The history of the eastern side of Iten's Acres is in some ways like most of the rest of my property. Not much was there when I arrived six plus years ago to make it home. What I mean by the eastern side is the area from the corkscrew willow (mentioned in Chapter 1) back to the bog surrounding the pond. A third of this area--the twenty to thirty yards or so that "hide" Aaron's house from my land--does have a hedge of sorts. There is a beautiful pine separated from the "hedge" by a few feet and then a row of mostly pine trees with an abundance of brambles in front of and beneath the trees. The brambles do contain a myriad of everlasting sweet pea vines with gorgeous pink blooms (odorless) from late May to mid-June. (I have no idea how they got the "official" descriptor "everlasting." And they are non-native plants, but beautiful nonetheless.) I have tried to introduce some other color to the brambles with modest success. I have just introduced a few of the common orange daylilies along the front--one of them bloomed this year already--and they are all doing well. I anticipate their spreading out to add color from mid-June to mid-July. They are hardy things. Just drive along most of the country roads here in Morrow County, and you'll see huge--and I do mean huge--patches of them, bigger patches each year. I also have tried to get some morning glories started here without much success, (Not that I'll quit trying yet). I think I had a couple purple ones this July. The problem, I believe, is that the area is shaded most of the morning--not exactly a plus for "morning" glories, eh? But you know the old adage: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again." Don't mind if I do. Thanks.
I'm really not sure--not that it matters--if the trees and the thicket are on my property or Aaron's. It would seem that they are on the imaginary property line, but who placed them there is anyone's guess--Aaron's predecessors or mine? Who knows? (And anyone doesn't live here.) The only "boundary line" on the rest of the eastern side--from the willow to the hedge--is where Aaron has his manicured "city" lawn, and I have my mongrel "country" lawn. I was going to have a satellite reading when I first bought the acres to determine exactly where my property line was but when I found out how much the "service" would cost, I decided guessing was fine.
Aaron's new lawn is the extension of his new home. When I first moved here, Aaron and his family (minus little Gage who just arrived a little over a year ago) lived in a house trailer of sorts. But the first year I was here, it burned down. I was coming home late at night from attending a soccer game at school and behold! there was a plethora of firetrucks and police cars in front of my property and Aaron's. A couple of the firetrucks were in my driveway! I thought that I was going to be homeless after two months as a first time home owner. I would be dishonest if I didn't tell you that I felt relief when I discovered that the trucks were on my property in order to use my pond water to spray Aaron's house. Selfish, I know. But I did feel relief. The "all things work together for good" from all this is that Aaron who works in construction was able to use the insurance money to build himself by himself a gorgeous new home--and a new lawn. It helps to have talent, eh? I'd still be living in a tent.
Anyway, I digress. (That's for you Katie if you happen to be reading these.) The rest of the "east," as I already mentioned, was barren of trees and shrubs. Naturally, I immediately started my beautification project. Now, from the willow to the thicket I have two Rose of Sharon from mom's, a witch Hazel, two hibiscus, a peony, a flowering plum, a flowering almond, a redbud, a hawthorn, a regular willow, a white birch, and two river birch. Most of these will not reach anything close to maturity in my lifetime. They are Arbor foundation "babies." My gifts for who comes next.
The willow and the birches are, of course, non-bloomers. I put them here because the property along this side tends to be wet and soggy with the slightest rainfall. They are all doing fine and one of the river birch and the willow, especially the willow, are growing quite well. The beauty of the willow is that its leaves have a silver reflection to them in the wind. The bark of the birches as they grow will be quite distinctive and lovely as well, especially in the winter.
Some of the other things have started blooming already. The Rose of Sharon--double pinks, one of the hibiscus--white with a maroon center, and the flowering almond--a soft pink. [Advertisement: if you're looking for a shrub that blooms early in its life span, go for the flowering almond. It starts blooming its first spring even if it's only a foot tall--or less.] If the Lord blesses me with my three score and ten years--five more years--I expect the witch Hazel--yellow, the peony--purple, the flowering plum--white, and the other hibiscus--who knows?, to all be blooming each and every spring and summer in their proper times. Beauty from April to September! Can't wait!
And I am adding a small--miniscule--flower bed over here this fall. Would you believe an iris bed? Surprise! Surprise! With some room for some annuals from mid-May to frost--probably marigolds.
Hmmm. I thought Chapter 2 was going to be quite short. Ahhh well. I enjoyed telling it. Hope you endured to the end.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The History of Iten's Acres: Chapter 1 Untitled
I want to begin my "history" by talking about the very front of Iten's Acres--not the entire front of an acre or so, but the front front. That's why I don't have a title for Chapter 1. Calling it "The Front" could be confusing, and it's certainly mundane. (What writer wants to major in the mundane?) On the other hand, a title like "The Facade" or "The Foyer" would be way too pretentious and border on the inane. "The Entrance" might work, not that that's an attention grabber for the reading public. Any suggestions would be welcome.
When I first made Iten's Acres my home, there were three distinguishing natural landmarks on the property. First, there was a huge conifer to the left of the driveway about half way to its bend. It's about sixty feet tall, at least, and has stunning scarlet pine cones in the spring. The second "natural wonder" was a majestic, gnarled, old maple at the very bend in the driveway. That first autumn revealed it to be a red maple--ooh la la. It is certainly worthy of a photo shoot each and every fall. Wonder number three is a gigantic dead tree on the edge of the pond--its guardian, if not the guardian for the entire acres. Who knew dead trees could be breath-taking?
Sadly, though, when I arrived, the very front front of the property had nothing--blank. Perhaps, I should pause here to major in the mundane and define for you the area I'm historizing. It's basically the first twenty to thirty yards or so of Iten's Acres. The driveway/cowpath dissects it but not evenly. There are about ten yards to the right of the driveway until you reach the boundary line and about fifty or so to the left. And it's a low area. When it rains a lot, it's soggy, like walking on a bog--squish, squish with every step. My entire property is actually a low area. Dennis' property to my west is even worse than mine up front. It floods. When he first moved there, he tried to keep it cut, but soon gave up and just let it grow except for right next to his driveway. By the way, the result of that choice is that he has a lovely "forest" from the road to his secluded home in the middle of his acres. He planted two gorgeous weeping willows at the very front as well. It's quite picturesque. Aaron's property to my right--east--just has a small wet area near the front adjacent to mine. When he built a new house, he put in a real lawn and tried to level off the property. "The best laid plans of mice and men"--it's worse. I have not copied either of my neighbors. My acres aren't as wet as Dennis' and a real lawn seems unnatural--"uncountry"--if I can coin a new word.
So, leaving that long and winding rabbit trail behind us--what did I do with my property? I just planted a row of trees. Exciting, eh? To the right of the driveway I planted a corkscrew willow and a rose of Sharon. The willow loves being in the wet and is thriving. The rose of Sharon will thrive one of these years if I or my neighbor can just stop mowing it down every spring. At least, it's still alive, immune to all attempts to destroy it. To the left of the driveway, I planted three maples, a hawthorn, and a white paper birch. They are all quite small (one maple is twenty feet or so high), and all but the birch are doing well. I picked three different maples for autumn variety, the birch for its bark, and the hawthorn for spring blooms and winter berries for the birds. Unless I live to be 97 like Mom, the maples will never reach spectacular in my lifetime, but they become more lovely every year. The hawthorn should be blooming in another three to five years, and the rose of Sharon even sooner. Hopefully, I can replace the birch with a tree that is actually mature enough to show off its white bark. Then, even if it dies, it will be beautiful. The goal was to produce a "screen" to hide my house even more completely in the spring and summer from travelers on the road. Now, that I think about it, a mini Dennis effect, I suppose. I think I may add a weeping willow as well, next to the maples. (Shhh, don't tell Dennis I'm stealing his ideas.)
The drawback at this point in the history of my acres is that there is not yet much color up here in the front. Some leaves on the maples in the fall is about all I've got. A new bigger version of the birch will help, and the willow is lovely in the winter when the limbs are covered in snow, and someday the hawthorn will have white flowers in the spring and red berries in the winter, but for now, nada. (If you've never seen male cardinals feasting in a hawthorn tree in a snowstorm, stay by your phone, and I'll give you a call some cold November in about five years or so. It will be worth the wait; I promise. Gorgeous site.) But, ahhh, what to do in the meantime? Behold! I have a plan to remedy the entrance. This fall I'm putting a host of orange day lilies along the front by the maples and a bed of various blue iris to the very right of the driveway in front of the willow and rose of Sharon. It will be the first thing visitors see when they pull on the property. And from the middle of May on, I'll put some annuals in the bed. And someday the rose of Sharon will bloom in late August. Sounds lovely, don't you think? A plethora of orange--more and more each year--on one side of the entrance and in May a "pond" of blue iris on the other side. Ta Da! Color!
And so, I abruptly end Chapter 1--still looking for a title.
When I first made Iten's Acres my home, there were three distinguishing natural landmarks on the property. First, there was a huge conifer to the left of the driveway about half way to its bend. It's about sixty feet tall, at least, and has stunning scarlet pine cones in the spring. The second "natural wonder" was a majestic, gnarled, old maple at the very bend in the driveway. That first autumn revealed it to be a red maple--ooh la la. It is certainly worthy of a photo shoot each and every fall. Wonder number three is a gigantic dead tree on the edge of the pond--its guardian, if not the guardian for the entire acres. Who knew dead trees could be breath-taking?
Sadly, though, when I arrived, the very front front of the property had nothing--blank. Perhaps, I should pause here to major in the mundane and define for you the area I'm historizing. It's basically the first twenty to thirty yards or so of Iten's Acres. The driveway/cowpath dissects it but not evenly. There are about ten yards to the right of the driveway until you reach the boundary line and about fifty or so to the left. And it's a low area. When it rains a lot, it's soggy, like walking on a bog--squish, squish with every step. My entire property is actually a low area. Dennis' property to my west is even worse than mine up front. It floods. When he first moved there, he tried to keep it cut, but soon gave up and just let it grow except for right next to his driveway. By the way, the result of that choice is that he has a lovely "forest" from the road to his secluded home in the middle of his acres. He planted two gorgeous weeping willows at the very front as well. It's quite picturesque. Aaron's property to my right--east--just has a small wet area near the front adjacent to mine. When he built a new house, he put in a real lawn and tried to level off the property. "The best laid plans of mice and men"--it's worse. I have not copied either of my neighbors. My acres aren't as wet as Dennis' and a real lawn seems unnatural--"uncountry"--if I can coin a new word.
So, leaving that long and winding rabbit trail behind us--what did I do with my property? I just planted a row of trees. Exciting, eh? To the right of the driveway I planted a corkscrew willow and a rose of Sharon. The willow loves being in the wet and is thriving. The rose of Sharon will thrive one of these years if I or my neighbor can just stop mowing it down every spring. At least, it's still alive, immune to all attempts to destroy it. To the left of the driveway, I planted three maples, a hawthorn, and a white paper birch. They are all quite small (one maple is twenty feet or so high), and all but the birch are doing well. I picked three different maples for autumn variety, the birch for its bark, and the hawthorn for spring blooms and winter berries for the birds. Unless I live to be 97 like Mom, the maples will never reach spectacular in my lifetime, but they become more lovely every year. The hawthorn should be blooming in another three to five years, and the rose of Sharon even sooner. Hopefully, I can replace the birch with a tree that is actually mature enough to show off its white bark. Then, even if it dies, it will be beautiful. The goal was to produce a "screen" to hide my house even more completely in the spring and summer from travelers on the road. Now, that I think about it, a mini Dennis effect, I suppose. I think I may add a weeping willow as well, next to the maples. (Shhh, don't tell Dennis I'm stealing his ideas.)
The drawback at this point in the history of my acres is that there is not yet much color up here in the front. Some leaves on the maples in the fall is about all I've got. A new bigger version of the birch will help, and the willow is lovely in the winter when the limbs are covered in snow, and someday the hawthorn will have white flowers in the spring and red berries in the winter, but for now, nada. (If you've never seen male cardinals feasting in a hawthorn tree in a snowstorm, stay by your phone, and I'll give you a call some cold November in about five years or so. It will be worth the wait; I promise. Gorgeous site.) But, ahhh, what to do in the meantime? Behold! I have a plan to remedy the entrance. This fall I'm putting a host of orange day lilies along the front by the maples and a bed of various blue iris to the very right of the driveway in front of the willow and rose of Sharon. It will be the first thing visitors see when they pull on the property. And from the middle of May on, I'll put some annuals in the bed. And someday the rose of Sharon will bloom in late August. Sounds lovely, don't you think? A plethora of orange--more and more each year--on one side of the entrance and in May a "pond" of blue iris on the other side. Ta Da! Color!
And so, I abruptly end Chapter 1--still looking for a title.
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