Trees & Shrubs

About half way through last summer, I noticed the beginnings of some browning on one of my prized Norway Spruce trees. I’ll admit that I was somewhat appalled because, after all, I planted these trees when they were just little babies and I’ve grown rather attached to each one of them. The thing is, the […]

I just thought this was the coolest shot. I have become a big fan of placing my camera on the sides of very large, very straight trees to take photos of their tops. We have many straight White Pines on our property, so I’ve got ample opportunity to do so. Below is a photo I […]

If there are two fruits Maine is known for, it’s blueberries and apples. Luckily, we’ve got both. I’d say there are two or three blueberry bushes and about seven apples trees here on our property. The previous owner did a wonderful job of getting things planted and letting them grow. I’m not sure we’ll get […]

This has got to be one of the strangest Maple trees I’ve ever seen. The first time I noticed we had one on the property was a few weeks ago. I was cutting down an Ash tree and saw an odd “weed” type plant growing next to it. I’d say the tree was about an […]

Have you ever heard of an Eastern Hophornbeam? No? Neither have I. I have now though because we’ve got one growing in the back woods. I was walking around the woods yesterday, minding my own business when I happened to notice a tree that didn’t look like the typical Ash or Maple. I stopped, took […]

We’ve got a pretty big project ahead of us this Spring. I think we might try to transplant at least one hundred baby pine trees. We’ll dig them up from the woods and plant them in the lawn. I’d say about an acre’s worth. I know – I don’t sound too confident about this little […]

You’ve got to see these things growing. The orange tree that came with the house is pretty large and the oranges are huge. Here, take a look at my old pictures of the oranges and then look below. This is a picture of the oranges I took yesterday. While they’re growing like it’s nobody’s business, […]

It’s been nine days since I wrote my post on our new fig tree cuttings and I wanted to give a quick update. Now, if you remember what I said about our first batch, you’d remember that I completely ruined them. With those cuttings, at this point, I had them in some soil or moss […]

I am officially finished with another side of the house. Only one left to go – the front. And that’s one third complete. I did that yesterday. Today’s project included planting our Spartan Blueberry bush that’s been sitting in a pot in the back yard for the past two months (much like the Rose of […]

As you already know, we bought a small fig tree a while back. Figs are one seriously incredible tasting fruit and if we can somehow manage to grow a fig tree to fruition (literally), I would be amazed. Not only would I be amazed, but I’m sure that anyone who knows me would be amazed […]

Today was a good day for planting. We picked up the soil we have been waiting for last night at Lowe’s and while we were there, we got suckered into buying a peach tree and a knockout rose bush. I’ve had and heard good things about knockout roses, so this was a no brainer. As […]

A while back, my mother gave us some really large lily bulbs. We had them planted in a pot up in Connecticut and right before moving, Laura suggested we remove the bulbs from the pot and bring them with us. I agreed and we did this with these bulbs, our clusters of lily of the […]

I wanted to make a post that documents where we are in the bud and bloom cycle here in central Connecticut in late April. I do this quite a bit, but usually just as a reminder of where we’ve been in past years. It helps when I’m wondering what the heck is going on. I […]

If there was ever a day that was considered perfect, I’d say this is the day. It’s about 70 degrees out there right now. The sun is shining and there’s no humidity. Actually, I can’t find anything to complain about. It’s perfect and for the first time this year, I am seeing things begin to […]

We have, what I suspect is, the first sign of Spring. Today I present to you buds of the mighty Magnolia Stellata. This bush or shrub, call it what you will, is only a mere four feet tall. It’s actually been the same size for the almost five years we’ve been living in this house. […]

Since I had the camera in my hand a few nights ago (remember the moth pictures?), I decided to head outside with it. I didn’t have to go far before I saw something interesting. It was one of those warm Autumn nights. Kind of humid. I guess the spiders were active because when I got […]

A few days ago, the rain came and went. It was somewhat of a gloomy day, so photography wasn’t on the mind. Around 5pm though, the sun broke through the clouds. When that happens, especially if it is still raining, I run to grab the camera. The angle of the light, coupled with the glisten […]

Around 6pm, I can see the sun beginning to hang nice and low in the sky. The light hits everything in the front yard just the right way – it makes me get all antsy – which makes me get up to run outside to take a bunch of pictures. It really is fun having […]

As I’ve mentioned probably about a thousand times now, we have a few acres of woods here. About 4.25 acres to be exact. It’s a lot of woods with very few evergreen trees – and I can’t stand that. Really, there’s nothing worse than looking at hard, cold deciduous trees all Winter long. So like […]

Yes folks, Spring is here and it’s time for me to again document all that happens around these here parts. It’s time to wake up and get outside and put my new camera to work. By the way, I have a special surprise for you regarding my camera, but it’s still in the mail. You’ll […]

Okay everyone, since Autumn is here, I figured that it’s just about time to plant a new batch of evergreen transplants. I had a tough time with this one. It’s been a really hot and dry Summer, so I wasn’t sure when to have these trees shipped. On one hand, I wanted to get them […]

I know these are some really short posts, but they kind of don’t have anything to do with anything. They are simply about some neat stuff we saw today. This post is about a really, really big Sycamore tree we walked by in Chester, CT this morning. After browsing the fine items at the Chester […]

I just wanted to share my new toy with you. It’s called a Roto Auger. It’s for planting the 150 small evergreen transplants I have arriving next week. I will talk more about the trees when I get them, but for now, I want to let you know how I am going to plant them. […]

I guess August is the time to plant Cleveland Select Pear Trees. It seems to be a trend around these parts. I have no idea why…maybe it’s because the landscaping rush is just about over in the big box stores and now the prices are down a bit. Whatever. It just seems that I purchase […]

I would say that my luck with transplanting is 50/50. I have more luck transplanting trees and shrub under certain conditions. I do okay if: – If I pull a tree (bare root) from some local woods – I transplant that tree during the early Spring (March) I don’t do okay if: – I try […]

The Cleveland Select Pear tree is by far one of my favorite trees. The reasons I like the tree is because you can get as many as you want from Home Depot or Lowe’s for around $10 each. Also, they grow about three feet a year. We planted five of them about a year and […]

You know it’s a nice Spring day when you start seeing pictures of buds on my blog. It happens year after year. It’ll continue to go on this way because it brings me great pleasure to walk around outside noticing what’s going on with nature. It’s one of my greatest enjoyments in life. Today I […]

Well folks, it’s that time of year again. The time of year that I start thinking about Spring. I know I have explained my obsession with trees in the past. It’s not such a bad obsession to have I guess. I mean, I am planting trees and that’s good for the air. It’s good for […]

I love writing about this kind of stuff. It fills my heart with happiness. I got the greatest deal yesterday when I went to the Home Depot. It came in the form of four pine trees for the price of one. When I visit the Home Depot, I usually walk in through the garden center. […]

I was sitting on the front steps a few days ago when I looked to my left. I noticed a strange white powdery substance on the branches and stems of the Lilac bush right in front of the house. I stood up and walked towards it. As I got closer, I noticed a whitish coating […]

Since it was fairly cool outside today, I am in the mood to write. Yes, outside temperature has an impact on indoor activities. If it’s too hot out, I tend to get lazy. If it’s chilly out, I get to work. Today was in the lower 70s and that’s just fine for me. Now this […]

We have this ugly Red Oak tree at the end of the driveway, up near the road. It’s ugly because the branches are all out of shape. I guess the weather has done a number on it over the years. The majority of the tree is intact, but…well, I’ll just show you with the photos […]

There are two lessons I have learned about shrubs that I would like to share with you. 1. Only plant Boxwood. 2. Only plant in the spring. There you have it. Now, let me tell you what the heck I am talking about. I know I have probably said this before and have trouble following […]

I made a vow a few years back. I vowed that I would never buy trees from Arbor Day again. Obviously, I didn’t have much luck with my first batch. I think the problem with the last batch of trees was that I put them in planters over the Winter. They didn’t do well in […]

I feel like I am living a re-run here. I mean, I don’t mind planting the same trees as I did at the other house, it’s just repetitive, that’s all. I really do like watching them grow. Yesterday, we went up to Lowe’s to return a bum flashlight I had bought the day before. I […]

It has been pretty dry here lately. It just rained this morning, which is good, but up until that, we haven’t had any substantial rainfall in quite some time. I have been watching many plants wilt because of the dryness. The neighbors are getting used to the guy with no shirt standing out front with […]

I hadn’t taken much notice of it until a friend mentioned it to me a few days ago. He said, “You might want to do yourself a favor and take that Tulip tree down while it’s still small.” Upon later reflection, we noticed it wasn’t a Tulip tree, but most likely a fast growing softwood. […]

Every time I visit either Lowe’s or Home Depot, I try to go into the nursery to grab a few shrubs. I can always find a use for shrubs, I just wish they were free. That would be wild. I need about 50 Rhododendrons. I would like to line the entire wooded area up front […]

Today’s job was to start transplanting some of the shrubs from the front of the property to the back. I am trying to take all the good shrubbery (did I just say shrubbery?) from the front hillside to transplant in the back, near the driveway. I already showed you the area I am working on […]

I took a few photos of the back yard this morning. Every year, I like to take pictures of the trees in the area. I do this, because every year, I forget when the heck the leaves come out. It’s kind of like a journal…or a log…or a web log…oh wait, a BLOG. That was […]

I went outside yesterday to take a few photos of some buds on some trees. I grabbed a few good ones of our Thundercloud Purple Leaf Plum and the Bradford Pear. I have to say, this blog has been very handy for me to look at when I start wondering when things are going to […]

I took some pretty cool photos this morning of all the ice on the trees. I heard that the midwest got hit hard. We didn’t get hit nearly as hard. Things are icy, but it is actually really nice outside. It is warming up fast, so you can hear all the ice falling from the […]

I have been meaning to do this for some time. Our well is in a semi-middle area of our front lawn. As you surely are aware, wells are not attractive contraptions. In an effort to keep our house aesthetically pleasing, I am trying to hide the well as best I can. Yesterday, Paul and I […]

I thought it might be a good idea to give some mad props to my sister, Laurie. True, she is not part of the “Young Astronauts” program, but she’s ok anyway. Laurie took some very nice photos of the dogwood trees in her front yard. I thought they were good enough to publish on one […]

A few weeks ago, I told Laura that I was finished buying trees and shrubs. Well, I told her I only needed a few more. Yesterday, I reminded Paul that Home Depot gave me a great deal on rose bushes last Autumn. I got them for $1 a piece. So, with that in mind, we […]

A month or two ago, Laura and I picked up this cool box of four plants from Sam’s Club. I think they were two grape vines, a raspberry bush and a blueberry bush. Everything died, except one grape vine and the blueberry bush. I have been saving the two plants since we purchased them in […]

I didn’t do too much writing in the last post, but I did mention our little blueberry bush that we picked up a few months ago from Sam’s Club. It is now about 4 inches tall. Yesterday, Laura and I stopped by our local Agway and purchased a nice big blueberry bush. It stands about […]

Laura and I have a nice row of trees in front of the house…right along the road. These trees have huge leaves and are called Catalpa Trees. They have a good looking flower that blooms for a few day in late Spring. We really like these trees because of the dark shade their large leaves […]

I decided that this was the day for me to go out to my local Agway and pick up some Tent Caterpillar killer. On the way, I thought it might be a good idea for me to swing by the local nursery to see if they have any decent trees. I am still looking for […]