Well That Sucked

We had a major wind storm move through the area earlier today. It hit our house about 445 pm. A hellacious storm developed just north of here with 80 to 90 mph winds reported. It was bad enough that the city of Omaha sounded its tornado sirens, even though it was only straight line winds. Two weeks ago to the day, our new trees were planted in the back yard. I was worried whether they'd be able to withstand the wind. One fared OK, the other was blown down as the support straps gave way. Thankfully, the tree only got toppled over, pulling the whole root ball out of the ground. The top of the tree also looks like it's been permanently bent, and not sure it will ever recover. I was able to put the root ball back into the ground, but may have to have the nursery come back out and replant it. We didn't have any damage to the house though, and am thankful for that. Other's in Omaha weren't so lucky. There were thousands of trees down, a LOT of property damage, and about 126,000 people without power. Several homes were completely destroyed. All in all, I'm getting very tired of the extreme weather, and wouldn't mind the dog days of summer to commence.

Planting Trees in the Back Yard

I should have done this 5 years ago, but there was always something else that always had priority. Finally, this spring, I decided that I'd better get some trees planted before I wasted another 5 years of growth. We've got a really big back yard, and probably have room for 6 or 8 trees. I've thought a long time about what to plant, and wanted a combination of shade, fruit and flowering trees. Given that I've already given up 5 years of growth, I also wanted to spend a little bit more to get some really big trees.

In the end, I opted for a couple of Maple Northfire trees. They are 3" trees, and probably already 20 feet tall. They will make a nice barrier to the homes to our east. I also wanted to possibly get some trees that aren't common. I settled for an Aspen tree, an Elberta peach tree, 2 apple trees (Honeycrisp and Freedom), a Cleveland Select Pear, and 2 dwarf Lilac trees. The huge Maple trees are being planted by the nursery, and I've planted the others as time allows. When it's finished, it should look nice. I've kept the center of the yard open in hopes of someday putting a pool there. Ha. I can always dream. But, if I can't get a pool, a grand, tiered fountain surrounded by a courtyard, and a circle of rose bushes would be awesome. That's probably doable over the next few years. I'd also like to add a couple of cedar arbors here and there, get some climbing roses and ivy to cover them, along with a yard swing, and maybe a butterfly or humming bird garden sometime in the future too!

Ah, just lots more outdoor stuff to keep my busy over the next few years.