Freebie Treebie

We’re getting a free tree. A no-cost boost to enhance our curb appeal. And not much beats that.

Word from the April 2012 This Old House Mag states that adding trees can increase your property value upwards of 10-20%. I doubt that one little sappling will cause insta-value, but I can always be optimistic. At the very least, someday I’ll have something that I can string Christmas lights around, and that right there makes me happy.

Without further rambling, here she is, that’s my future baby: A sweet little Autumn Flowering Cherry tree. Could there be any better way to celebrate springtime? (Of course, you should know that I’m excluding the consumption of a cold Mike’s Hard Black Cherry Lemonade, on the deck, in the sunny-sunshine, that almost always wins.)

Back track: Last fall while I was destroying 1/3 of my driveway with a sledgehammer, one of my neighbors stopped by (not to offer help or a glass of lemonade but) to let me know that she had ordered a bunch of japanese tree lilac saplings to adorn her corner lot, a humungo feat in the grand scheme of money-saving because, if you know anything about buying sapplings in multiples, they can often run on the pricier side, quickly increasing in price with the age of the plant. Little did I know that my tax dollars could be converted into long-term foliage of my choice, I was all over the opportunity.

For ejemplo, I was instantly thinking that this spot right here would be perfecto:

The City of Rochester Forestry Department was easier to work with than, say, the permits office or the DMV, I think even Leslie Knope would approve. They sent someone out to scope out my lot in person, noting the placement of telephone poles and underground lines. Shortly afterwards, they mailed a document to me outlining a dozen feasible options for my property, which I perused and contemplated for a week before landing on my little Autumn Flowering Cherry tree.

Its attributes, which seemed most fitting for my morning sun/afternoon shade front yard, include:

• 20-40 ft. height and 15-25 ft. width (that mature size means that long term, it’s less likely than other trees to conflict with power lines, my driveway, or my neighbor’s driveway)
• Happy in partial-to-full sunlight (check.)
• Double blooming! As in, siamese twin blossoms, and also blooming alive twice a year! More exciting than a double rainbow, that’s for sure. After it’s established, I can expect blooms in the springtime and then again in the fall! There are none of those in my neighborhood right now, boy am I stoked.
• “It can grow almost anywhere.” (Bazinga.)

When’s it going in? Soon. Allegedly, before the 4th of July!

I’ll let you know how it goes when the install takes place, but in the meantime, GO HUNT DOWN YOUR OWN FREE TREE!

And happy first day of spring.