Landscaping advice

 

1. Vista is huge.  Long, unobstructed views prolong life.

2. Global warming will harm trees especially in July and August now.  It is a good time to irrigate with 10 gallon water bags around trees 3 times a week.  Irrigation systems are expensive but probably worth it IF you think the bags are ugly.  

3. A great deal of your land may have a lot of water draining into it from February until early June.  So keeping that water out of your basement is critical for your health especially if you are prone to colds or the flu.  It you are not, then it is not quite as urgent.  But nasty viruses, fungus and bacteria grow rapidly in mold.  You can put two feet of moisture absorbing wood chips next to the house where the water comes in to retard the process.  But in the end, water is the enemy.  Gutters should be cleaned out 3 times a year and downspouts should empty out at least 10 feet from the house.   It is easy to tell.  If your basement smells moldy, then you have an issue that should be addressed.

4.  Trees do better if they are not competing with grass for nutrients (nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus) that drain THROUGH the root system.  So one inch of wood chips from the trunk out to the drip line and 4 inches from the drip line 2 feet further out.  Trees do not like sitting in dampness.  Doing this will help.

5. Truncated branches are ugly and depressing.  They should be removed cut flush to the trunk.  For me seeing the strength of the leaders is upliftng.

Then the wonderful oak 30 feet in from the entrance should be thinned out.  That is your best tree.  Again 30 minutes tops!  Nothing major I promise.

6. Cut the vines at their base in the park.  No one can possibly complain about killing nasty climbing vines.

7. Think about 3 good sized Japanese cutleaf maples planted at the entrance a year or two from now.  

8. Topped trees are sad.  They remind me of soldiers with amputated limbs in a VA hospital. 

9.  No tree will ever blow over if it is thinned out JUST A BIT every two years.  You want the wind to blow through the tree, not against the tree.

10. Lift the branches of the pine smothering your outstanding Euonymus in your driveway surround.  Let it breathe and be SEEN for the two glorious weeks in the Fall when it goes scarlett. 

Most of this is an insensitive alpha male braying but I have created over 25 arboreta over the last 50 years.