House and Yard, Fall 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking out my window

As I sit at the desktop computer, I look out at the neighbor's maple tree which always looks great this time of year.

It may come down in a storm, or the neighbors may take it down out of fear it's too close to the house. If it goes away some day, I'll still have the photo above to remind me of how much I enjoyed it while it was there.

Turning my eyes to the left, I can admire the Japanese Maple in our yard.

New planting bed and bamboo pergola

Decided that for future comparisons I needed another picture that shows the bedding area we're now planting and a better perspective on the new pergola, so I shot from our bathroom window.

Pergola, I've learned, is pronounced "per-GO-la."

Bamboo pergola

The uprooting of the oak tree this June destroyed a significant part of our backyard flower beds and some of the bamboo screening structures I built five years ago. We are in the process of replanting to restore the bedding areas, and I decided to replace one of the bamboo structures with a pergola:

We have planted vines that will be supported by the pergola.

Thinking about trees...

There's a couple of spots in the back yard that I've decided I want trees in, largely because we lost an oak in a June storm and I'd like to restore some of the lost shade and privacy.  Right now I'm thinking that rather than buy anything I'll relocate a holly and a magnolia which have sprung up on their own on our property. I realize that neither are likely to grow quickly because it's still rather shady back there, so I may decide on another solution.

However that decision goes, this time of year is a good time to be thinking about trees.  In the summer trees blend into a seemingly solid mass of green so that I'm not too conscious of the individual species.  In the winter with all the deciduous leaves down, differentiating among the types is more difficult.  It's the months of change, mostly in October and April, that the individuality stands out.

Brookside Gardens this afternoon

It's so close, so I really should visit more often.

Reservoir still showing signs of drought

Despite the constant rain last week, Triadelphia water levels are way down. In spring when we put the canoe at its mooring lock-up, the reservoir water was touching the end of its 15 foot length. Now, the levels are about a boat length lower:

The reduced water level may improve the fishing as the fish are concentrated into a smaller volume of space. At least this fisherman hopes so: