Maintaining a Windbreak--Part 1

Maintaining a Windbreak--Part 1--Filling in the Gaps

Windbreak and new trees on right

We live in the West Antelope Valley, in a transition area from foothills to the Western edge of the Mojave desert.  It is windy out here...I mean really windy.  We regularly have sustained winds of over 30 mph.  Gusts up to 70 mph are not unheard of.  What this means is that an adequate wind break is a must.  A windbreak is essentially a line of trees on the side of your property where the prevailing winds come from.  In our case, it's the Western boarder of our property.

Loading the trees into the truck

 

We took advantage of a dust mitigation program offered by neighboring Solar facilities, Mid America Solar and S Solar, which offered area residents 10 free trees.  We decided to use these trees to fill in the holes in our windbreak. 

Water delivery

We picked the trees up in mid December and placed them near where we plan to plant them.  Since we have not added irrigation lines or water to the back portion of our property, we have been watering the trees using 20 gallon tubs and 2 gallon buckets run from the back of the truck.  Not the easiest way to water, but it gets the job done.

Fabulous husband getting started

Figure out where your gaps are in the windbreak and decide where to place your tree.  Since the trees are super heavy, it's best to use the container to gauge your placement and the depth of the hole.

Not quite deep enough

Once the hole was deep and wide enough, we added a bit of composted horse manure to feed the tree.  Since the previous owner of our ranch raised thoroughbred Arabians, there is no shortage of this around here!  We added about a gallon of water and then placed measured using the planter to be sure.

Depth of hole equals correct depth to plant

Low tech irrigation

 

We took the tree out of the container and cut the roots to loosen.  These trees had been in these pots way to long and had become root bound.  It's essential that the tree's roots be able to spread out and a tap root reach the ground water.

Making cuts to the roots to ensure growth.

Now it's time to place the tree in the hole.These weigh over 150 pounds so it took both of us.  We oriented the tree slightly into the prevailing winds and checked to make sure we were satisfied with its placement before filling the hole.

Checking depth and placement

Now it's time to refill the hole and add a support.  You can use any sturdy stick, but living on a ranch, you end up having all sorts of fence posts and rods laying around...just use what you have.

Add a support

Back fill the hole

While filling the hole, after every few feet of soil we added about a gallon of water.  This is to give them a drink as well as help our little trees be successful.  It also helps with settling and lets you know if you have any drainage issues.

Add a gallon of water several times during the fill

Finish back filling the hole

Now that the holes have been back filled, we add about 2-3 gallons of water.  We check drainage and their level to ensure the trees are where we want them.  After the trees are settled in, we will attach the tree to the support post with a piece of cloth to support our tree's growth in the wind. 

All done!

So one tree down....nine more to go!!

You might be wondering why I titled this blog post, "Part 1."  The answer to this is that maintaining a windbreak is a twofold process.  What we have been avoiding since we moved here about about a year and a half ago is cutting the dead wood from the existing windbreak trees.  This is a tough one, because even though there are large sections of some trees that are clearly dead, they still provide a break from the wind.  We don't want to remove too much.

Max with our puppies Rudy & Valentino August 2014

Like everything else in a rural setting, it's trial and error.  Living out here also forces you to do a lot of the work yourself.  It's tough to find an expert and if you can, they don't want to drive all the way out here...lol!

For more information on how to do this in your area, check your local county agricultural extension office. 

Hope you enjoyed our windbreak sage, part 1! 

Cheers for now~
Marti

Construction Zone

Well, we've been here for a few weeks and are sort of settled in.  Because we are making some improvements, our house is basically a construction zone.  We are living in our master bedroom like a hotel suite...lol!  Luckily our master is a good size, 16 x 20, so there's plenty of room to live, even though there are still boxes everywhere.  Because of all the construction dust, we're even eating our meals on the card table in our room.



Master from East to West

Master from West to East (we moved the TV)

We had such a solid plan for renovations and moving into the house, but plans do not always work the way you plan them.  We closed on the house the end of January and planned to have renovations completed BEFORE we moved in March 1st.

This has been in our living room since we moved in

Tile removed from Kitchen and
 Kitchen Dining area

Laminate removed from Dining room




Bare subfloor

Underlayment

We removed and sold the carpet in most of the house, but we still had to deal with the tile in the kitchen and kitchen dining area, shown in picture titled underlayment and the laminate in the dining room.  We salvaged as much of the material as we could and sold it on craigslist.  Yes, as unbelieveable as it may seem craigslist even works out here in the middle of nowhere!

Larry chatting with the Bagster guy from WM

Since there is so much construction debris, we thought we needed a dumpster.  If you've ever priced dumpster rental, you know that it is super expensive. In our area, it costs about $800!!  Luckily, we found out about a service offered by Waste Management called BAGSTER that offered quite a savings.  You only pay for the debris you remove.  Basically, you buy the large bags at Home Depot or Lowes for about $30 each.  We needed two of them. Once they're full, you call Waste Management and they come pick up the bags.  It was $129 for the first bag and $109 for each additional bag.  With the $5 off coupon we found, it was $233...much better than $800!!



WM picks up the giant bag with their crane

Then the bag is placed  into the truck

Lid is opened and closed over the truck
to avoid flying debris

 We were quite amazed at how quick and easy the Bagster service was. I highly recommend it to anyone that has a landscaping or home improvement project.  If you under estimate the amount of debris you have (which is quite easy!) you can always go pick up an extra bag.

Max enjoying the glorious weather

Meanwhile, Max is settling in quite nicely.  He really likes his new school, and after 7 days, is on a well deserved 2 week spring vacation!

Stay tuned for further updates.  Once the kitchen and floors are complete, I'll do a comprehensive before and after post on the transformation.  So far, I must say, we are thrilled with the progress.

Cheers for now~
Marti

We Bought a House...Now What?

Max does the honors...we got the keys!

Well, now that the house is actually ours, the real work begins!  Although we absolutely LOVE~LOVE~LOVE this house, there are dozens of cosmetic changes we need to make!

Miles of Carpet...

The first order of business is the flooring.  Although the bank had installed all new carpeting and pads, it just wasn't for us.  Through the miracle of social networking, we found someone who was thrilled to take it off our hands and pay us a little money to boot!  I love the win-win of getting rid of something and transferring it to someone that is generally thrilled to have it!  Next step is getting hardwood floors and finding someone to install them!

 

 

Max exploring the kitchen cabinets

The kitchen has a great layout, but is in need of some updating.  Not loving the black grout and tiles accented with a duck hunting motif.  The cabinets will get a nice coat of paint/stain and we'll search for a contractor to install new counters and backsplash.

Dining Room

The light fixtures in the dining room as well as the eat in kitchen area are in need of some love.  I think I'll take on the project of taking them from outdated to fabulous...or at least outdated to unobtrusive...ha ha!  The dining room is unusual, so not exactly sure what we're going to do to make it our own, but we'll start with the brass lighting.

Master Bedroom..more miles of carpet here

Another area that needs attention is the master bedroom.  Buying a bank owned property is an unusual experience.  The previous owners took a lot of the finishings and fixtures with them.  There was some sort of mantle or surround around the fireplace, that was removed.  Although the bank added a fresh coat of paint to the entire house, you can tell there's just something missing here.  We've removed the brick hearth as the bricks were all loose anyway.  We'll be adding a new hearth with some sort of tile surround and mantle.  I think I'll also paint the ceiling fan white so it doesn't stand out so much.

These are the initial changes we're planning to tackle.  Stay tuned for further adventures!

Cheers~
Marti