Our Beautiful Crape Myrtle Tree

I love our beautiful crape myrtle tree in the front yard between my neighbor Judy and me. Rich always kept the bushes around the tree trimmed so nice and back in September 2023 he did a major trimming and cut the bushes away from the tree so the beauty of the trunk could be seen when people drive by. After he finished I told him the next spring project I wanted to do was put a border of rocks around the base. We never got that far and last year I let this area turn into a jungle.

Last month it was time to make this area beautiful again. The huge pampas grass bush was so overgrown and ready to be deleted. Now if it was just that easy like on a computer to hit delete and it’s gone but not so with this bush. We planted a small bush back around 2005 and it had grown immensely with so many deep down roots.

I picked the perfect day to start this project though, it had rained the night before and the ground was saturated so once I cut all the grass shoots off it was a bit easier to pull the roots with the wet soil. But the roots were so deep and as I was digging them out I hit a yellow jacket variety of ground digger wasps nest and they were not happy with me at all. I didn’t realize this species had a venomous and painful sting and can sting repeatedly without losing their stinger. I only felt one hit my cheek but by that evening my face was swollen and painful and I realized I had about 8 stings plus a few more on my arm. I looked like the Pillsbury Dough boy on my cheek and arm. My neighbor gave me some Benadryl and a few magic potions from her herbs and oils she makes and it took the sting and pain away somewhat.

Next morning I was ready to tackle the front yard beast. I had piles of the grass shoots and piles of the other bushes and limbs I cut laying on the grass. I planned to bag them and take to landfill but one of the lawn crews stopped by and gave me a price I couldn’t refuse to have them haul everything away in their trailer.

While they were here I also broke down and let them cut a medium sized tree instead of me cutting it down and maybe fall the wrong way. I didn’t notice the stump until a few days later, it’s in the shape of a heart!

The entire project took me about three days but it looked so much nicer and opened up the yard. The next part of my project was to trim the bushes around the big crape myrtle tree. Did you know crape myrtle trees shed their bark in the summer? The tree looks so strange seeing the bark peel off like a snake skin but when it’s done, the tree trunk is so smooth and beautiful!

Since I had seen an ad on Market Place for free concrete pieces from a dock bulk head, I knew I needed to get them for one of my projects. At the time I wasn’t sure which one but they would come in handy somewhere. That somewhere was making a border around the base of the tree and fill it in with the smaller pieces. They concrete had been mixed with small stones and shells so it had a nice blend of texture. This is where I put more of the concrete pieces.

I was so happy to see the border around the tree and I didn’t realize it until a Facebook memory popped up that it was the same day but two years later from when I told Rich I wanted to put a ring of rocks around the base. I don’t think it needs any flowers, I love it just the way it is.

During the winter months I will decide what to do with the front yard, if grass won’t grow I think a ground cover of lavender would be pretty. I’ll take a few months off and work on it in the spring.

Little by little, a piece at a time, my puzzle will be finished and I can check off another labor of love project.