This pile of mossy, twisting branches is my Wednesday Vignette. And yes...my patio really is that covered with conifer needles. That's winter in my garden thanks to the neighbor's trees and the wind...
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Last week I posted photos of a nearby landscape under construction (here). And Alison commented "I would love to have some of those lovely, twisty, moss-covered maple branches. I wonder if they're still going to use them in some way." My day's plans meant I was going to be walking right be them later, so I told her I'd stop to see.
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I had a lovely conversation with the lady of the house and their adorable dog, both of whom happened to be outside when I walked by. She let me know the sunken area in the front garden is indeed going to be a sort of patio/living room where they can be outside and interact with the neighborhood. The mature Japanese Maple (where these branches came from), was a sad loss, they had hoped to save it. She was happy to have me haul away a few of the branches and so I returned the next day with my car and loaded it up.
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As I was working I heard the neighbor next door come outside and I had the distinct feeling I was being watched. It was cold and very, very, windy so I just kept at it, wanting to finish and get back in my car.
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Turns out he couldn't resist talking with me and pointed out "you know that's a $6,000 tree you're packing up"— I don't know if he was referring to the cost of digging it and burlaping the roots (see the very end of this post for pictures) and then replanting, or if someone had actually offered that much for the tree. I just nodded and said that I understood the owners were sad to have lost it. His expression said there was more to the story (perhaps a judgment about how the tree was treated) but I didn't bite. I thought he would be happy to hear the branches were going to live on in another garden or two (I got a couple extra for myself) but he just shook his head and smiled.
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He may not care but I'm thrilled to think I'll have a bit of that tree to carry on. As I uploaded these photos and thought about how many times I walked by that corner I remembered a year the owners hung ginormous ornaments from it, and went looking for the photo I remembered taking. Turns out it was last year and I uploaded it to Instagram. The sentimental person in me smiles. Thank you Alison for being the reason I went back to that corner.
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There's one more item of business to take care of today, I promised to giveaway a Pacific Horticultural Society gift membership to a commenter on last Friday's blog post. The randomly drawn winner is....Stacey! Congrats Stacey, I'll be in touch to get your address. Thanks to everyone who left a comment, I really enjoyed reading them and thank you all for what you do to support the power of gardening.
Weather Diary, Dec 12: Hi 45, Low 25/ Precip 0
Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
Last week I posted photos of a nearby landscape under construction (here). And Alison commented "I would love to have some of those lovely, twisty, moss-covered maple branches. I wonder if they're still going to use them in some way." My day's plans meant I was going to be walking right be them later, so I told her I'd stop to see.
I had a lovely conversation with the lady of the house and their adorable dog, both of whom happened to be outside when I walked by. She let me know the sunken area in the front garden is indeed going to be a sort of patio/living room where they can be outside and interact with the neighborhood. The mature Japanese Maple (where these branches came from), was a sad loss, they had hoped to save it. She was happy to have me haul away a few of the branches and so I returned the next day with my car and loaded it up.
As I was working I heard the neighbor next door come outside and I had the distinct feeling I was being watched. It was cold and very, very, windy so I just kept at it, wanting to finish and get back in my car.
Turns out he couldn't resist talking with me and pointed out "you know that's a $6,000 tree you're packing up"— I don't know if he was referring to the cost of digging it and burlaping the roots (see the very end of this post for pictures) and then replanting, or if someone had actually offered that much for the tree. I just nodded and said that I understood the owners were sad to have lost it. His expression said there was more to the story (perhaps a judgment about how the tree was treated) but I didn't bite. I thought he would be happy to hear the branches were going to live on in another garden or two (I got a couple extra for myself) but he just shook his head and smiled.
He may not care but I'm thrilled to think I'll have a bit of that tree to carry on. As I uploaded these photos and thought about how many times I walked by that corner I remembered a year the owners hung ginormous ornaments from it, and went looking for the photo I remembered taking. Turns out it was last year and I uploaded it to Instagram. The sentimental person in me smiles. Thank you Alison for being the reason I went back to that corner.
There's one more item of business to take care of today, I promised to giveaway a Pacific Horticultural Society gift membership to a commenter on last Friday's blog post. The randomly drawn winner is....Stacey! Congrats Stacey, I'll be in touch to get your address. Thanks to everyone who left a comment, I really enjoyed reading them and thank you all for what you do to support the power of gardening.
Weather Diary, Dec 12: Hi 45, Low 25/ Precip 0
Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.