Showing posts with label Stumpery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stumpery. Show all posts

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Stumpery

Beloved has been clearing invasives from the woodland for over a year.  Months of clearing, months of burning, or at least waiting for burn permits to be released.  The last purge of invasives, 2 staggering mounds of trees.
.
We drove the Gator, before Christmas, toward sunset, with glasses of wine, to admire those behemoth piles. A single pile would have provided, beyond measure, everything needed for, below.  You can imagine my excitement.  A STUMPERY !  My personal Gator mound tour included meandering, slowing, pausing for stories of the greater feats & daring  & skill required.  I was locked on the stumps.
.
Gave him his time for manly bravado, then, "I want to make a stumpery."  Two issues against it, he had never seen or heard of a stumpery and "I" could obviously not do it myself.  Describing a stumpery, his face got a 'look'.  "Prince Charles has one.", did not go over well.
.
It's wildly amazing how huge mounds burn down to 3 cups of ash.  My stumpery included.  Dream dashed.

The Stumpery - a garden made out of old  tree stumps and filled in with hostas and ferns...Highgrove, England:
Pic, above, here.
.
For reference, a few details about filthy lucre.  Beloved worked his Caterpillar months of weekends, clearing, and contouring at pond's edge and its dam.  One portion of the work,  about 20%,  towards the end, he decided to get another contractor in and knock the job out.  The bid came in at $21,000.00.  He was tempted, but a pole barn still needs to be built.  To speed things up, instead of hiring that contractor, he hired a large dump truck/driver for a weekend while he was in his Caterpillar.
.
The clearing/burning/contouring has encompassed almost 2 acres.  The math is easy, the total prodigious.  


Prince Charles's Highgrove Gardens.. the treehouse:
Pic, above, here.
.
Such visions I had, of my stumpery.
.
Garden & Be Well,    XOT