The first year we lived in our house, my husband bought a Have-A-Heart trap, baited it with Ritz crackers and peanut butter, and carted off more than 30 squirrels to a tonier neighborhood on the other side of town, where he wished them a very happy new home. Eighteen years later, their surviving descendents are still at work. This oak was uprooted in the bed underneath my river birches. There are no oaks in close proximity to my yard, so this one was obviously the work of squirrel. After all, most of the 200 or so snowdrops I planted one fall now populate Angie's front yard two doors down; nearly all of the crocuses are now next door; and my alliums are ?
"Volunteer" plants -- those that you yourself did not plant -- arrive in many ways: bird droppings (the source of all my cursed porcelain vines); squirrels or other animals; simply the wind. While they occasionally land in the right place, most volunteers are simply a nuisance and should be pulled out. With a good start, however, some volunteers can be carefully nurtured and re-planted in a perfect location. My late neighbor, Hubert, dug up a gorgeous Japanese red maple from Ted's yard next door. It's now nearly 20 feet high and in its full glory. My oak is going from Washington DC to Woods Hole, MA, where I hope it will flourish in the huge back yard that's in need of big shade trees. So watch those volunteers carefully -- pull out the ones that don't fit, and re-plant the others in a space where they can be fully appreciated.
The squirrels in my yard are welcome to do as much "re-decorating" as they see fit. Several plants that were pulled out of my garden in error have now come back because of the activities of the busy squirrels who apparently decided to do some conservation work of their own!
Posted by: panasianbiz | June 26, 2006 at 08:15 PM