|
This
is an ongoing project to create a forested perimeter
around the farm. The purpose is to provide a
visual barrier, wildlife habitat, as well as a
barrier against potential pollen and chemical drift
from neighboring properties. |
3/14/12 - The man that ran
the planting crew last year stopped in and said that he had a lot of trees
available and would work with me on a good deal. We met and
discussed what he had to offer as well as pricing.
3/26/12 - I called and later
in the day we met again. I decided to go with a mix of golden and
standard Deodora Cedars, Western Cedars, and Golden Cedars. I some
of the wetter areas, they will plant Leland Cypress. These are all
going to be fourteen to fifteen foot tall trees.
Additionally, so we didn't have to
pay a teenager to keep them watered all summer like last year, they are
installing a drip irrigation system as part of the deal.
3/31/12
- Today, a tree crew of about six guys arrived at 0930. Within about
an hour they had popped all of the trees that Hannah and Ryan planted last
June and got them replanted along the south fence line.
They
then went to work marking out and digging the holes for the big trees.
They got a few of the big trees planted as well. We are going to mix
them up so that it doesn't look so unnatural.
4/1
/12
- Two guys came for a couple of hours and got the last of the big hole dug
in the upper field.
4/2/12
- This morning I got outside at about 8:15 a.m. and walked the perimeter
to see how they were doing. Man is it wet. All of the holes are
either underwater or within a few inches. I counted 81 holes /
trees. I spent about an hour hauling all of the two foot tall potted
Austrian Pines that were left over from last year. I got them
scattered out along the east fence. Eventually that will block the
view of the feed mill.
NOTE: They never did come back to plant these
trees so we ended up having to do it.
Western Perimeter - Highway 213 Border |
A Very Wet Hole |
Standing at the South End of the Field Facing Northeast - Western
Perimeter - Highway 213 Border |
Standing in the Southwest corner looking east along
to southern property line. |
|
Standing in the Southeast corner looking north along
the eastern property line. |
Looking west back at the farm. |
Facing north from about halfway in the middle of the
eastern property line |
Facing south from about halfway in the middle of the
eastern property line |
At about 11:30, they
started hauling in more trees.
4/8/12
- These are just progress pictures of the upper (south) field perimeter
work.
4/9/12
Just about all of the trees planted and posts installed. |
Trees tied off to the posts and drip irrigation lines run. |
Trees still bundled and posts being installed. |
Outside looking in. |
Inside looking out. |
A row planted at the far corner. |
4/12/12
- Work began on the more trees in the bottom (north) field. Over Christmas
break (12/11), John got around fifty small 'Austrian Pines' planted. These
were trees that we got as bare root stock last spring and potted them up.
Today the crew used a digger to get all of the holes dug for big trees. Since it was so wet down there, we went with smaller (eight foot) trees as
that required small holes and therefore, smaller machinery.
Additionally, because it does stay so wet in that area, we went with
'Leyland Cypress' trees. They should compliment the other conifer
and deciduous trees already there.
4/13/12
- To save on wear and tear to the ground, they delivered the trees for the
bottom field by lifting them up and over the fence from the sawmill
parking lot. The then got them all moved and set into the holes.
4/18/12
- Today they finished getting all of the cypress trees planted and got the
baling twine off of them.
4/23/12
- Today no work went on. Just snapped a couple of pictures in good
light.
4/25/12
- Just some more shots. Today a crew delivered a trailer load of
trees that will be planted along the southern most fence line on the farm. They got stuck (bad) so I got the tractor out and pulled them out. Since the tractor was out and dirty, I ended up spending the rest of the
afternoon tilling up the big gardens in the field.
4/26/12
- Today a crew of two worked on pounding posts and starting the process of
tying up the trees in the bottom field.
4/27/12
- Today they worked on tying up the trees in the bottom field but ran out
of posts. As far as I could tell, there was only one person working
and after the bottom field, he headed up to the far end of the north field
to get the trees delivered on the 25th planted.
NOTE: It was about this time that they just never came back. They
didn't quite finish everything, for example clean-up and planting the
potted trees along the feedmill's driveway, and they left a small step
ladder and the post pounder. I was kind of ticked off but if a deal like
that arose again, I would still hire them.
