For some reason, the people who lived in our home before us didn't believe in trees. Our front yard is bare except for one small tree that looked like an overgrown bush until I had it trimmed up to look like the tree that it is, and the backyard had one dead twig that broke off the week after we moved in. Now there's a 7 inch tree coming up in it's place. I guess those people had a one tree per yard limit or something. Well, today, after work, I changed our one treed wonder by adding a new addition to our front yard. At our house warming party, we received a gift certificate to a local nursery in the amount of a new tree. I was quite surprised at the size of the tree we were able to get for the amount. Kim kinda left it up to me as to what kind to get, and I have always loved the trees that are in my parents backyard, so I got one. I never knew what they were, I just knew they turned a beautiful color of red in the fall.
Turns out, they are called Red Oak trees, actually "Northern Red Oaks" but that sounds too Yankee so Texans drop the northern from it. The name "Red" comes from, as the picture shows, the leaves turn a beautiful shade of red which ads color to any landscape. The tree we bought is probably 15 ft. tall, but right now it looks sort of like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree from the "Peanut's Christmas Special." I was tempted to go get three ornaments from our Christmas stash and hang them on it just to humor me. I'm sure, with water and fertilizer, it will soon become a hearty, large, beautiful tree; just like the ones at my parents'. At least, I hope it does. I keep thinking to myself that it was "only yesterday" that those trees were this size, but in reality, it's been probably 15 years or so since they actually were. Man, time flies!
Anyway, I'm kinda proud of my first official "landscaping" adventure in our front yard. When Kim gets back from Fort Worth, I'll take a picture of it so the blog world can see my accomplishment. She's got the camera, I guess, because I can't find it anywhere. For now, the sample picture at the beginning of the post will have to do. It's a little prettier than ours is right now anyway.
-approved by Farley Wells, CMDI who's mad because I didn't let him help plant it. He's really into horticulture.
2 comments:
Lynn, we planted a red oak like the one in the picture about 5 years ago. It is VERY slow in growing, but it is beautiful in the Fall. Ours looked like a little twig (compared to our big oak in the front yard) when it was first planted. All I can say is, "Have patience!"
Good for you, Lynn. I'm proud of you! I'm sure it will grow to be a beautiful tree to match your beautiful home!
Post a Comment