Details of trees starting at upper right: Lodgepole pine, 12' tall, 2.25" DBH. I like it and it has finally gotten tall enough to catch some sun. I will keep it but will remove in a few years before it gets too big to take down myself AV=arborvitae, approx 12 feet tall, my neighbors junipers are larger. They all provide just enough screening of the neighbors deck Norway Maple, 28' tall, 7.25" DBH. I like it but it is close to the house and I have started corrective pruning to slow it down and get it to the shape I like Narrowleaf Cottonwood?, single trunk coming from ground, but immediately splits into two trunks, each about 30' high and 4.5" DBH. Nice fall color, narrow trees now, but they send out lots of suckers many feet away and I will take it out once I get some other trees established. I have already started cutting it back. Pussy Willow? tree. 32 stems from about 0.5" DBH to 4" DBH. 22' high. I really like this tree but everyone has warned me it won't last long, and last year it looked pretty sickly. I'm not sure that it's a pussy willow or what exact pussy willow it might be, but it's something similar. It doesn't seem to sucker very much or form new shoots when I trim it. This one will go eventually also. No good fall color and the flowering in the spring isn't that great. Corkscrew willows: 20' tall/ 5.5" DBH and 30' tall, 6.7" DBH. I like these a lot because they provide good screening of the neighbors yard, they don't take up much room towards the ground, and they are indestructible/don't show effects of storm damage and pruning. I have started cutting them back to keep them below 25' but eventually I want to replace them with something more interesting. Plains Cottonwoods: 33'/7.25"; 35"/6.6"; 30'/3.5". Nice fall color and narrow trees but they will get very large. They are already too big to take down myself, especially because they are bending into my neighbor's yard. Ponderosa pine, 9'/1.25, If this tree gets bigger it will provide some nice green in the winter to break up the view of the neighbors' houses. It is in a lot of shade but I cut back my neighbors small crabapple tree that was right on top of it and maybe it will do better. Autumn Purple white ash? 33'/10.5" This is the main shade tree in the yard and very nice. I like the later orange fall color better than the earlier purple fall color. But emerald ash borer was found in Boulder, Colorado last year, 15 miles from here. I will try to keep and treat this tree as long as I can. Colorado Blue Spruce, 30'/8.5". It's now clear that the ash has won and is topping this tree, they are very close together but the spruce looks good and provides good privacy from the neighbors. I cut off the bottom three feet of limbs three years ago and am very glad I did. smaller clump of Aspens (near the ash), tallest is 30'/4.3", two other trees a little smaller, and one only 12'/1.25". Great fall color. larger clump of aspens near deck: tallest is 40'/6.8" and is the tallest tree in the yard. Wonderful fall color. People have warned me that aspens don't last a long time but these seem to be doing great and I will keep them as long as possible. There are also four ornamental trees/shrubs less than 8" tall, not sure what they all are, one is an Amur honeysuckle that I don't really like, and the others are also flowering and not very impressive (of course they are in a lot of shade). Also lots of potentilla bushes which I really like, and a mounding juniper which I like, and roses, peonies etc which are in too much shade now. Here's a view in mid fall of the aspens, ash and spruce This post was edited by olreader on Wed, Jan 29, 14 at 15:32

I couldn't agree more. I am new to a smart phone and my phone came with 3 GPS type things loaded on it that I have no clue about but the phone company won't let you remove them. I was just on a 6hr trip and I can't imagine if I used my phone how much data it would suck up as I don't have unlimited data on my phone. I much prefer a hand held garmen I mount on the winshield. I had a basic one for the longest time that got me from point A to B and last summer I had to drive my son from NY to Maryland by myself so went and bought a better one for $200 and boy I can't live without it now. I especially love the lane assist and how I can search where the nearest gas station or fast food place is. I just got a new car and I made sure to get the GPS built in and I absolutely love it and have already used it on a few long trips and it also has the lane assist and search functions. When our van dies the next car my husband gets I am going to insit he get it built in also. Mary

If you want a good local map, a good alternative is to pay a visit to your local book store or Sams Club/Walmart and buy the local steet map guide. I've been satisified with publications by Rand McNally. I bought one last week. It contained 2 counties plus portions of 4 adjoining counties. Every street was mapped, and it has an index. I toss this into the car when I travel to an unfamiliar part of town. One caveat: New subdivisions and reconstructions can obsolete this map in a couple of years.

Have you though about contacting your local County Agricultural agent? I now there are systems available to give precise measurement of a field as the big farmers use it for plowing, planting and harvesting. My guess is that you are looking for more precision and accuracy than is needed for the job you are trying to do. Yes when you plant a tree, you are talking of about a 2' circle. However the tree at maturity will require a circle about 30 feet in diameter, and a bush depending on what it is, 4' to 10'. Because of this you only need cover your yard with grid with 10' squares and locate each tree and bush with in that grid. If you plant a Maple and a rose bush in the same grid, it will be easy to tell the rose bush from the maple. You could increase the accuracy of the location, by designating the southwest quarter of grid box 10. This would be similar to the Township/Section system surveyors uses to designate property. If you are not familiar with the method of surveying, there are many documents describing the system, as it was codified in the 1780's, and all property in US deeds today are still described by the same system.