The Waiting Is Over

I have been waiting (years?)to get a cutting from my friend Ann’s curly willow tree.

 

Last week, that cutting made its way to me via Ann, to her husband Steve, to my husband Glenn; and, finally into my hands. I was thrilled to get that cutting.

 

I had been saving a spot in my garden just for that tree.

 

Well…upon further research, I decided that the ‘spot’ might not be big enough as I discovered that this tree grows considerably larger than I had anticipated.  And, the curly willow grows very quickly.

 

So, I placed the cutting into a jar of water and spent days trying to decide on an ideal location to plant my much anticipated acquisition.

 

The weather forecast was calling for substantial rain.  I wanted to get the cutting into the ground to take advantage of the pending moisture.  I needed to make a decision fast.

 

I finally decided to plant my curly maple within feet of the originally planned planting site; moving it out about three feet to give the tree a bit more room as it grew.  Unfortunately, by giving the tree more room, I narrowed the pathway for Glenn to back up his pickup to the house to unload our firewood.  I gave him an alternate route which was OK’d by him with the caveat that he would be driving over the corner of a mulched garden island. One perennial, which I planted this season, might be in harm’s way.  I can move that perennial if need be; I cannot move the tall and wide hemlock tree that I have been pampering for 20 years that Glenn needs to maneuver around.

 

The decision was made.  Glenn would help (Glenn doing the manual labor as I supervised) plant my curly maple after taking a short break as he and Becky were fence building - still.   I grabbed a shovel and retrieved the curly maple sitting in a jar of water.  When Glenn was ready, I felt a drop of rain; then, two drops. We now had to hurry.

 

My curly maple is in the ground.  I just hope I chose the right spot.