Happy Birthday, garden!

We have birthday candles at Longview Ranch! It's been a year since the major trees and shrubs went in, and the pines are celebrating with beautiful spring candles.

Although the three pines are the same species (pinus contorta) it's interesting to see how different each is in needle length, bushiness and even bark surface.


Mr. MulchMaid wishes they were more similar, but I love the differences: it just seems more natural to me to have variations in the same species in a Northwest native planting area. Anyway, I'll sacrifice optimal landscaped class for a touch of random quirkiness any day.

We worked hard keeping all the new trees watered last year. The pines and the three Western red cedars we put in were stressed by their move, and the berms where they were planted drained much faster than the flat areas. I hope they've settled in over winter and won't need quite such an intensive watering schedule this summer. The smaller native plants we added will also help conserve moisture around the tree roots. And, of course, there's mulch.

All the trees will benefit from the nice thick layer of mulch that was spread by the wonder-kid last weekend. But he'd had enough after just one day, so the Mulchmaid is living up to her name and finishing off the rest of the garden beds.

But I'm certainly not complaining. I like that kind of zen garden work, and I especially like the idea that I'm tucking all the trees and plants in under a lightweight spring blanket.