Diamonds in the Rough

What do you see when you look at the photo below (other than a barn in need of repair)?

Yes, it looks like a bit of a mess.  For some of you, this may be hard to look at.  Some of you are used to neatly trimmed yards and are probably halfway out the door right now, weed-whacker in hand, on your way to hunt us down and take care of some things.  We are happy to let parts of our property grow up instead of insisting on subduing every last square inch.  What we see in the photo above is a nursery, a tree nursery.

While it is often tempting to pull out your pruning shears when a little tree starts to grow along your fences or in corners of your yard, letting them grow up and then transplanting them to other areas of your property can add to your landscaping at no cost to you.  And trees are just wonderful, you know.

Here's a red bud we moved to our front yard.

Here are a cherry and mulberry tree, both of which grew up into a flowering quince bush.  I'm not surprised in the least- all kinds of birds love our flowering quinces.  Jamey pruned back the quince to allow the cherry and mulberry to take off.  One may be transplanted out later if both continue to thrive.

Here is our large black walnut.  Below it is a baby black walnut which might one day take the place of the larger one.

We have countless trees springing up everywhere here.  Many will be left to grow (and may one day end up in our wood stove), others will be moved.

So next time you want to grab those shears or hack down that unruly corner of the yard, consider finding a home for young trees in your yard.  They'll bring shade, attract wildlife and one day, may add wood to your (or someone else's) fire. Pin It