Another one bites the dust

Tuesday, 3:09 pm

By Kate

May

08

2007

Ookay. I used to have a green thumb. Really don’t know what happened to it, but I’ve lost one more tree. One of my new redbuds has decided to mostly curl up its itty bitty toes and call it a day. The top branches are crispy, though there is tiny branch on the bottom of the tree that has THREE leaf buds sprouting. That to me isn’t a robust tree. It’s a mostly dead tree. The other baby redbud has already grown this season and it is plastered with leaf buds.

So, at this point, I think it might be safe to assume that the place where I want the other redbud to grow isn’t compatible with trees. This is the third tree. First there was a Japanese maple, then a dogwood, and now a redbud. All died.

But I really want a tree there. Maybe putting one of the several sugar maple volunteers in that spot might work. They are obviously happy with this environment. Or maybe I should just stick a shrub in there and call it good enough. I wonder if a pine tree would grow there. I dunno. How darned disappointing.

Should I be surprised? My sick little tree is in the same location where I can’t even get grass to grow. Maybe a load of topsoil and grass seed are my best options after all. I’m not too sure that I want to waste any more time, money, or effort, trying to get a tree or even a shrub to grow in a place where nothing wants to grow. I’m so tired of trying to get things to grow in sand. Really.

All I want is a danged tree. It’s a modest desire. That’s not asking for too much, I don’t think.