71.3F and overcast @ 03:00 ...
The heavy, slow-moving thunderstorms in the forecast turned out to be a bust ... petered out just before they got here ... which is unfortunate, because it's been awhile since we've had any rain. I noticed yesterday that the (undisturbed) ground around some hawthorn trees next to where I was transplanting was actually cracked pretty bad. The grass has gone into summer dormancy ... not because it's been all that hot - it hasn't - just due to lack of precipitation I guess.
Speaking of transplanting, we've managed to transplant 1 (smaller) japanese yew, 3 clumps of pampas grass, and 7 oak trees - which ranged in height from around 5' or 6' up to 12'. The oaks seem to be doing well, with only a little bit of leaf loss on a couple that we couldn't get in the ground immediately after digging them (cluster of 3 trees) ... but I've been watering them every couple of days ... usually about 20 to 25 gallons per tree. Still need to mulch around the base of the trees to slow moisture loss.
Between the recent transplants and existing shrubs, I've probably have hauled 750 gallons of water or more at this point, just in the last week or so.
I spent Saturday afternoon and evening pumping out and pulling the 275 gallon fuel oil tank. Wound up with about 130 gallons of fuel ... which will probably cover me until next summer. Getting the tank up out of the basement was a PITA - 90 degree turn on the landing at the top of the steps to get out the door ... but a friend and I managed it. Tank appears to be sound and relatively decent shape ... no obvious leaks, just some surface rust on the backside where it was close to the basement wall.
Today I got around 10 pallets of stuff moved back into the polebarn in anticipation of the rain that never really happened. After that I dug about 15' of trench for the downspout drain, got the first 10' section of pipe laid and connected to the downspout, cleaned out the section of gutter that that downspout drains, and nailed the gutter back in wherever it was loose.
I had to dig out around the foundation where the downspout comes down in order to repair it (the foundation) ... the downspout was missing the bottom section that redirected the water away from the foundation and it has been dumping water next to the foundation. With the winter freeze and thaw cycles some of the bricks had come loose and several blocks were damaged:
Figure I'll just lay a piece of plywood in there for a form and fill it with 'crete ... after I hose down and clean off the block.
As part of this project I did some work on this monster, just to gain access to the foundation to be able to work on it, which involved trimming out some of the understory:
Originally, the idea was to remove the entire plant and transplant it elsewhere. After messing with transplanting the oak trees, and getting a good look at the main trunk of this rhody, I've decided that I'm not going to do that - it's just too big.
What I found in doing the trimming was that a lot of the drooping branches had begun to root wherever they touched the soil and were covered with leaves:
So I went ahead and made a cut with a razor knife between the rooting part of the stems and the main plant to cause further rooting, pinned down the stems with cut coat hangers, and covered the section that was beginning to root with compost and then mulched over it. In another month and a half, I'll cut the stems going back to the main plant and hopefully by next spring I'll have 18 to 24 more individual rhododendrons ready to transplant. This specimen has light purple blooms ... so it should add some color around the place.
So in addition to removing the propagated portions around the perimeter, I'll probably just trim the upper part - to try and get it under control and away from the electric lines coming from the transformer on the power pole.
Met last Friday with a realtor on the commercial property. As of today they will have the listing. Be interesting to see what kind of interest they get on it.
Hope everyone has an enjoyable and productive day.
this morning at the forecast high of 102F light breeze. Need to mow but SWMBO is napping. Should cool off 5 or 6 degrees this week. Too hot to start brake inspection.
