… and the snow is melting.

Check the daily progress of Spring - and eventually resumption of construction - at http://rhbgrischun.ath.cx:8030 and http://rhbgrischun.ath.cx:8040 ID = guest password = guest Requires ActiveX for IE or the JAVA plug-in for other browsers.

Yesterday was cleaning day, lots of debris in the ponds, empty, clean, install the filters and fire up the waterworks. Next will be the water plants that overwintered in the garage, just as soon as the temp comes up a little bit more.

Sooooooooo the snow from the previous picture is gone, I guess the melt contributed to the “stuff” in the lake, too. Just like 1:1.

Ahhhh a sure sign is the Garden-Dept at the Superstore opening; time for a return trip today to pick up a bunch of dwarf Alberta spruce. Best planted as early as possible.

It’s only money and they are good for the environment.

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Now to convince SWMBO that planting a few trees a day is a very relaxing proposition - without me being the designated planter - that will be the trick.

Are those dwarf spruce trees HJ??? how tall are they when I went to Wally Weird the smallest ones they had were almost 3ft tall or larger??? What should they run for a smaller one? Those look like they are around the 6inch mark??? The Regal

Yep, dwarf Alberta Spruce, 10-12" high Can$7.99 each. Mugo pine is 6", same price.

HJ,

I think Dwarf Alberta Sprices get 10 to 12 feet high.

Ric Golding said:
HJ,

I think Dwarf Alberta Sprices get 10 to 12 feet high.

That’s quite possible where you live, very unlikely around here, at least in the case of Dwarf AB Spruce.

To help stunt the height growth of the dwarf alberta spruces we have bought, Jane plants them in the container, but cutting the bottom out of the container when she plants the trees… We had dwarf alberta spruce trees on our last layout, for 7 years, and I don’t think the height grew more than 6 inches max, however, the trunk was about 3-4 inches on diameter…

Andy Clarke said:
To help stunt the height growth of the dwarf alberta spruces we have bought, Jane plants them in the container, but cutting the bottom out of the container when she plants the trees.... We had dwarf alberta spruce trees on our last layout, for 7 years, and I don't think the height grew more than 6 inches max, however, the trunk was about 3-4 inches on diameter....

Andy, what special precautions did you need to take? Extra water?

My dwarf Ab spruce get sunburned unless I give them lots of water. That cause them to grow like a basketball player! I live in Eastern Washington, similar climate to HJ, but probably a bit hotter in summer. Zone 5.

What else did you to keep them short and thick?

Pinch off the new growth every spring. Works with most trees, but works better with the dwarf species.
Ralph

Steve Featherkile said:

Andy Clarke said:
To help stunt the height growth of the dwarf alberta spruces we have bought, Jane plants them in the container, but cutting the bottom out of the container when she plants the trees.... We had dwarf alberta spruce trees on our last layout, for 7 years, and I don't think the height grew more than 6 inches max, however, the trunk was about 3-4 inches on diameter....

Andy, what special precautions did you need to take? Extra water?

My dwarf Ab spruce get sunburned unless I give them lots of water. That cause them to grow like a basketball player! I live in Eastern Washington, similar climate to HJ, but probably a bit hotter in summer. Zone 5.

What else did you to keep them short and thick?

Steve, I am in southern illinois… We really haven’t taken any special precautions… However, the trees were planted in a new earth area, with top soil and some manure and peat moss…

The ground where we now live, is mostly clay… top soil is only one and a half inches thick at the top, at the most… I guess, time will tell how they will handle this environment… We plants some around the house, 3 years ago, and they are growing well…

No sun today. Colors are not so bright. But shadows are not a problem either. Jimmy’s belting out “Reggabilly Hill” and life is good. Ralph

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Pretty, Ralph.