Thursday, April 22, 2010

Happy Earth Day!

I hope you all had a nice Earth Day and got to celebrate and enjoy nature!

I did a bit of bird-watching (female Eastern Towhee):

And we enjoyed a candlelit dinner with no tv in the background:

We bought two apple trees to plant, but realized while trying to place them that a huge tree in the front yard needs to come down - a very sad realization for Earth Day! It's one of our three FIFTY YEAR OLD Bradford Pears, and it's split twice. When it had just split once, I said I had a two-split rule, but when it split again last October, I couldn't bear to do anything about it. I love the flowers in the spring, the tremendous shade it provides in summer, the leaves in fall, and the bird habitat. This tree is directly in front of the house. It looks pretty rough, but removing it will leave a real void. I know that sounds overdramatic, and no one likes Bradford Pears, but I swear I'm grieving this tree! They are taking it down tomorrow. We will plant two 4-5' apple trees and one 8-10' Autumn Blaze Maple. It won't make up for the shade or the environmental benefits of the big tree - at least for a long time - but the house will be out of danger, and hopefully my guilt about cutting down a living tree will be assuaged a bit.
Have a good night and a good weekend, and remember that EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY!
-Ginger

11 comments:

Randy Emmitt said...

Ginger,
Cute photo of the towhee! Don't feel guilty about that tree it has nearly no benefit to wildlife. Your new trees will be much better for wildlife. Besides I have pulled up maybe 300 seedling oaks this year need to pull a lot more of them.

Susie said...

That towhee is adorable. We saw an unidentified bird in our yard yesterday that I thought might be one of these. But after seeing your, he wasn't.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Becca's Dirt said...

Great post Ginger. I love Bradford Trees and they are a little expensive here. Hate that it has to come down but then that's what you have to do sometime. Happy Earth Day and have a nice weekend.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I agree, everyday is earth day!
Sorry about your tree, I think we do get attached to them. But, the good part is you will be planting 3 to fill in it's place.
That Towhee is so cute!

Prairie Chicken... said...

I love how that fat little birds breast is split in two! Cuuute

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

HI Ginger, sorry to hear about the Bradford pear. It will be better in the long run. To plant three trees in its place is wonderful and with the apples you will still have spring flowering trees.
We have Eastern Towhees but I can't tell a male from a female (or rather I haven't looked in the book to see the difference) your photo looks like she is nestled down for the day.

Shady Gardener said...

What a beautiful photo of the towhee! Happy Earth Day (belated), but you're right - Every Day is Earth Day. :-)

Cindy/Mom said...

The towhee was cute --- but I liked the idea of the candlelight dinner on the deck with your wonderful husband!! But, I'm prejudiced!!

D said...

Ginger, it is always sad when we lose a tree; so many years of growth and to see it damaged or gone, always takes a toll on us.

P.S. Lovely candlelight dinner

trailrider731 said...

so sad about the tree! I have a thing for trees, I've planted a few myself, even a few pineapple guava for a privacy screen eventually, Love taking pix of birds too, I posted one that looks similar to your Towhee, not so sure what it is now. Love your remark on my blog about the antique Azalea look! I'm now trying to root some.

seeya,
LM
the best is yet to come!

Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog said...

So sorry to hear about your tree Ginger. Even though it was a Bradford, it was providing you shade. And I'm sure the house will look different. But in the long run, you'll enjoy your new trees. Especially if you get apples! Oh, LOVE your towhee shot. I haven't seen any of them around here.