Trees Update. 10.31.2020

 These are a few of the trees I've planted.  There are quite a lot more.  Here I'm sticking mainly with non-fruit trees, because most of those don't reach great size and store up carbon like the big trees.

 I don't understand how people can buy a 1 or 2 or 10 acre property and keep it almost entirely as lawn.  I just don't get it.  I may overdo the trees, but they are a heritage for future generations.  As they grow, they also show a commitment to the land.

This ginkgo (yellow leaves) is from the three that I grew from seeds that my dad collected in his neighborhood in Illinois.  I gave one start to him and brought the other tree here.  The largest, by far, is in Vancouver.  The second largest died a year from transplant.  This one was the smallest.  It was in a small container for too long, then planted in a bad spot, then I moved it here.  It grew nicely, then the top died but it grew back nicely again.  There is something about here that doesn't suit ginkgos well.  Maybe it's underground animals that chew the roots.  Now that this one has recovered, maybe it will be as majestic as its sibling.

One of the four Greenspire European Lindens that I planted in 2012.  This is the second - largest.  Doing quite well, handsome tree, no fertilizer or watering or other special treatment now.  Tons of flowers for honeybees when blooming.

A close up of that ginkgo from above.  I think it's about 15 feet tall now.

One of the four hybrid (European X Japanese) chestnut trees.  This was a seedling, which has grafts from the others on four branches.  I added those in case the main part is not productive, and to pollinate the others.  Handsome tree.  Chestnuts can be quite majestic regardless of their nut production.  This one is about four years old.

A grafted tree, seedling from Vancouver and top from the male ginkgo tree in my old Vancouver yard, handsome tall beautiful tree.  I don't know why this grafted tree has such screwy growth - not quite vertical and not quite weeping.  Did I graft upside down?  Will it overcome whatever it is that's making it odd?  I don't know.

Another ginkgo that I grew from seeds, this one form Vancouver.  Originally I grafted the other onto it, but the graft was broken.  So this is 100% the Vancouver tree.  It had a slow start but is beginning to take off and grow.

This is an aspen that I started from an offshoot of another aspen that I planted in 2012.  I think this one is about  4 or 5 years old.  Aspens grow quickly.  It must be about 15 feet tall now.

Another hybrid chestnut, one of the four total.  This is the smallest and took quite a while to get growing.  Now it's taking off, about 2 1/2 feet of growth this year. 

Carnivorous Plants. 10.30.2020

 These are some of the Sarracenias.  This summer, with illness and hospitalization and catching up, they didn't get trimmed or repotted.  Even so, some still look pretty good.  This winter, I can work on them to clean them up and pot into larger containers with fresh growing medium.

Alpine Eucalyptus at 2 years. 10.30.2020

 This is the end of the second year for this Tasmanian Alpine Eucalyptus.  Also called Tasmanian Yellow Gum.   It's reportedly more cold hardy than the types known in California.  With la nina this year, we'll find out.

It's difficult to see in the photo, this tree is now about 7 foot tall.  That is without watering this year.  I don't think deer have touched it at all.  It has tough leaves with a somewhat odd fragrance, which may make them unappetizing.  When fully grown, it should have colorful bark

 

Another close up.  The new growth can be quite nice.

Dawn Redwood at Three Years Old. 10.30.2020

 I planted this Dawn Redwood in November, 2016.  I was going through some anticipatory grieving about my aging dog, and wanted it as a reminder of him when he was gone.  He is buried among its roots, as is his companion dog and at least one chicken.  I like to think that the tree contains some of Charlie's atoms.

Here was the tree as planted  11.16.16.  I removed the potting soil and burlap / clay mix, and washed off the roots.  I pruned off crossing and potentially girdling roots.  With so little root mass remaining, I wondered if it would survive.

The tree did survive, and thrived.   Here it is almost exactly four years later.  I keep some fencing around it to prevent deer damage to the trunk.  That might no longer be necessary but doesn't hurt anything either. It got no additional water at all this year, surviving as a natural member of the ecosystem.

Dawn Redwood is a tree that existed at the time of the dinosaurs.  It is different from native redwoods, in that it drops its needles each winter.  They were thought to be extinct, with only a record in fossils and coal from millions of years ago, until discovered in a forest in China in the 1940s.  Before dropping, the needles change color to a brownish yellow, which they are starting to do now.

Second New Raised Bed Completed. 10.30.2020

 This is the second raised bed.  I completed it and filled with a mix of purchased  top soil mixed with prior raised bed soil.  The purchased top soil is a little less than 50%.  It's nearly full.  I added maple leaves to the top to see if they compost and add some organic matter.  For minerals, I also added about 4 cups of wood ashes, which contain the cremated femurs of 10 chickens (thighs made into dog food).  That adds minerals, mainly calcium and phosphorus, with some iron, magnesium, and potassium I think.

This is for tropicals for next year - pickle cucumbers and peppers.  They get planted in May or June, so it has lots of time to settle in.  There is one more planned raised bed, no hurry on that either.