No more Arbor Vitae

A large part of the hours I’ve spent on my yard involved removing two arbor vitaes which stood sentinal above our back patio for two decades. This shows their replacements two spindly pea bushes from a rank of pea bushes. The spindly ones had grown feeble as other trees overcrowded them. Now they will have a chance to fill out a bit. Cleaning the stones at their base turned out to be the most time consuming part of the work. Once laid on a still existant plastic sheet to discourage weeds I found about an inch of rich soil under and between them which I was eager to wash off so that no new weeds would take root immediately.

My intention with this heavy duty gardening now early in the season is to clear the decks so that I can campaign vigorously for the School Board election. We’re down to annuals now although Claudia is hoping to attract orioles to a new bird feeder she bought. They are in town but I haven’t seen one in about forty years when we set out oranges for them in Western Duluth.

About the author