As the outside of the house nears completion it is exciting to turn our attention to the landscaping. For now we will stick to the broad strokes, the fence, shaping of the ground and placement of the larger pieces of the puzzle.

When we bought our property there was a gorgeous split leaf maple that the previous owner had planted many years ago. From our very first plans we decided it would be saved and relocated to a fitting new home. Just before we dug our foundation excavation we carefully moved it about 20 feet closer to the road. We thought it would live there permanently, but as we built the new house it quickly became apparent that the space we had was too small for the tree. Many discussions ensued about where the tree would go. This week as we started the final shaping of the front yard and then began to build the fence we knew that it was time to actually make the move, before the fence blocked the place where the tree would go. I called the tree mover.

He first used his giant spade to dig a hole where the tree would go, then moved to place the spade around the tree. It was a tight fit.

The heavy blades were forced into the sandy soild almost effortlessly. and then the stong hydraulics pulled it and the dirt around it out of the ground.

The tree wasn't going far. He backed out of the driveway, onto the street and back across the sidewalk to the other end of the house. We carefully positioned his bucket and then lowered the tree gently into the pre-dug hole where it would permanently live.

As quick as that the work was done. The tree instantly looked like it had been there forever.

Out front of the house there was suddenly LOTS of room. It looks real empty now but as the sidewalks get poured and we put in the landscaping we'll make it look nice and pretty. For the first time we can see the entire entry side of the house. We liked what we saw.

Tomorrow we get three inspections as a final step before the spray foam insulation which is set to begin on Monday morning. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan