10 years of progress planting yard trees.

last year

last modified: last year

9-15-2022

I moved into this place 10 years ago in October (2012). This house was built new, after when in 2010, a severe storm including a tornado destroyed the existing house, removed all the yard trees and displaced the former owners who were quite old and disabled.

We didn't get too much done with the yard the first year of 2012, but that same Fall, I ran out to the land outside of town, that we moved from, and dug out a small (scrubby) Picea Glauca that was growing in the shade and put it where we agreed in the back yard. DW called it the 'Charlie Brown tree'.

This picture was taken 4 years later (Oct 16), and you can see it hasn't done much over that time.

The tree had settled after planting and ended up ~4" too deep. Finally, spring of 2017 I dug it up, raised it and staked it in the same location.

Here it is today, growing nicely ~4-1/2' tall (it had a little drought damage from last year, so the main leader died).

The next spring 2013, I put another small white spruce in the front yard. I didn't take many pictures back then but here's one from April 2016 after a couple of seasons growth.

Not sure when these were planted, but a year or two later, I planted two woods dug trees (5' whips) and put them in the front yard. One closest is Fraxinus nigra and the other Acer Rubrum.

Today you wouldn't know it was the same place. The tree on the left is a honeylocust I started from seed in June of 2018. Next the red maple, black ash and the 10ft. white spruce.

Next the back yard. :-)

The back was just as barren as the front. By summer of 2013, I had the new shed installed and cut the lilacs down so we could clean up all the debris held within.

By 2014 & 2015 I did more woods dug trees (mostly the south and sw end of the yard.

October 2016. Looking NNW.

July: 2016 Looking East.

As time went on, 2016 I bought a 18" tall Canadian hemlock, a friend gifted me a wild sugar maple whip, that I thought I killed, and in 2017 bought a Japanese tree lilac (syringa reticulata).

Tsuga canadensis:

Acer saccharum:

Japanese tree lilac:

Today, this is what it looks like around here.

Tsuga Canadensis:

Acer Saccharum:

Syringa Reticulata:

Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) from a whip, uprooted again a year later (2016?).

Juniperus virginiana from a 1-1/2' sapling (2017).

Betula papyrifera from a 2ft' whip (2015?).

I did a lot of trees from seed and cuttings also but not all of them ended up in my yard. ;-)

Other shots in contrast to barren yard of 10 years ago. :-)

Including Pinus ponderosa, Picea meyeri, Larix laricina, Pinus strobus, Pinus resinosa, Ostrya virginiana, Celtis occidentalis, and more. ;-)

eta: added date and above picture.

Featured Answer

djacob Z6a SE WI

last year

Wow bill!!! You are quite the tree grower! I am in awe of your patience. I can’t believe how well some of the trees have grown in such a short time. I like all of your choices but am particularly fond of the tsuga canadensis and Betula Papyiafera. Beautiful shapes and bark! Thanks for sharing all your knowledge.

debra

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Comments (22)

BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
last year
Yes, when I think about it, I've been here 10 years, but most of my larger trees have only been in the ground from 6 to 8 years.

Of course, red maple has a remarkable growth rate, putting on 2+ feet per season under ideal conditions. And the paper birch has done even better than that some years.

Been a lot of work, and a learning experience, but I've really enjoyed both the journey and the work.

But like everything else you do, about the time you get good at doing it, you don't have to do it anymore. :-))
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alley_cat_gw_7b
last year
Enjoyable read Bill !

Great trees and photos...

Thanks for the tour!
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked alley_cat_gw_7b
maackia
last year
Thank you for the tour. Gardening teaches patience and persistence. Slow and stready is good. BTW, I’ve got a Sweet Birch (B. lenta) that put on about 5’ of growth this season. Birch are not long lived, but probably the best choice for those of us in the north looking for something fast and ornamental.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked maackia
BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
last year
At my old place (wooded 40 acres), I had one paper birch that had triple trunks, the largest of which was near 3ft. in diameter at the base. We had red and white pine 75 ft. tall with trunks you could only reach halfway around with your arms. So, it was a bit of a culture shock coming into a completely bare, non-wooded neighborhood like this one. But they needed me. lol

I still don't have much for shade, but I hated to leave those tall Siberian elms along the east lilac bushes, which by now would've supplied quite a bit of morning shade. I still get plenty of seeds starting from other nearby SE's in the area. At least now, my new trees get pretty much full, all-day sun. I think that helps tremendously with the new growth.

My paper birch too grew 3-4 ft. a year the first few years after planting.

All in all, with area shrinking, a back that protests after too much bending and a general diminishing ambition to do this sort of stuff, I'll be cutting way back on any new horticultural endeavors. Maintaining all of the above for the most part, water, fertilizer levels, etc. and possibly planting a new shrub or two. But being retired, with e-biking, home projects and taking more trips, I never have trouble finding things to do. :-)
maackia
last year
"...a back that protests after too much bending and a general diminishing ambition to do this sort of stuff..."

So true. Like trees, we need winter just to give our bodies a rest. ;)
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked maackia
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
last year
Progress tours are great. Thanks, Bill.

tj
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
last year
Today I went around and counted.

There's a total of 55 trees I have planted in this yard over the last 10 years. :-)

Not counting shrubs and such.

There will be shade......someday.
BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
last year
I'll throw this one in under 'progress'.

After hanging around with all you plant geeks ;-).

This year, I began putting identification tags by my trees and shrubs.

You never know if the next person here, might be a plant/tree enthusiast, teacher, student or if I'll still be here and forget what they all are. ;-)

Here's a few pictures:

:^)
ilovemytrees
last year
Your trees are so beautiful, Bill. Thank you for sharing your pics with us.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked ilovemytrees
Ontario_Canada5a_USDA4b
last year
OT: Is it just me or are there many similar postings of BillMN-z-2-3-4 and User?
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked Ontario_Canada5a_USDA4b
BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
There is more than one 'User'. That's the name Houzz uses for a profile gets deleted and there are many posts/threads with the name 'User' that I had nothing to do with.
Ontario_Canada5a_USDA4b
last year
Ah, thanks for the explanation!

FWIW, I find that 'User' whoever each one of them might have been, were quite constructive, people are still responding to their posts and threads.

Wonder what happened, I was away for several years, don't answer if that's explosive.
BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
last year
I have updated several of my old posts, from my old profile, threads that now have the name of 'User'. Those are the only ones I've updated.

I suppose someone responding to an old post, from a deleted profile, cannot expect that the 'User' gets a notification for that post, they don't, and most likely would not respond anyways.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
last year
Inspirational, Bill. My new house in WI has a publicly owned drainage corridor that had trees before it was redesigned this past summer to reduce erosion. I won’t be in WI soon enough this season to start planting, but next season I will start planting wildflowers, shrubs, and trees with the future view in mind.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked NHBabs z4b-5a NH
BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
9-28-2922

Thanks Babs!

Talking trees, on the east side of my house, I planted an ostrya v. (front) and a thuja o. (back) from seed started early 2019 and one Cornus sericea (middle) started from a cutting the year before. They are at least as large as you would buy from a supplier today, except they are already fully established. So, it doesn't take all that long to get things going. :-)
maackia
last year
Babs, you're moving to WI in Fall/Winter? That's adventurist!
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked maackia
BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
last year
How did you not know that maackia?

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6177500/need-suggestions-for-wi-drainage-banks-preferably-native
BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
18 days ago
4-29-2024:

Just FWIW:

The O. virginiana in my last picture above, had put forth catkins for the first time in it's 5 year life.

That's 5 years from being a seed to making more seeds (we'll have to see if the female cones show up). :^)

;-)
bengz6westmd
14 days ago
last modified: 14 days ago
Not sure why I haven't commented, but very good progress in a long endeavor. The line of conifers is pretty cool, diverse, and already a windbreak.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked bengz6westmd
BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
14 days ago
Thanks ben!

I didn't realize the time I started planting this yard, it would end up an aeonian process. ;-)

This thread is outdated already and could use my new additions from last year and this spring lol.

Is there a formula to tell how much carbon a person takes out of the atmosphere with tree plantings? :o)
BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author
yesterday
5-16-2024:

Another surprise for me, this season on the Abies balsamea.

This was what it looked like last Fall in September (over 10 ft. high?):

Just today, I happen to look up when patrolling the yard:

Cones! :-) for the first time ever.

So, it only took 7 years from March of 2017, that was when I transplanted it from the wild woods into my yard. The deer had been snacking on it heavily when I found it growing in the woods so I thought I'd bring it home to see if I could save it. Maybe 2-1/2 ft tall at the time & very scraggly. ;-)

:o)