Welcome to my backyard

Autumn is my favourite time of the year. The smell is in the air, the earth is harvesting some of its finest fruits and everything is just sooo beautiful!

I would like to introduce the trees of our backyard to you. First we have an Aspen Poplar. A lot of people don't like poplars, but I enjoy this tree. We rescued this one from my husband's parents' acreage many years ago. It was about 6 feet tall and I could encircle it with one hand. When we transplanted it into our yard, we dreamt of the day when it would give shade. And it does. The Aspen is approximately 18 feet high. It also makes a beautiful rustling sound when the wind blows through its branches. Some native people call these trees "noisy leaf". I love that.

Our next tree is an Elm. One year, we noticed that a little birdie had planted a tree in our garden. So, instead of getting rid of the sapling, we decided to reduce the size of our garden to make room for a second tree. This beauty is now approximately 25 feet high. All the brilliant leaves have fallen off it now, but one of my gnomes stands guard at its feet.

Tree number three was yet another brilliant gift that fell from the sky into our raspberry patch in the northwest end of our garden. We decided immediately that we would sacrifice the raspberry bushes for a Mountain Ash Tree ~ one of my absolute favourites!

I recall about the second year the young tree was severely damaged when two young energetic boys who were visiting our house decided to sword fight the tree. They swatted off every single tender leaf that had grown on the Mountain Ash!

It was mid summer, and all that remained was a stick in the ground. We prayed that the tree would survive. And in the spring, we were thrilled to witness as buds started appearing on our precious tree. The Mountain Ash now stands about 10 feet tall. It's produced some beautiful berries for the birds to feed upon during the winter months.

What is your backyard like? Do you have trees that nest birds in the spring; give you shade in the summer months; turn brilliant hues in the autumn; and supply food for the birds during the winter?