The Courtyard Chronicles - Well Rooted

It’s done!

Check that out … emptiness. The very appreciated yet poorly located air conditioning condenser has moved around the corner.

Much better. Just need to screen the hoses and wiring now.

But wait – what is that pile of stuff on the ground back there? 

Because I was caffeinated and very eager, I started leveling the old condenser location right after HVAC guy moved it. I began to uncover a few thin roots from the Himalayan birch that grows on the other side of the fence. What I thought was going to be a bit of root clipping has turned into this:

Crap!

And this:

Crap! Crap!

And there is more. Oh yes, so much, much more. I gave up after 20 minutes of pulling and cutting. Over the last 7 years, the roots have slowly creeped in, creating a fibrous, thick mat throughout the courtyard (Note to landscape architects and designers: specify a root barrier for trees if a yard is going to be on the other side of a fence. Roots want to spread to up to 2 times the canopy width, sometimes more).

Getting these roots out of the courtyard planting areas will keep me busy for a little while, much to the relief of my husband. I was going to move on to the fence extension phase of my courtyard project next week. But with our Governor winning his appeal to start work furloughs again, the cash I thought I was going to have disappeared this month as of last Thursday (silly Governor – that furlough cash would have re-entered the local economy and helped out some small independent contractors and the businesses that they support).

So, no fence extension for now. I’ll just pull up roots for a while and watch the recycled plants grow around the AC condenser.

Hope you like your new home Mr. Condenser

I gave you some plants to keep you company.
Grow, little plants! Grow!