Stumpy

When we first moved here over 5 years ago there was a broken down chain link fence that surrounded the house. Along with taking care of almost everything else that we did on the inside of the house to make it more habitable (the toilet that didn't work; the shower that was only dribble-force for over a year; the paneling and endless layers of wallpaper that covered the bare plywood walls; and the list could go on and on...!), one raw March day Ace attacked the outside fence. With wire snips and a Saws-All, he got the unsightly chain link fence into smaller sizes, rolled those pieces up and stacked them on the side of the garage. He then took the Saws-All and went at the fence poles and their cement footings that held them into the ground. It was quite a chore.

When spring and summer finally rolled around I eyeballed the yard and thought about what to do with it. After years of putting in pretty nice sized gardens in the couple of places that we'd rented, I just shook my head and realized that any thoughts of gardening were going to have to be delayed until some major cleaning up took place.

And, that's just what I did the first three summers...I didn't put a plant in the ground. All I did was hack away at the side yard beside the garage where I had friend, Rob chainsaw dead tree after dead tree down, and even a few live ones. It was thick with brush and weeds and most of all trash...bottles, plastic bags, broken toys....just piles and piles of trash!

Whenever anyone asked me how my gardening was going, I'd always shake my head and say, "I haven't gotten to "creative mode" yet, I feel like I'm still in clean-up crew/destructo mode!" Even though I was cleaning up alot of the stuff, I still wasn't feeling the urge to plant anything or create anything new. Once enough of the rubble was removed I could slowly feel the vision for what was next.

The first step was to get some mulch dropped off....I mean a major truck load! I called Jack and Debbie and Jack had it piled up in that side yard the next day. It was a big pile! Everyone who drove by asked if I intended to cover our whole yard with mulch! Oh no, I had another idea...and soon, actually after another truck load and two summers of working it, I spread it all out in the area next to the garage. Once that was done and a few yard brush fires later to clean up the remaining brush, I could finally start to look to the front yard. Three years! (It was pointed out to me that in my zealous efforts to clear things out that I actually cut down my neighbor's dead trees and cleared brush in about ten-by-sixty feet of his yard! Ah well, he got some free property improvements!)

When I finally put my attention to the front yard I saw the real "Stumpy" for first time. That was the nickname that I chose to call this 4-foot tall and 2-foot wide stump that was left in our front yard. For some reason, whoever chose to cut it down left a sizable amount of it still standing. It looked awkward and out of place and I just couldn't focus on what my next step would be to spruce up our front yard until I dealt with Stumpy.

I thought about cutting it down, but that seemed an unnecessary expense at that time. As I continued to dwell on Stumpy's fate, it dawned on me that perhaps the best, most fertile soil anywhere in my yard was inside of Stumpy. One day I went out with my little gardening tools and just kept hacking away at the inside of this stump and, indeed, the soil was very peaty and once chopped up, somewhat light and workable.

As if in a trance, I added some potting mix to this peaty mixture and planted some seeds in it, just to see what would happen. Soon, my snow peas were coming up and as I excitedly tended them I decided to splurge on a couple more plants. Stumpy soon had a light green fluffy top of Artemesia (Wormwood), to which I added another more spikey blue-green ornamental grass...with all of the shelf fungus and other "things" that were starting to grow at the base of the stump as well as on the bark itself, Stumpy's "personality" was starting to take shape!! A sort of whimsical, quirky and goofy look, but much more presentable than being just a drab stump with nothing to do!

One day I found his face and decided to place it on him. All year round now, Stumpy has a different look to "his" personality. In the spring I eagerly await the new growth from last year to pop up out of the top of Stumpy. And, every summer now I place in some new and different plants to add to his seasonal look. In the fall he gets more of a harvest/autumnal look often with Chrysanthemums crowning him. And, in the winter, Stumpy bears through the elements, often covered with mounds of snow, but still managing to peek through and give passer-bys a smile! My eight year old neighbor, Virginia, loves to come by and check out what latest things are growing in or on Stumpy. She's even taken to calling him, Stumpy, too!

Slowly, but surely, the front yard will develop its own look, and Stumpy, if still able to stand (his bark is rapidly peeling off this summer?!), will be a part of that look. Whimsical, quirky, and goofy...but, certainly not your ordinary, drab-looking stump with nothing to do!