Tuesday, May 13, 2008

welcome to my world


Today was an installation day on Central Park West. We started the job last week, moving the contents from 4 wooden boxes into 4 stainless steel boxes. It's heavy work, combining a little bit of gardening with a lot of strategic lifting. We're moving 15 foot trees with large rootballs, trying not to disturb them as we cut away the old containers, then twist, pivot, and heft the tree in a dead lift and drop it into place. I'm a little scratched, a little bruised, but the guys bear the brunt of it. And I am SO grateful!


Today we transplanted two large paper birches. (see above) The roots of one had broken through its container and grown into the crack between the terrace floor and the wall. We had to saw through it...2.5 inches thick. We also replaced an old crabapple that has suffered from apple-cedar rust for years, then moved a bunch of small shrubs and perennials: sandcherry, creeping juniper, black-leaf elderberry, elephant rudbeckia, and daylillies galore.

It was a glorious day: sunny, 70 degrees, a light breeze. When the work was done, we sat and looked out over the boat pond in Central Park and thought how much nicer life in the city would be if we had a terrace like this one to come to at the end of the day. Seventeen floors above the fray, listening to the sound of birch leaves blowing in the wind, the world looks a lot kinder and gentler.

4 Comments:

At May 14, 2008 at 7:22 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice to see how that gorgeous terrace is doing (gorgeous because of your expert care!). And I am so right there with you--another installation day for me, too, and bless my crew for doing a lot of the heavy lifting!

 
At May 15, 2008 at 4:30 PM , Blogger Domino Bianchi said...

AWESOME. Looks great.

 
At May 17, 2008 at 1:12 PM , Blogger Mum said...

Great shots!

 
At May 29, 2008 at 3:25 PM , Blogger molly said...

Ain't that the truth! Makes me wish we were there doing it with you... Rye and I had many an interesting job being up on other people's terraces like that--it's amazing to see how the other half lives, close up like that. But then, they don't know the joy of hoisting trees and roots and getting mud on their hands. Ah, sweet fresh dirt!

 

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