Leave it at that......
We are blessed here on Bedford Drive, Midland Texas, the desert, to have an overabundance of large trees. If you've ever lived in West Texas you'll know that gratitude. We have 3 large pecan trees, 4 big live oaks and a mimosa tree near the house. Lining the fence in the rear we have a line of tall and stately cypress trees and beneath these on all sides of the yard probably 20 cherry laurels. The centerpiece of the rear fenceline is a 35 foot tall mulberry. The highlight of the grounds is a very large pine tree of a species peculiar to our neighborhood that stands at the corner of the front of the estate. The circumferance of the trunk is probably 9-10 feet around while the tree stands a good 35 feet tall.
I love all these trees but to be honest they are a royal pain in the ass. Except the cherry laurels and perhaps the mulberry. The oaks and the pecans are not happy unless they are dropping some sort of debris 12 months of the year. Green acorns or pecans, ripe acorns or pecans, dead leaves and twigs. The oaks don't shed their leaves in the Fall, but they make up for it in April when I should be relaxing from yard work. About the same time of year, the pecans are dropping "lint"...little green streamers of fluff that disintergrate into green dust when the dogs track them into the house on their fur. Sometimes the pecan tree next to the patio drops it's green fruit unripe in the early summer. Sometimes it waits until fall when the nuts are ripe. All the pecan debris on the patio emits a dark brown stain when it gets wet, the stain readily absorbed by the Mexican tile. The pine tree, God love it, deposits a constant stream of dry needles in the flower beds, the front yard and on the rooftop.
The cherry laurels are very considerate trees.... and prolific. They drop virtually nothing on the ground but do have a tendency to be short lived trees, but more arise to replace them so they are considerate trees even in death. The mulberry does it's best to be a good neighbor of a tree. It's very broad leaves provide some great shade, they are beautiful fall color and the tree waits until the first hard freeze when quite amazingly it drops all of it's foliage in almost one day.
Which brings me to my afternoon's work. The, hopefully, last cleanup of leafy debris from the yard. The pecans have been shedding now for a month, slow death cleanup, and now with a hard freeze last week, the mulberry has finally dumped it's full load over the weekend. The first year I lived at the estate I carefully raked all the leaves and pine needles into piles and carted them to the alley. I am a quick learner. Since that first years raking torture I have purchased a lawnmower with mulching abilities. What took me a whole day 4 years ago now takes less than an hour and I'm making a contribution to being an environmentally conscious estate owner. The dead leaves are great fertilizer and help keep moisture in the soil over the winter. The pine needles I mulch separately and they make a great and attractive ground cover in the flower beds.
Additionally I've learned that picking up poop after two dogs is a full time job, one that we had primed young Jack for...but he quit. So now in an eco friendly manner I just get the high pressure hose and simply squirt the poop into the soil....again great fertilizer. I've also learned that, while mulching, dark brown dog poop is awfuly hard to detect when scattered among dark brown dead leaves. I have an environmentally friendly solution for that too. I squirt it off my shoes with the high pressure hose.
We are blessed here on Bedford Drive, Midland Texas, the desert, to have an overabundance of large trees. If you've ever lived in West Texas you'll know that gratitude. We have 3 large pecan trees, 4 big live oaks and a mimosa tree near the house. Lining the fence in the rear we have a line of tall and stately cypress trees and beneath these on all sides of the yard probably 20 cherry laurels. The centerpiece of the rear fenceline is a 35 foot tall mulberry. The highlight of the grounds is a very large pine tree of a species peculiar to our neighborhood that stands at the corner of the front of the estate. The circumferance of the trunk is probably 9-10 feet around while the tree stands a good 35 feet tall.
I love all these trees but to be honest they are a royal pain in the ass. Except the cherry laurels and perhaps the mulberry. The oaks and the pecans are not happy unless they are dropping some sort of debris 12 months of the year. Green acorns or pecans, ripe acorns or pecans, dead leaves and twigs. The oaks don't shed their leaves in the Fall, but they make up for it in April when I should be relaxing from yard work. About the same time of year, the pecans are dropping "lint"...little green streamers of fluff that disintergrate into green dust when the dogs track them into the house on their fur. Sometimes the pecan tree next to the patio drops it's green fruit unripe in the early summer. Sometimes it waits until fall when the nuts are ripe. All the pecan debris on the patio emits a dark brown stain when it gets wet, the stain readily absorbed by the Mexican tile. The pine tree, God love it, deposits a constant stream of dry needles in the flower beds, the front yard and on the rooftop.
The cherry laurels are very considerate trees.... and prolific. They drop virtually nothing on the ground but do have a tendency to be short lived trees, but more arise to replace them so they are considerate trees even in death. The mulberry does it's best to be a good neighbor of a tree. It's very broad leaves provide some great shade, they are beautiful fall color and the tree waits until the first hard freeze when quite amazingly it drops all of it's foliage in almost one day.
Which brings me to my afternoon's work. The, hopefully, last cleanup of leafy debris from the yard. The pecans have been shedding now for a month, slow death cleanup, and now with a hard freeze last week, the mulberry has finally dumped it's full load over the weekend. The first year I lived at the estate I carefully raked all the leaves and pine needles into piles and carted them to the alley. I am a quick learner. Since that first years raking torture I have purchased a lawnmower with mulching abilities. What took me a whole day 4 years ago now takes less than an hour and I'm making a contribution to being an environmentally conscious estate owner. The dead leaves are great fertilizer and help keep moisture in the soil over the winter. The pine needles I mulch separately and they make a great and attractive ground cover in the flower beds.
Additionally I've learned that picking up poop after two dogs is a full time job, one that we had primed young Jack for...but he quit. So now in an eco friendly manner I just get the high pressure hose and simply squirt the poop into the soil....again great fertilizer. I've also learned that, while mulching, dark brown dog poop is awfuly hard to detect when scattered among dark brown dead leaves. I have an environmentally friendly solution for that too. I squirt it off my shoes with the high pressure hose.
