Tree Time

 Tom and I have been talking about planting a few new trees at Pinehaven, mostly as memorials to both of our parents. On Friday (04/06) we drove to Chaney's Nursery in Troy, Ohio and picked up a Northern Pin Oak; on Saturday (04/07) we returned for a Bald Cypress.

 This is one the most-organized nurseries I have ever seen. We actually spotted it when we were driving to Deshler, Ohio, passing by on nearby I-75. I sent an email to them and Sharon replied within a day. Yes, they had Northern Pin Oaks and they were part of a pre-season sale.

 Here's Tom checking out on Saturday after buying the cypress.

 Here's Tom posing with the two trees. The Northern Pin Oak is on the right and the Bald Cypress is on the left. Tom selected each tree. Getting them home in the back of a Toyota Prius was a bit of a challenge, though. The container was placed in a plastic bag, the back seat of the car was laid down, and even so the tree barely fit in the length allotted. I came home in the passenger seat and held on.

 This is the Bald Cypress, the second tree we planted on April 12. It was a beautifully sunny day with a high temperature into the upper 70's but the winds peaked near 40 mph as we worked. This tree will serve as a memorial to Tom's family.

 We planted the Northern Pin Oak first and placed it at the front of our south lawn. We dug a hole about six inches larger than the root ball and deep enough to add a combination of soil and peat moss to the bottom of the hole. In this spot we unearthed an old terra cotta drain tile while seemed to connect to nothing on its northeast end (it disappeared to the southwest and we have no idea where it went). We couldn't remove it so the tree is planted atop it. This tree will serve as a memorial to my family.

 For my own information, this tree was tagged as being grown  by "JFS - Boring OR 97009". the tag is dated 2016. In a bit of serendipity, the wholesale grower of these trees was J Frank Schmidt. Could we have asked for better kismet? A link to the grower is here.

 The Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) is considered a 5' tree in a #5 container (3.75 gallon).

 On Thursday 04/12 Tom drove back to Chaney's a third time and bought a Red Oak (Quercus rubra). We planted it in the meadow.

 It may grow 50' high and spread 45'. I'll love the deep red colors of fall.

Follow up: The bald cypress never leafed out but for one single lower branch. Chaney's Nursery replaced it at no charge. Tom picked out another and we planted it on May 18, 2018.