Transplanting

These are not the first things that I have transplanted this spring, but they are the first that I am posting about.  The elm--which is taller than I am--was growing too close to our deck (and would block our beautiful view).

I am not sure what took me so long to do it, but I guess it is the same reason I haven't stained the deck.  Yesterday, Jeff started power washing it to prepare for staining...and then building a catio!  (Something else we have been putting off.)

Digging it out was a bit of a chore, but I found some great rocks for the streambed.  I wish I got more roots, but there are a lot of feeder roots.  As I tend to do, I trimmed the branches and pinched back most of the new growth, so its reduced root system has less to support. 

In addition to the elm, I finally found a place for the native hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) that I bought a couple of years ago.  I bought three, planted one, and put the other two pots near the front door so that I could keep them watered.  Over time, of course, they sent roots into the ground...so, when I went to plant them near "my pride and joy" (our giant boulder), I had to cut the pot away from the roots. 

In addition to these, I have moved several smaller elm trees (at least one or two that were potted), the oak trees that I bought at a yard sale last year, and several shrubs (silky dogwood, meadowsweet, and elderberry--which I am rooting in place...and some wildflowers, grasses, and sedges) along my new terraced path. 

New View of my New Path

On a few warm days in January, I started creating a path on a slope.  I found a huge rock at one point and came close to digging it out, but decided to put it off for another day--I think I was afraid I would screw up my back again and never finish the path.

I had a couple more days in February where I could work the ground.  If I recall, I finished it early March.

Here it is with an aerial shot.

(Well, I guess it isn't finished until I get that rock out, fill the hole, remove the garbage that I found, and, hopefully, seed it with something native--maybe path rush.)

Thank you, babe, for the aerial shot. :)

The other day, I added some elderberry cuttings along the slope--hopefully, they will root with no trouble and grow in in the next couple of years...along with some other native shrubs.  I have some silky dogwood still in pots that I can add...and I hope to buy some other species.