It's a start

Since moving to Tsukahara, I promised myself that I wouldn’t touch the landscape. I felt that a natural setting was the best fit for our home. I have discovered that the oaks on our property are attracting the world’s largest hornets. These hornets can be deadly if a person is stung. The danger is real enough that the local hospital keeps a serum on hand if a victim is stung. Rather than endanger our guests and ourselves, we have decided to remove the oak trees.
 

 

I do not want to do this, but it’s something I must do. We’ll cut the trees down before the leaves appear next spring. The wood will be dried and used for firewood in a few years.

One of our neighbors has a Japanese maple forest in his front yard. In Seattle, we had a similar landscape in our yard. I’ve always been a big fan of Japanese maples and I have tried to incorporate them into all of my landscapes. Our neighbor has given us a bunch of small Japanese maples which we have been planted in our nursery.

Japanese maples, really?

Nursery

 

They don't look like much right now. We have been told that they will reach a respectable size in five years. It’s a start…and five years will pass quickly. One of the nice things about Japanese maples is that they allow light to filter through. This is very important as we don’t want to block our million dollar view! I like the idea that they are growing wild in the mountains that surround us. Having them in our yard gives us the feeling of bringing the mountains a little closer to us. The spectacular fall color will be an added bonus.   George