There was no more delaying, and I finally got the apple tree in the ground.  I had to since Sunday it went into the bucket to re-hydrate, and Monday it needed to be planted.  Plus I had practically all day to get it done since Monday I stayed home for a dr’s appointment.   Still I wasted most of the morning, spent three hours waiting for my appointment, and only got into tree planting somewhere around 5pm.  Good thing the weather stayed nice.

That’s the tree there with the little bit of yellow tape near the base.  I mulched it with a bucket of compost and then topped that with chopped leaves from the early spring bed cleanups.  I think it will do well here and it’s already made a big impression for this little corner of the yard.  The apple twig has me calling this “the orchard” now instead of “the meadow”.  This is the back part of the yard where I don’t mow until about late July or so in order for all the weedy little flowers to get a chance to bloom.  The kids enjoy it but not everyone here thinks as highly of the meadow as I do.  The annual mowing usually takes place right after some big argument over snakes and ticks and spiders.

The last thing done to finish up the tree planting was to cut down two small aspen trees.  I let weed trees (sumac and aspen) sprout up in the meadow and then “edit” them out when I get tired of them.  They’re a nice screen along the ugly chain link fence while young, but I have no plans to leave any.  A quick zip through the roots with my handy reciprocating saw and they’re gone.  I guess I could have reached for the fancy pruning saw, but (1) this one’s a power tool and (2) for the cost of the $3 blade I shamelessly cut through dirt, rocks, and roots and don’t care what I do to the blade.  Come to think of it, lots of pruning gets done with this saw.  I even use it to cut wedge divisions out of ornamental grass clumps.  Sure beats digging.

The pond is in and getting its leak test.

It still looks mighty ugly but hopefully I can blend it in somehow.  I think the shape is called natural, but there’s nothing natural about the way it sits all plastic and stiff in the hole.  But the birds don’t care,  I barely walked 15 feet to get a rake and the birds were sneaking in for a bath.  Looks like it’s going to be popular.  It’s already popular with the kids, but all they seem to want to do is throw things in.  Rocks, dirt, and tools are all fair game.

Also there’s been a death.  My daughter informed me that “Matthew” is dead at the bottom of the pool.  Don’t ask me how an earthworm  climbed the walls and got in there, but one did.

Do you like the little yellow clump of primroses blooming in the shovel danger zone?  I hope they survive since I have a bad record with these.  This is an older heirloom type given to me by a friend and promises to be a little tougher.

My current favorite daffodil (Pistachio) is open and just about every other daffodil is just waiting for some sun ….. also the kid’s pea plantings are starting to sprout.

Good thing I finally got the apple tree into the ground.  As I came up to the front door to call it a day I found the second part of my mailorder shipment.  For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to order 7 lilac bushes, a nice assortment of different colors and sizes.  Whatever I was thinking last month, looks like I have a new project this month.  Plus mulch.  Plus did I mention I ordered dahlia roots too?