I’m Chipper For This Chipper

New treescaping obsession?

The wood chipper.

I’m a self-professed landscaping tool virgin, never really having had an opportunity to use light- or heavy-duty yard outdoor power equipment like the common rototiller, chainsaw, backhoes, bull dozers… I’ve never even used a riding lawn mower even though my parent’s mowable lawn was 1+ acres (nor have I sped through the yard on one full speed like Handy Girl in this video tutorial, which is a good watch if you want to know how to make zig-zags in your lawn) but I think I’m hooked. Shocker, I know.

I didn’t know what I was getting into when I volunteered to help Pete + his parents with some treescaping (which I’m happy to find is totally google-able and not just a word I made up); it was sunny and warm and sure thing I was up for a little outdoor action. They had cut down a bunch of tree limbs to bring more sunlight into the yard and porch (which made a world of a difference, BTW, although I didn’t snap any photos of that before + after so you’re going to have to trust me). To get rid of said limbs, we were tasked with grinding the branches with the wood chipper, which is something I now know anyone with significant property would enjoy owning.

Their’s was a handsome Troy-Bilt model. Any more details on that will need to be provided by Pete. Contact him yourself if you want. I can tell you superficially that it was red. And loud. And chipper. Har-har.

How much fun can hacking apart dozens upon dozens of branches be?

Amazingly fun – that’s the answer you were looking for.

And don’t get all lazy or “Wah, I’m too busy” on me until you at least try it; cutting down branches with a hack saw and chopping logs for the fireplace with a totally manual ax? That sounds hard (and I’ve also never done it, but I’d try it). This was easy. It was therapeutic too, like vacuuming with a Dyson and watching all of the dirt, dog fur, and dust gather in the transparent canister, except that instead of fur and dropped crushed tortilla chips, it was regurgitating finely grated mulch (that smelled quite similar to a wheat grass smoothie since the chipper was also nom-nom’ing green maple leaves).

After 3 hours and hundreds of branches (big and small) we had a sizable stash of mulch, which of course now I’m wondering how we could dye dark brown and recycle into the garden. Have ideas? Pass them on to me; I haven’t actually done the research yet but there has to be something out there for mulch-tinting.

Oh, and I keep making a big (flowery) stink about the (lack of) Peonies in my own yard. Just like a friendly reader commented a few weeks ago, it seems that my little plants needs another good year to root themselves before they give me the blossoms I’m craving. In the meantime, though, Pete’s mom’s Peonies are AMAZING (and stand as high as my chest). Yep, so amazing that it deserves a bold and underline. You might have seen this picture over the weekend if you like me on facebook:

And Pete uploaded another photo to the facebook page yesterday, as the blooms had fully wham-bam-exploded. I love these flowers.

P.S. I updated the before + after section of the site. This house rules.

P.P.S. Another giveaway is coming on Monday, and it’s my biggest yet! Five possible winners! Hear that, now?

P.P.P.S. Remember to like merrypad on facebook so you can see more random photos of our activities that don’t always make it onto the blog.