So 09-19-08

o, I have seven of those little evergreen trees. I started with five. I added a sixth when I felt five wouldn’t cover the length I wanted covered.

The guy next door installed an eight foot high white plastic fence. My plan with the trees was to disrupt the ugliness of the fence with evergreen. I dug up the soil, fertilized it and added peat moss, which left a six foot wide 25’ long scar in the grass. I set the trees in a line and envisioned them twelve feet tall and three and a half feet wide.

In years, they will hide enough of the fence but I felt a line of equally spaced trees would be too symmetric and plain.

Isn’t this an exciting story?

So, I wanted something different than a line but I also didn’t want to sacrifice any more of the yard. Yards are a premium in Boston. I changed my plan to include a seventh tree that will be placed in-between and in front of either the first two trees or the last two trees. It will cost a little bit more of the yard but I think it will be more visually interesting than just a line of trees.

Over the years to come, as the trees develop, I will keep you posted.


I also bought a pot of mums to replace the ones that were stolen but instead of white I got white ones that had pink at the extremities of the petals.


I’ve been feeding the turtle red leaf lettuce. There are a lot of precise rules for the care of Red Ear Sliders.



Even though for years, he’s been kept in a plastic container no bigger than a shoe box and has been feed nothing but Tetra Reptomin and has survived, I worry about his health and well being.