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  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

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I’m Chipper For This Chipper

June 10, 2011

New treescaping obsession?

The wood chipper.

Chip, chip away. Shout-out to Connor's Hot Dog Stand Class of 2005 in that shirt.

I’m a self-professed landscaping tool virgin, never really having had an opportunity to use light- or heavy-duty yard outdoor power equipment like the common rototiller, chainsaw, backhoes, bull dozers… I’ve never even used a riding lawn mower even though my parent’s mowable lawn was 1+ acres (nor have I sped through the yard on one full speed like Handy Girl in this video tutorial, which is a good watch if you want to know how to make zig-zags in your lawn) but I think I’m hooked. Shocker, I know.

I didn’t know what I was getting into when I volunteered to help Pete + his parents with some treescaping (which I’m happy to find is totally google-able and not just a word I made up); it was sunny and warm and sure thing I was up for a little outdoor action. They had cut down a bunch of tree limbs to bring more sunlight into the yard and porch (which made a world of a difference, BTW, although I didn’t snap any photos of that before + after so you’re going to have to trust me). To get rid of said limbs, we were tasked with grinding the branches with the wood chipper, which is something I now know anyone with significant property would enjoy owning.

Their’s was a handsome Troy-Bilt model. Any more details on that will need to be provided by Pete. Contact him yourself if you want. I can tell you superficially that it was red. And loud. And chipper. Har-har.

Man chipping. I love this wood chipper.

How much fun can hacking apart dozens upon dozens of branches be?

Amazingly fun – that’s the answer you were looking for.

And don’t get all lazy or “Wah, I’m too busy” on me until you at least try it; cutting down branches with a hack saw and chopping logs for the fireplace with a totally manual ax? That sounds hard (and I’ve also never done it, but I’d try it). This was easy. It was therapeutic too, like vacuuming with a Dyson and watching all of the dirt, dog fur, and dust gather in the transparent canister, except that instead of fur and dropped crushed tortilla chips, it was regurgitating finely grated mulch (that smelled quite similar to a wheat grass smoothie since the chipper was also nom-nom’ing green maple leaves).

After 3 hours and hundreds of branches (big and small) we had a sizable stash of mulch, which of course now I’m wondering how we could dye dark brown and recycle into the garden. Have ideas? Pass them on to me; I haven’t actually done the research yet but there has to be something out there for mulch-tinting.

Oh, and I keep making a big (flowery) stink about the (lack of) Peonies in my own yard. Just like a friendly reader commented a few weeks ago, it seems that my little plants needs another good year to root themselves before they give me the blossoms I’m craving. In the meantime, though, Pete’s mom’s Peonies are AMAZING (and stand as high as my chest). Yep, so amazing that it deserves a bold and underline. You might have seen this picture over the weekend if you like me on facebook:

Peony happies.

And Pete uploaded another photo to the facebook page yesterday, as the blooms had fully wham-bam-exploded. I love these flowers.

That's what I'm talkin' about.

P.S. I updated the before + after section of the site. This house rules.

P.P.S. Another giveaway is coming on Monday, and it’s my biggest yet! Five possible winners! Hear that, now?

P.P.P.S. Remember to like merrypad on facebook so you can see more random photos of our activities that don’t always make it onto the blog.

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Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. I've been a freelancer writer for 10+ years and you can find my work on popular home and garden sites, like HGTV.com. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note.

6 Comments


Cait @ Hernando House
June 10, 2011 at 11:14 am
Reply

The wood chipper looks fun :) And I love the updated Before&After!



    Emily
    June 10, 2011 at 11:28 am

    Thanks Cait! Happy Friday!

    Cait @ Hernando House
    June 10, 2011 at 11:51 am

    Happy Friday to you, too!

Ashley @ DesignBuildLove.co
June 10, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Reply

a chipper! HOW FUN!!!!!! PS- OMG those peonies are gorgeous!!!



Missy
June 12, 2011 at 10:41 pm
Reply

Thanks for your comment on my laundry room Goodwill dresser…I LOVE it! :)
I LOVE power tools, so I think I’d have a lot of fun with that chipper! lol I get teased sometimes because of my power tool fettish, but that’s ok…I have fun with it. :) I bet you’re right, there has to be a way to tint much. I wonder if you could just spray it with woodstain? Not sure if it would hurt plants though. hmmmm….something to google! :)
Have a great week
missy



    Emily
    June 13, 2011 at 7:59 am

    Hi Missy – thanks for the nice comment! Happy Monday and have a good week!

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  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

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🧄 65% of the planting is in a new plot in the country. 🧄 Seeing if NR grows bigger with more sunlight. 🧄 Big @chasefarms cloves from 2021 were really productive in our home garden; can’t wait to see how they can show up next year in the new space. 🧄

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