New tree and organization plans

On Monday, I spotted this ad in our local Craigslist: Free weeping pussy willow tree.

Oh my gosh.

Yes, it said "you dig," but I was ripe for the challenge. I've wanted one of these for a long while, but the $45-$55 price tag at Home Depot for a teeny baby tree was prohibitive.

This ad was not for a teeny baby tree. It was for a full-grown, 10-year old tree. About 10-12' tall. Gorgeous flowing branches.

So I went. And I dug. And dug. And found a pipe (which luckily, I didn't break. Cautious digging and very surprised owner who didn't know that SEWAGE pipe was there). Out came that tree. I was about ready to look all Dr. Seuss ridiculous with this ploomy tree attached to my car, when the guy across the street (who had a truck) offered to take it home for me.

Um. Yes, Please! Hooray for the kindness of strangers. It was only about 2 miles.

When we got home, I immediately dismantled an old HUGE planter box that I had decided not to use... well, B had decided we weren't using it when he planted a few trees where it was going to go. I made a 3'x3' box that was 16" high. Plopped the tree in there after filling up about 5' of the box, and then filled up the rest of the box around it. I screwed on two supports to tie the tree to on either side, and then a third support which goes from the tree to the pergola. Happily, tying it to the pergola is perfect; it really supports the tree if any wind gusts (we always get our breezes from the northwest).

And there you have it. A beautiful weeping pussy willow tree. In the spring, it will look like this (much fuller, of course, since our tree is much bigger).


I love how it looks like a victorian parasol. It's completely umbrella-like inside. You could hide under there.

See? All the branches flow out the top and then hang over.


Once it settles in, and the box is painted, I think it may just be a great home for a garden gnome (at the base of the tree)!

I'm keeping a close eye on the tree. The supposed rule of thumb on transplanting is that you want as much green as you have roots. Right now, I have more greenery than roots, but I'd REALLY prefer to not hack away at the tree. So, I'm keeping an eye on how it's doing. If it starts to suffer, I'll prune.

But I love it. I truly do.

In other news....

B and I sat down last night and made a pretty thorough list of organization plans. We've had a pretty chaotic last few years:
He moved in August 08
I move in August 08
He moved in December 08
I moved in January 09
He moved in February 09
He moved in April 09
We moved from two places into one place in July 09
We moved (in a rush rush rush) in December 09.

All of this moving and chaos has resulted in some things that have worked, some things with which we are "making due" and some things which are just not working.

So, we're going to rehaul our lives. Get rid of clutter. Organize what we choose to keep. Revamp what is not working. I'll try to document things as they go....