2024 May 27 What’s on the Tree Lawn?

I’m a fan of a good tree lawn. It’s an often overlooked feature of a community. A tree lawn implies there is a sidewalk. The area is safe for pedestrians because there is a small organic buffer from the road. The name itself shows that the community was planned to value trees. 

It’s wild and lush on our tree lawn. 

How many native species can you name? 

Answers in the bottom photo caption.

In 2012, when I bought my house, there was a beautiful Silver Maple on the tree lawn. The placement was especially important because my house faces a street running perpendicular to mine. In Feng Shui, that’s s nightmare of energy moving too quick at the home. A tree is an energetic “fix”. It takes on the energy and protects the home. 

Feng Shui makes a lot of sense. One winter morning, the icy roads caused a car to lose control and run the stop sign. The beautiful Silver Maple stopped the car from hitting my house. I called an ambulance and never heard anything about the condition of the dazed man inside. I am grateful to the tree for  protecting me. The crack in the tree eventually led to the tree dying and the city came to remove it. I cried in the back yard when they cut it down.

A Maple sapling started growing at Carli’s mom’s house a few years ago, and we decided to try it out in the same spot as the previous tree. It  started as a tiny twig, and now it’s as tall as me. Then an Elm randomly popped up. We left it. I think they can be friends. Hopefully the city agrees, since technically they own the tree lawn.

The Maple & the Elm are taking off on the tree lawn.

A lot of fun plants have popped up on the tree lawn. We didn’t plant the Late Boneset, Evening Primrose or White Vervain. Our late neighbor Susan across the street had Common Milkweeds, Coneflower, and Shasta Daisies on her tree lawn. When she died, the new owner invited us to take it all. So last year Carli and I dug everything up and planted them across the street. We have good memories of talking native plants with Susan. She had a nice wild corner tree lawn that the city cited the same year we were cited. I can still remember our last conversation on a warm April day. Susan had her gardening gear on and a five gallon bucket and she was eager to get to her plants. Cheers to Susan! We are honored to care for her plants now. 

The Common Milkweed (bottom second left) and Purple Coneflowers (bottom right) are from Susan’s tree lawn across the street. The American Elm (top left) and the Silver Maple (top right) protect our energy. The Late Boneset (top middle) and White Vervain (middle middle) popped up on their own. We planted the Monarda (bottom left) and Pink Ladies (blooming behind Maple). 

How did you do in your identification? 

I’d love to see your comments! 

Oh and we spotted our first Monarch butterfly if the season today!!!