It was a beautiful blue Texas sky yesterday...hot though...
 |
| Blue Texas Sky |
...87 degrees (and it's supposed to be Fall?). The goal was to finish planting the Texas Lilac (Vitex) trees along the driveway. It was on the list a couple of weekends ago but I just didn't quite get to it with all the other drama that was going on at the house.
 |
| Fiat Pickup Truck |
As you can see in the photo below, it's a long walk from the house to where I was planting. Long enough that if I got down there and forgot something, it's a long, HOT round trip walk. 2nd Family said we needed a golf cart. We think we need a farm pickup (and we're working on that possibility). So I did the next best thing; I turned Luigi (my car) into the worlds first Fiat pickup truck, ha! I loaded the back end up with three trees, bags of soil, fertilizer, shovels, the auger (in the front seat) and other items, left the hatchback up and drove down the driveway to the spots where I needed to plant them.
 |
| Planting Texas Vitex |
Took a bit of time to plant. Digging in clay soil is hard and exhausting, especially in the heat. The holes still have to be dug out by hand to expand the diameter, but the auger makes them deep and starting them much easier. 2nd Family came over (since I was practically at their house) and offered their hose to water them in. After a couple of hours of work, it was done.
 |
| Texas Vitex tree, image courtesy Wikicommons |
This is what they should look like in a few years, after they've grown and are in full bloom. It definitely looks like something that will be worth the wait. We now have eight of them planted along the side of the driveway. It should make for a spectacular drive to the house. We have plans for other plants in between them, including one that has the most amazing scent we've ever encountered, but that will have to come next Spring. We still have four more to plant elsewhere, but for now, this is one item that we can scratch off the list.
For those wondering, more later on 'critter watch 2014'.
Hope you are having a great weekend!
Are you going for the Allee look? That will be lovely. I love lilacs♥
ReplyDeleteThese are so pretty when in bloom. They aren't a true lilac of course, they are technically a tree called Vitex. We're only going down the one side, so I guess that's a sort of half allee? LOL!
Deletegosh that will be amazing won't it, beautiful tree, you are digging in the heat and I'm freezing my butt of up here in Canada, lol!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope. The soil has a lot of clay but they are doing well, just might be a bit slower growing. Freezing?? Sigh. I just wish it was COOLER here (maybe not freezing, ha).
DeleteI was wondering how the 'critter' situation was going.
ReplyDeleteYes, update coming, not much new but working on a post for that. :-)
DeleteThey will look lovely.
ReplyDeleteNow I am not sure about this critter update!
Thanks...yeah, not much actually to report but we found where they might be getting in and so fingers crossed.
Deletethat sure is a lot of work! i bet they will be beautiful! they grow like weeds here.
ReplyDeleteYou know, if our soil was soft, it wouldn't be so bad but it's like digging in concrete, ha. And actually cooler temps would help. There is still more to plant so we'll have some cooler weather soon, I'm sure of it. ;-)
DeleteBefore the beauty comes the “beast” of digging! But well worth it - those are going to make a gorgeous entrance to your Farm! And just think, you’ll probably wind up looking like the guy on the WW II railroad poster!
ReplyDeleteLOVE Lilacs!! A small pickup is a must when landscaping and/or remodeling. Try hauling fence poles in the back of an RX7 :)
ReplyDelete