Down come the trees...
Woo hoo! The tree men are here, bright and early. They are bringing down a huge gum tree at the end of the Hump. I've shifted two Rhododendrons and three ornamental Phormiums out of their way.
The Tree Men
Don't care what the pieces of tree crash down on - everything in the understory is self-sown, very utilitarian, dare I say scruffy?
Wednesday 6th September
What an amazing early birthday present! Anyway, I'm going to leave them to it. The dogs will be safe in their kennels, and I'm off to chamber music and madrigals. By the way, New Zealand won the fourth T-20 cricket match against England, thus squaring the series at 2 all. I listened to it in the cottage on my radio early this morning. Well done us.
Later, mid-afternoon...
Wow! I'm back, and the big gum tree is down, neatly processed into rings for easy (sort of) handling. Amazing. This is power gardening at its gruntiest.
Gum Tree Rounds
And the five Oaks over the water race are down too. They have been left as is, where is. The tree men have also gifted me a load of mulch, sourced from the last garden they were working on. Yeay! Another perfect birthday present.
Down Comes an Oak
So the dogs and I have been around to look at everything and take photographs. A huge amount of tree wood is down, some to be trailered into the front paddock to dry, some to be cut up, chipped, burnt, and so on. From the hugest rings (which I will barely be able to roll, let alone lift) to the tiniest scruffy branches.
White Camellias
Good news - I found my loppers (had left them by the Willow Stump). But I am not making a start today. Change on such a grand scale requires quiet contemplation and calm forward planning. It's easy to get over-excited, because I have swathes of new gardenable areas to think about planting. Not to mention load and loads of mess to clean up. Woo hoo!
President Roosevelt Rhododendron
Thursday 7th September
Zoomed home from my ballet class ready to start the BIG CLEAN UP. But couldn't find my loppers anywhere - the same loppers I trimphantly found yesterday. Blast.
So I redirected myself to replanting the rhododendrons that had been dug out of the Hump, weeding the Island Bed in which they are now planted, and squirting unmentionable stuff on little Alstroemeria shoots. This side of the Island Bed is becoming a rhododendron haven. Then I weeded and cleared along the driveway borders for two more hours. The big tree mess remains untouched. Oh well. It's the gift that keeps on giving...