Chamaecyparis nootkatensis “Pendula”.

The proverb “good things come to those who wait” came to mind as the Yellow Furze nursery delivery truck pulled into our driveway. Ever since taking notice of trees around me; their shapes, colors, sizes, I’ve wanted one of these “droopy” trees.  As it turns out, my neighbor James has a mature Chamaecyparis nootkatensis “Pendula” in his garden. I was able to see what it looks like after 25 years (it is beautiful!).  So for my birthday, which was back in September, I ordered this conical tree.  It just arrived today! I didn’t mind the wait since September, though.  That gave me time to put some newspapers down to kill the grass.  I used our “turtle sandbox” cover on top of the papers to keep them all in place, and to give me the round shape.   My husband kindly dug the hole for the tree.  I love it. I think it fits in perfectly.

Marked area ready to be dug up.

My new droopy tree!

My favorite thing about it is the droopy look of the branches.  It has a character all its own!  I don’t mind the small size for now. It will grow in time, and as it does the garden will grow with it.  Such simple pleasures! 🙂

Tagged.

The other saying that keeps popping up in my head these days is “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.  Yeah, maybe you can guess that I’ve been working on pulling down the ivy from my Hawthorn trees?  It really is mentally challenging!  The brambles and ivy are completely entwined with the trees and surrounding front and back areas.  I wasn’t sure if I’d find any more of the ditch wall, but surprisingly a few sections of it have been uncovered!

The new (pink!) gloves my kids gave me for Christmas to protect me from the Hawthorn thorns! And a view of the back of our trees where all of the brambles & ivy seem to thrive!

I would love to write about how easy it is to pull up the ivy, and cut the brambles, and that the hawthorn “thorns” weren’t sharp at all.  Yeah, except that would be lying. 🙂   For me it is enough that my husband has taken note of the laborious work entailed in freeing up the Hawthorn trees.   If the rest of the row of trees looks as good as the first tree I cleared last year, we’ll be delighted with the results!

Uncovering part of the ditch wall!

Boy do I wish I had a finished “after” photo to show you though!  (This is where I chant “Rome wasn’t built in a day”…)

Looking for some encouragement here … Go Dana, Go Dana, Go Dana…

A dark day, but we can see through the trees!

And here is what I still have ahead of me 🙂

This is what keeps me going – The first Hawthorn and section of the ditch wall which I uncovered from ivy.

I found a little bit of color in the garden today.  These primroses weren’t recognizable when I moved them into my little “nursery” garden from the front gate garden this past summer.  The slugs *love* primroses!  I threw them into the nursery to see if they’d survive, and it seems they did.  The slugs still enjoy eating them, but at least they are recognizable for the moment.

Primroses.

Primroses.

Primroses, with a bit of a slug signature.

I’m so happy with my little droopy tree (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis “Pendula”)! Yes, I think it is worth waiting for what you really want.  I hope if you’ve been waiting for something special, that it finds its way to you!

Dana