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| Dead trees are natural habitats for various animals, including woodpeckers. On the ground they feed the soil and harbor toads. |
Our landscaper promised to cut up our dead tree that fell over. Saturday did not work out, so we gathered at lunch on Sunday.
Soon we had our helper and his family in the backyard. I brought out watermelon. Mrs. Ichabod came out.
These gatherings are fairly common around here. When the landscaper had a garage sale, the girls across the street sold lemonade. When the girls' parents had their garage sale, everyone went over there for a time.
We had a lot of laughs during the tree surgery, even though the tree was tougher than cheap meat to cut. We added a wood chisel, a rip saw, a crow bar, and a mallet and boss screwdriver to make the chips fly.
The landscaper said, "What are you doing with the logs?"
Our helper said, "He is going to make a wild garden."
"Oh, you are going to grow weeds?"
I asked, "How many roses do I have?" Our helper laughed and said, "He got you there."
"Hey, are you going to give me some earthworms?"
I said, "I put 1,000 worms total in all your raised beds and wherever you had flowers."
The landscaper looked a bit shy and asked, "Did you see my weeds?"
"Yes, you did not put enough newspapers under the wood. The weeds burst through."
"My grandson will work on that next visit."
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| I use the landscaper's grass clippings to feed the crepe myrtle in front. The Sweetheart calladiums match the blooms. |
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| Mrs. Ichabod loves calladiums, so I planted these beneath the crepe myrtle bush. |
We heard various stories from his work as an Army Ranger and fun comments about national politics. He said, "I wish days like this would last forever." He was doing a lot of work for me, even though he suffers from military injuries, and he loved it.
Our helper did a lot of sawing with the ripsaw, jumped on the cut with the saw in his hands, and tumbled. We commented on how many dead and wounded that would have left with a chainsaw in his hands.
The landscaper said, "I would have been fine. I would have started running early."
We stretched out the stout and irregular pieces of the tree to reach across backyard for a new fence. I am planning on solar lighting the fence to prevent tripping and give the backyard more depth.
We are now going to use cardboard boxes as the bottom layer of Jackson Mulch, with leaves and compost on top. This opens up a new area for beneficial plants, berries, ornamental bushes, and experiments.
I said, "I always wanted my own stump." We plan to prop up the stump so the honeysuckle vine will have some support and the birds will have a lower perch. The stump did not cooperate with our plans, so we dropped it down again. I made a suggestion to the landscaper and he rolled his eyes about cementing the stump in place.
Our helper said accurately, "The stump will rot away and feed the soil." Yes, indeed. He considers our projects quite educational, and we have a lot of laughs doing the work.
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| Shewell-Cooper taught me how easy gardening could be. |
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| Lay compost on top for mulch or let mulch become compost. Either way, no rototilling is needed. Science and common sense tell us not to violate the Creation principles around us. |
