January 22nd, 2011 Small Changes
Have you ever noticed how “things” can snowball? For instance, this week I purchased new towel bars for the bathroom. Changing them out was to be a simple way to update the bathroom. While taking the old towel bars off, the degree to which the paint on the walls had faded screamed at me. Hearing my rather loud “Oh no!”, my partner in grime came in to see what the problem was. His solution? “Let’s repaint the bathroom!” Since we have nothing but time these days, I said “why not?” Now at the end of day three of the simple update, we are finally ready to install the new towel bars.
That is just one example of what can happen when a simple tweaking can take on a life of its own and grow into something much larger than originally intended. So it is in the garden as well.
Last fall, during the season end clearance sales, we purchased the cutleaf Japanese maple (Acer palatum dissectum Inabe Shidare) we had both been wanting for many years. Purchasing it was the easy part. Once we got it home, the discussions began on where to plant it. Let’s just say the only thing we did agree on was the maple would be planted in the back garden where we spend most of our time and could therefore fully enjoy it.
We began the process of trying to agree on its final home by moving the small tree (still in its pot) around the yard. Agreement didn’t happen. So imagine my surprise when I came home from work a few weeks later to find that the maple had been planted! As a result, this spring we will be moving a Dwarf Korean lilac (Syringa patula) standard, several Stella D’Oro plants, three hibiscus, some rocks and, some boulders. Plus we will need to widen and re-shape the bed! The yew can stay where it is.
All that work because of one little tree! I shudder to think of will come about when I add to the perennial bed.
