But this year Earth Day came looking for me. :-D
All this week our township allowed residents to drop off used electronics, batteries, small household appliances, computers, CD & DVDs, media players, etc. Yay. I had a bucket of household batteries that Mom and I saved up for a couple of years and were looking for an easy way to recycle them. I was off to save the planet....
While I was unloading at the depot, I asked if they knew where I could recycle a couple of boxfulls of used video tapes (not on their published 'approved' list). She went and checked and, lucky me, she said THEY would accept them. Excellent. I told her I'd run home and be right back.
As I headed for the car she asked, "Do you want a tree?" Hello? Tree? Because of Earth Day the township was giving away baby white pine trees. Well, boy yes! Please! She fished out 2 and handed them to me. "Nobody is taking any," she said. "Everyone says they would rather take down trees than plant them." How sad. I told her I'd plant every one she gave me so... one thing led to another and yours truly brought home 14 pine tree starts.
Not letting any grass grow under my feet, I hightailed out to the back yard by the golf course and marked out 2 additional arcs for 9 of the newbies. Since they were bare rooted, I merely sliced a deep divot into the sod, inserted the tree, then heeled it in with the divot. Presto. Future privacy forest.
In the end I still have 5 more trees (the smallest of the lot). I figure I'll just pot these up for summer, and see how they do.
By Fall, if they are doing well, I may have determined where to put them. Gosh. Sure wish I could just go and plant them in some neighbor's yards. But they are too busy (even as I type) cutting down even more trees (too much mess to deal with). Oh for crying out loud, people. Go live in an apartment and leave houses with nice lots to folks who aren't paranoid about nature. *sheesh*
Happy Earth Day.
How fortuitous! I hope your little trees bring you great deals of shade and privacy in the years to come! Happy Earth Day!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jennifer. It'll take years, but will be fun to watch grow. Happy Earth Day to you too.
DeleteKris, that is my favorite of the pines. One is planted at the Post Office branch near us and love the long needles. It is a magnificent tree.
ReplyDeleteI have so many 'trash' trees that it is hard to find space for some good ones.
My fave, too. The needles are so soft and when they fall, they make excellent garden mulch - even better than leaves.
DeleteMy mom has a huge solitary, well-formed white pine in her backyard and it is beautiful, nice shade, birds nest in it, and she gets all of her needle mulch from it every year. It's win-win all around.