A few weeks ago, Laura and I bought some Flowering Cleveland Pear trees and yesterday, we were finally able to plant them. Click on the picture to see more photos.
I dug the hole for the first tree and it about killed me. There were roots growing in the ground that had to be cut through with my hatchet and the hard clay ground was like picking through granite with a toothpick. After that first hole I had to take a break before I tried to move the first tree in it’s burlap bulb over to the new hole. About 150 feet separated the tree bulb and the hole I dug and try as I might, I couldn’t get the bulb into the wheelbarrow. I ended up having to roll it along the ground and that took over an hour to do. The bulb was wet and probably weighed 100 lbs or more and it was all I could to do to move it, let alone get it across the yard.
Well, that was then and today was a new day. I had Laura there to help and she suggested using a dolly. I asked her what a cloned sheep had to do with this project and she said no, a metal one! Our wonderful neighbors had one and we moved both in about five minutes — yea!
We now have three nice pear trees (we have three, not a pair) and we hope they live a long time. The city was good enough to come in and cut down the two dead trees that were in the same area. They will be by in a few days to grind the stumps down so we will have a nice yard again. This project was somewhat expensive and cost me a lot of sweat and blood, but in the end, I think it was worth it.