Part I
Dang They Were Right
In the spring of 2020 we were all hunkering down, trying to avoid contracting Covid-19. That gave me the opportunity to fulfill a dream I'd had for awhile--painting my own backyard. The spring flowers came in a great array of lilacs, daffodils, dogwoods, azaleas and more. Almost every afternoon during the months of April and May I was outside painting my own landscape.I was especially attracted to our dogwoods, both native and domesticated.
However, I refused to take it out and somewhat miraculously the wonderful blooms came back for two more springs. How that happened, I do not know, but last spring there were no blooms. It's dead branches did serve a purpose last summer though, as many birds enjoyed sitting there and that gave us wonderful viewing of many different bird species.
That pink dogwood was such a symbol for me. Somehow I could deny all that we had lost if the tree bloomed. But dead it was!
This winter I reluctantly agreed that it should go.
Part II
The Concept Artist has a Plan
In memoriam ( in memory of someone who has died)
Once the tree was gone we had a couple of options. We could just clear out the small circle of vegetation that surrounded the now removed dogwood and turn it into lawn, OR we could get a new tree!
When it comes to gardening and yard work there is a bit of a struggle between the planter (me) and the mower/weed wacker (Mike). I plant and he wacks. Sometimes a new, smaller plant or tree takes a bit of damage accidentally.
I really wanted to replace my symbolic pink dogwood tree and I wanted it's new small trunk protected from damage. As I contemplated this potential problem, the concept artist I am came up with a vision. We could build a small 8 or 10 foot circular wall, elevating the tree and creating a garden space for blooming plants around it.
As Mike and I were driving into town the other day, I shared my idea with him. We had agreed on the new tree, but I doubted he would like the thought of one more project. To my surprise, he immediately got on board. After looking at rocks and bricks designed for this sort of work at Lane Forest Products, Mike proposed we used the river rock/mini boulders we have on our property.
After a short ride, the rocks were being dumped down on a 10 foot square of landscape fabric.
Mike got on his knees to fill gaps among the large rocks with smaller ones.