My first tree
Almost everyone the first tree has some embarrassing experience. Nobody can be an expert right away, that we all make mistakes sometimes lurk for years afterward. Some of us make mistakes worse than others, however. I think if there were an award for being the most naive person in every attempt at growing a tree, I would win.
When I decided to plant a tree of mine, I had the perfect place in mind. There is a gap between my house and my fence about 5 feet. It is probably the least traveled area of my entire lawn, and I thought it could use something to spice it up. Maybe if I provided some lovely shade, it would be more used by my family. I expected a small paradise picnic in the shade, when my family can go just to be with others and nature. Boy was I wrong.
I decided on a good apple. Despite the risk of falling apples in the head, I thought it would be a pleasure to sit in the shade and Munch on delicious homemade apple. Just the thought of this romantic, poignant activity was enough to make me drive my car to the nursery and the purchase of the first apple tree in sight. I did not know enough about the trees to see the roots or any of the signs that a tree could be unhealthy. I spent the requisite amount of money and the tree was delivered to my house.
I dug the hole right where I wanted the tree. This led almost the rest of the day. The holes are an easy thing to underestimate. It’s easy to say that a hole will only take an hour or two, but once you start digging is generally progressing much slower than it had estimated. At the moment I received the hole big enough to fit the root ball, I certainly do not feel like digging another few feet around the perimeter as most tree planting guidelines suggest. I was ready to put the tree. With the help of my neighbor morbid obese, I lifted the tree in the yard and fell into my hole. So the time has come to fill the hole.
I could not have been happier that once filled in the last shovel load of dirt. I was back to admire my work. That was when my 3-year-old daughter said something that crushed my spirits, and haunts me to this day. “Dad, that tree stands as the grandfather!” My father was a great man, and if she had compared any other aspect of the tree I would have considered it an honor. But, unfortunately, his back has deteriorated lately, and can not stand up very straight. I realized that my tree, indeed, have a similarity to his position.
Think this is a problem that is beyond the tree naturally, I have decided to quit for a while to see what happens. Every day I went to check on the progress of the tree, to see if everything was straighter than it was the day before. I had crushed my spirits daily when I saw that had not improved at all. Not wanting to put forward the effort to eliminate from my garden, I decided to just forget it. Never went to that side of the house again and almost completely pushed the tree of my mind. I decided that if trouble ever came out of the tree there, I want my package of furniture and flee the state. That’s how much I was humbled by my experience tree.
After about 3 years of ignoring completely the tree that never existed, I was sitting in my house one day and heard a sharp drop. I ran outside to see what the problem was, only to see my family tree had grown so unmanageable size that had taken my gutter and part of my neighbour of the fence. I moved out of state within a week.
