September 20 -- Planting A Desert Willow Tree

But first, the obligatory sunrise has returned --

Now, I've never been a whiz at building things or had much luck in gardening. And I've definitely not been a "Tool Time" guy in the past. But maintaining a house and 4 acres, particularly when you're living in a rural area, getting things done is YOUR responsibility. I could hire someone to, say, weed whack or maintain the front and back yards -- but I'm finding that doing it myself is, well, FUN!  I know, I'm a weirdo...But with gardening I've been all thumbs in the past -- none of them green -- which is why I'm putting all of my faith in planting, and nurturing, a Desert Willow Tree. First, some background on the Desert Willow -- it's not a willow at all, but actually part of the "Chilopsis" family, which means it's related to Yellowbells, Trumpet Vine, and others. It has exotic-looking blooms that attract hummingbirds and others. It's known for its rapid growth, drought tolerance -- and ease of maintenance, a BIG plus in my book. The Portal area is in "Plant Hardiness" zone 8a, meaning temperatures can go down to a minimum of 10 to 15 degrees -- and Desert Willow can survive that. But it only very rarely gets that low here. So with all of that in mind, I get the planting "instructions" from the Internet -- yes I know it can't be that hard, but I didn't want to take any chances -- took out my wheelbarrow and tools, and set to work. The following 6 photos go from the Willow in its pot to being in the ground. 

First, I pick a spot that gets plenty of sun (shade in the photo notwithstanding) and is near the garden hose, which is off to the right, and the back of the house is about 15 feet behind me. There's my wheelbarrow with tools -- shovel, pickaxe with 2 different-sized heads, rake, and a weed-puller when I want to take a break from planting. And it's hard not to "lollygag" when you have a view like this --

The skies clouded up very fast, which was great as I didn't want to be in the sun all the time I was out there. I'm digging the hole for the Desert Willow -- the instructions say the hole has to be at least 2 times wider than, but the same depth as, the root ball in the container. So I measured the width of the container with the Desert Willow, and doubled that for the width of the hole I was going to put it in --

Next is a photo of the hole with the dirt I dug out. I used the shovel and pickaxe with the wide blade, which helped in getting the small rocks out of the soil -- but as you can see it's pretty good soil --

Next, the hole completed, I cut the container and carefully take the the Desert Willow out, and place it into the hole. Its "root ball" can't be broken, and it can't be "root bound" -- and it looks like it's neither of those (I'm thinking and hoping) -- 

After placing the Desert Willow in the hole, I shovel the dirt back, making sure the tree is level with the ground, then I water it well to "soak the roots" -- again, from the Internet instructions. As I'm doing this, the weather starts clearing up, so I'm somewhat distracted by the views, and take a photo --

I mean, come ON -- how can you beat that? A friend of mine said it could be a national park, to which I replied it's a good thing our area is off the beaten path. Next, once finished with watering, I get some big rocks from around the house, and place them in a circle around the Desert Willow. It's pretty much done for cosmetic reasons, but it will also help to slow down any water that might leak out of the small amount of dirt surrounding the willow that will hold in the water. And -- voila!  -- it's done. 

Oh, I almost forgot to add -- before all of this, I took a photo of the back yard and Cave Creek Canyon just after sunrise --

The main reason for doing this was to show "after" and "before". A few days before this photo was taken, I'd taken a saw to the tall feeder hangers that looked a little, well, weird and that a friend said looked like something used for pagan rituals -- 

One of them is hidden by the back porch post, but looking at the one on the left, you get the idea. It really detracted from the view -- and was distracting to book. I'd also taken out the fence posts and wire enclosures that you see to the right of the back porch post -- and there were about 5 of them, and I took them all out -- along with that square piece of wood -- rotting -- that is behind the feeder hanger. So things are coming along nicely in the back yard, and I'll probably let the rest of the 4 acres grow naturally, perhaps only cutting paths for the wildlife. And I plan on removing the water feature that you can see in the ground behind  the square piece of wood; I bought a sledgehammer to break up the concrete lining it. It's stagnant as there's no outlet, and as birds bathe in it and wildlife comes by to drink it, I'd like something a little cleaner for them to use. So as you can tell I have lots of future plans for the back yard, and I'm thinking of other improvements as time goes on...