Plant BIG Trees

The single best landscaping decision we ever made was to plant big trees on a new lot. Like many new homes, our house was built on a former cornfield. It had been terraced, but it was bare. At the suggestion of our landscaper, Leif Knecht of Knecht’s Nurseries and Landscaping, we planted six large trees, as well as eight smaller trees. The picture is of an Autumn Blaze maple I grabbed from Leif’s web site. I’ll post one of my maple when it turns color.

The big trees had to be moved in with a special tree-hauling truck. The six we planted were:

• An Autumn Blaze maple
• A Pin Oak
• Two White Pines
• A Swamp White Oak
• A Marshall Seedless Ash

With our other plantings and the small trees, our lot looked “full enough” from the beginning. Now it looks great. Some of the trees are taller than our house, which helps to keep the house from looking like a huge box as so many new homes do. They also provide shade and privacy. Big trees can be expensive, but if you consider the difference they make in the appearance and your enjoyment of a new home, they are worth it.