History of our Timber~

The trees are earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.

- Rabindranath Tagor 

10-27-2016  The Beginning~

 It was months before we really took the time to check out the property surrounding us.  The remodel of the house was our priority.  As it had been with the Homestead - the need for a fence - started us really looking around at the land we had.  

2-4-2017 Posts going in~

We realized early on, we would need more space for off-street parking.  Thankfully, our neighbor was willing to sell us two of her lots.  Old houses had been torn down years ago.  The property closest to us, gave us the room to enlarge the backyard.  The other gives us plenty of parking.

12-12-17 NW Edge of the Timber~

 Last summer, I had spent a few days cutting back the Honeysuckle & Greenbriar along the leading edge of the timber. This fall I worked in that area again, cutting out more Greenbriar & using the herbicide Toradon.  

1-8-18 Looking up the hill, at the horse trailer~

With the survey finally done January of 2018 & the undergrowth down, it was time to explore. Where hillside drops off steeply, trash & yard debris had been dumped over the years. Some spots are so ugly I'm not posting photos until after the cleanup! We hauled many truckloads full of debris & trash away - to get the job done.

1-10-18 South toward Tinkle Branch Creek~

The land does flatten out at the base of the hill.  It's an easy walk to the edge of the creek.  Next - will be figuring out where we want the trail.  Just keeping a clear trail will take a lot of work once things start to grow again!

1-8-18 Looking toward home, from the SW corner.

The SW corner is right at the center line of the creek.  It surprises me there are no set-backs along waterways.  If you take a nice walk from this spot, you end up at our backyard.

1-10-18 Back up near the top~

It's going to be a lot of work to return this area to somewhat of a native state.  I've done it before & I don't know if you'd call it gardening - but I'll enjoy the challenge.  A few of the invasive plants - such as Reed Canary grass were common problems in Washington.  Others are very different & it seems many of them have thorns!  At least the Honeysuckle blooms & isn't prickly but otherwise there's nothing good about it...

1-18-18 Sunset~

Working with a new to me environment & new native plants will be fun.  I'll have a some research & experimenting to do.  I learned a lot the first time - reclaiming a piece of property.  I'll depend again - on help from my husband for the heavy work.  We might find a spot for a little Cabin~