Ash Trees Part II

After  I took a break and returned they had one tree cut down to near the ground, and were working on the second tree.  At that point I left to go downtown for lunch.  This is fascinating but it's a slow process.  I wasn't going to sit and watch for 6 hours!

The first tree is gone and the top of the second tree.

I returned from lunch two hours later and this is all that was left.  And that was quickly removed.

We were down to the point where the three trees were just high stumps.

The owner of the golf course had requested the logs, so those lay on the grass for a week before disappearing.

Looking from across the street this left a pretty big gap in our fencerow of big trees!  This was before the leaves had emerged on the other ash trees.

However, more than two weeks later, when all the leaves were out, I looked up at our neighbour's big White Ash and wondered.  This tree appeared healthy last year and is now half dead.  I'm amazed at how quickly this has happened and I fear more trees will be coming down over the next year or two.

I stole this photo off the internet to show you the insect itself, the Emerald Ash Borer.  It burrows under the bark and kills the tree while you're not noticing.

 

Emerald Ash Borer and our Ash Trees

I'm sure you've heard of the Emerald Ash Borer.  It's a tiny little insect from East Asia, and it's slowly but relentlessly killing off all the Ash trees in the northeast and southern Canada.  The trees die quickly once infected, and in built up areas have to be removed for safety.  Both homeowners and cities will be paying big bills for tree removal.

Our neighbours decided to be pro-active and have three big trees removed before they died.  The crew from Arboreal, a firm we have also used, arrived one day earlier in the spring.  They had trouble getting the cherry picker started, but then they were able to head into the sky.

They climb trees if branches are available for safety, but these trees were remarkably free of branches, so a cherry picker it was.  And it was fascinating to watch.

The three trees behind the shed are the ones they're removing, and you can see how far up they got the cherry picker.

This crew does not cut a tree at the base and watch it fall, they cut branch by branch and rope those branches down to the ground.  The top of the tree is gone now and you can see the rope to the immediate left of the tree.

Here's one of the large branches suspended in mid-air as it's roped down to the ground.

Where another guy was waiting beside the wood chipper, the loudest of loud machines.  Tomorrow a bit more about the results.

Garden Update

There's a steady progression of things blooming in our garden, and Mrs. F.G. is always out there making little adjustments to various things - particularly her tomatoes.  We're moving into Lavender season and there'll be pictures soon, but in the meantime these will catch you up.

The Lavender plants on the right are swelling into the path, so I have to be careful driving down to our patio!

We have only one large yellow Peony, and it doesn't even start blooming until the others are done.

Three of the Clematis are in bloom now.  I particularly like this deep red one growing up against the shed.

There's a large patch of red Valerian glowing beside the path; its colour will last a long time.

We also have a surprising new group of yellow and blue Iris.  Mrs. F.G. says she doesn't remember planting them!

She also got this pretty view of the pale mauve Meadowrue against the stump.

When you look closely the blooms are amazingly intricate.  We got this at the Grange Hollow Nursey, the only place we've seen it.

One day when I was tilted all the way back to raise my broken leg, I got this view of the leaves above my head.  My favourite place when I was young was my tree fort.

Mrs. F.G. is keeping a close eye on all her tomatoes.  She must have memories of all the tomatoes in their back garden, grown by her father.

Around Town

I have been out riding, though not as much as I'd like with this broken leg.  The past few days though I have been stuck at home or out to medical appointments.  Today we're headed to the Fracture Clinic again, to make sure my leg is healing properly.  But I have accumulated a very few nice pictures from around town.

Two or three weeks ago this big Bridal Veil Spirea was in full bloom.  Certainly one of our most beautiful flowering shrubs.

When you look closely the blooms are just so dense!

Around the corner, filling a long ditch, have been these beautiful bright Buttercups.  I went by two days later and the town had mowed it down - can't have these weeds taking over the place!

This beautiful Iris, found at the front of a house around the block, is certainly not a weed, and it was just glorious when I photographed it.

Finally, the three Horse Chestnut trees I know of are out in bloom.  I can't think of another tree flower that is so large and yet intricate.

Rain!

It's a rainy day here (again), with quite cool temperatures for nearly mid-June.  Not a day to be out and about.  I'm staying home anyway most of the time because of my busted knee.

Intruders in the Garden!

Of course besides the plants Mrs. F.G. is growing, we have a few intruders that creep into the garden.  Some we accept, some we have to remove, and with some it's just an ongoing battle!

Recognize this little pair of light green leaves?  This is a Sugar Maple seedling.  With a big Sugar Maple tree overhead, it's not surprising that we have these scattered through the garden.  They have to go.

And these?  These are Milkweeds.  Mrs. F.G. removes some, but leaves others for the Monarchs.

And then there's this little fellow!  I think we actually have a family of them living under the deck, and every morning Mrs. F.G. goes out to check what damage they've done.

They seem to like this planter, the carrot patch.  They dig up the soil which does mess up the carrot patch somewhat.  So the chicken wire cover has been placed on it to deter them.  At our last house I live-trapped 8 of them coming inside, and relocated them 10 miles away.  I think that will be the next step, though I kinda like the cute little furry creatures myself.

More Plants

We'll see more as summer progresses, but here are a few of the interesting plants that Mrs. F.G. has collected. They certainly add a lot to the garden. 

There is one big Poppy, now out in bright orange.

In a back corner of the garden are several Alliums.

Petunias are inter-planted with some of the tomatoes.

We have two little roses, fairly small and surrounded by the much taller Peonies.  It's a yellow rose and will typically bloom for a long time into the fall.

 

At the back of the garden we have two Rhododendrons, staying quite small, but with these brilliant pink flowers.

And the addition of these two towers has provided dozens of extra small pockets of soil where Mrs. F.G. can experiment.

The Chaos Garden

I'd like to elaborate a bit on the idea of 'chaos gardening'.  I'm sure you've heard of the Chelsea Flower Show, held in London England every May.  It's sponsored by the Royal Horticultural Society, and it's the biggest, most influential garden show in the world.  Trends that emerge from Chelsea become an influence on gardening styles everywhere.  We attended the event in 2011.

To make a long story short, as one writer put it last year:

 “Chaos gardening was one of the biggest garden trends to come out of last year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and experts predict that it’s going to be an even bigger deal through 2024 and beyond.”

It's been variously described as 'ignoring all the rules', 'horticulture with mad abandon', or 'throwing conventional norms to the wind'.  Chaos gardening, as it was described at Chelsea, is: "a move away from classical formal layouts to more naturalistic landscapes".  It mixes flowers and veggies, it enhances biodiversity and is a sanctuary for wildlife.  

So admittedly, chaos gardening is 'a whiff of rebellion against the control and neatness of traditional horticulture'.  But lest you think that describing her garden as 'chaos' means it's simply a mess, in fact Mrs. F.G. is several years ahead of the curve with a thoroughly up-to-date garden!  Even I am impressed!

Let me give you a few examples.

Columbine allowed to self-seed wherever it chooses.

Milkweed allowed to stay because it attracts the Monarch butterflies.

A huge Mullein allowed to stay simply because we enjoy it.

A mixture of tomatoes, petunias, and basil planted together.

And of course the wildlife some of it not altogether welcome!