Well we missed much of the spring here but I have managed to at least see a few springtime blooms.
There are no daffodils left but the tulips and lilac are still holding on. It is the last bit of colour until the summer blooms start to show their stuff.
It appears our lilacs have a lot of friends this year.
This past weekend we noticed a lot of life around the plants but the lilacs especially.
I don’t know much about who these guys are but they seemed happy. So I guess we will have bees, butterflies and moths aplenty!
Well I finally made it up to the schoolhouse and I’ve got my gardening cut out for me.
My baskets have all been made up. I am sticking with simple things this year in order to make sure all survives the hot summer.
The Allium that I planted last year seems to have done well and I like the dark purple.
However that is one of the few things that looks decent as I have to do some serious clearing out of this side garden. My not so favorite weed has returned.
The apple tree is in full bloom and I can hear the bees buzzing about so we’ll hope for a full crop of our tiny, sour apples.
I almost missed the lilac but I managed to get a couple of bouquets out of it. I hope to spread some more around next year as well.
Our entire front yard is graced with powerlines (or hydro lines as we say up yonder).
While this isn’t the front of our house, it might as well be. Between oak, spruce and pine, there are a lot of powerline/tree interactions.
So we get power but that also means every few years we get the folks from Ontario’s largest power distributor visiting with their chain saws and aerial devices to trim our trees back that grow directly underneath the powerlines. And while arborists are trained and skilled folk that know just how to cut a tree so that it remains healthy and vibrant without interfering with the lines, due to a lack of time no doubt, they seem to just lop the tops off of my lovely trees or cut great gaping holes in their branch systems.
It’s not really our fault. When the property was still a school, I have been told the students would plant trees around the property in honour of Arbor day, which has meant our house is surrounded. Weird since we don’t seem to celebrate it here in Canada. Let’s see what Wikipedia says about this:
In Canada, Maple Leaf Day falls on the last Wednesday in September during National Forest Week. Ontario celebrates Arbor Week from the last Friday in April to the first Sunday in May. Nova Scotia celebrates Arbour Day on the Thursday during National Forest Week, which is the first full week in May. Prince Edward Island celebrates Arbour Day on the 3rd Friday in May during Arbour Week.
I knew absolutely none of that. Is that true? Anyway I am digressing here…
I understand that lilac are useful in these situations as they aren’t too tall and we certainly see they remain after the cutting crews are done. There’s a snowball bush as well and a couple of apple trees but they seem to be an acceptable height.
The folks at BC Hydro have provided this information for homeowners which I found useful:
I am fortunate to work with a lot of folks who know about these sorts of things and have been able to glean a lot of information on this stuff. Generally, just don’t go anywhere near powerlines whether they are above you or below you in the case of underground electrical plant. If there is underground, like in a subdivision, hire someone to conduct a locate. If your trees are too tall and anywhere close to the lines, just don’t touch them. Let the professionals handle it.
If you are going to plant anything near them think about the eventual height of the plants. Trees like lilac, dogwood and dwarf spruce seemed to be the key items during my informal Twitter poll I conducted last week.
Does anyone else have any suggestions? I am going to look at syringa reticulata as I have heard it is hardy to zone 3 and within the limits of the powerlines. In the end this all comes down to the need to have privacy at the front of the house so passersby aren’t shocked by nude sunbathing and other potential shenanigans. Just thinking of the neighbours!
MySchoolhouseRocks 