Decision Time

                                            A new neighbor....Maidenhair Fern

                                          This is the Spruce tree I moved.

 I have been trying to make a decision concerning a spirea bush in the back yard. It is pretty for only a few days a year and is a magnet for dead nettles. I'm making an effort to get rid of the  intrusive plant (dead nettle) or at least  slow it down.  We have two spruce trees that I planted years ago that are in back of  other trees.  What would happen if I replaced the spirea with one of the spruce trees?

With shovel in hand I started digging around the spirea to see if this was possible.   My first attempt, yesterday, was futile. Today I decided to try again. I used my pruners to cut the roots away. This seemed to help but I needed to go behind the bush. I was hoping to avoid this as it is on the edge of the hillside.
I  kept plugging away and finally it started to loosen. Eventually I got it out and tossed it in the gully. It will probably grow in the woods so I don't  feel too guilty about digging out the innocent plant.
Next step was getting the tree out of the ground.  I dug with one hand and held on to a tree with the other. This was not working so I used both hands and grabbed the nearby tree when I started to lose my balance.

The spruce came out rather easily as it was planted on the hillside and ground was very moist from all the rain.
I  placed the spruce in the hole left by the bush...not deep enough..I dug and dug and wondered how anything grew in this hard- pan. I added some good soil, watered, covered with fir bark and stomped all around it.
It looked a little crooked so I turned it this way and that until I was satisfied.  Later, I showed it to Joe and he pulled it this way and that until he was satisfied.

So happy I made the decision.   Hope the tree lives.

It has been a few days since the transplant. Tree seems to be doing well and happy with  neighbors.

About the new neighbors.  The honeysuckle is wild and beautiful. The rhododendron became wild.  It now grows between maple trees, salal and Oregon grape.