Red Cedar
3 River Birch
3 Vine Maples
2 Autumn Harvest Maples
1 Sweet Gum
1 Umbrella Pine

Still out of the ground are 8 Rhodies, 8 Portuguese Laurels and 2 English Laurels. So far we have about $2000 into the plants, but most were bought on sale this fall at the two local nurseries and Home Depot (laurels). Also looking for a couple Holly trees, which do well here.

We took Sunday off to play with the Olsens and it snowed about an inch. No big deal (icy, mainly) except that was the start of a week of freezing temps (19° F min). The upshot is that the ground is pretty well frozen as well as the hoses. So it looks like those last 4 trees and shrubs will have to wait for a rain storm to melt the ground.