The Yard

It’s another bright, sunny day in the neighborhood, with blue skies from horizon to horizon. Mount Hood is stark white on the horizon and just walking through the yard is a pleasure.

Lots of spare time (and cash) has been spent on the yard lately. I’m really enjoying it, though I don’t feel I have the eye for recognizing how to turn a mundane yard into a space where people enjoy spending time. So mostly I’m leaning on The Neighbors, saying things like “maybe another fruit tree would be nice” and then gratefully accepting their advice on what kinds of tree would be advisable, and where to plant it, and how to nurture if immediately after the transplanting, and… you get the idea.

Here’s the front flower bed, starring cat #2, Maggie. Melody claims this bed is far too empty, but I rather like having some “negative” space in the bed. We’ll see how it plays out once the plants get established and start filling out.

Here’s a shot of the back yard. You can see where we’ve planted an apple tree and a cherry tree, to complement the existing mature pear tree. Both of the new trees are multiple grafts, so there should be a nice variety, once they start bearing fruit.

Here’s our extensive vineyard. There was a small grape vine growing in a tangle when we moved in. So, we drove posts, ran wire and tied up the existing branches to the trellis. So far, it is responding well, leafing out considerably since then.

Last week when I mowed the lawn, I re-noticed another small grape vine growing wild at the foot of the property. Rather than mowing it repeatedly, I thought it would be a nice idea to dig it up and move it beside our other grape vine, running on a second arbor. So, on a gray drizzly Sunday, I decided to play in the mud. I found the rogue grape vine and started tracing it back to the main trunk. I was shocked to find that it went some distance, weaving through an overgrowth of tall grasses and irises. By the time I tore aware enough grass, I found four major canes, as thick as 3/4″ at the base. I dug a substantial circle around the trunk and hauled it free, knocking loose as much of the sod as I could. In the process, I had to cut through some fairly large roots, but I think I left enough for the vine to recover.

After the excavation, I dug a new hole for it, planted the vine, drove posts and strung wire for another trellis, and then tied up the relocated rogue vine. To our surprise, the new vine is as big or bigger than the previous one. We’ll see if it survives the transplanting and thrives as well as the other.

The transplanted rogue vine is in the foreground in this picture.

And lastly, here’s a row of berries, four raspberry plants and two blue berries. This should provide a nice contrast to the existing hillside of honeyberries that are mature and should provide ample fruit this year.