Carving a place for a house out of woodlands leaves plenty of stumps behind. Although most of them have been excavated or cut even with the ground (a lot easier than digging them up), the one in the middle of the oasis (see the oasis post here) has stuck around. It dates back to when the house was built, making it about fourteen years along.
The oasis, an area between house and driveway and with a pathway separating it from the rose garden was a little isolated area of forest. It had several sweet birch trees and assorted undergrowth. This oasis was my first experience with transforming forest into cultivated land. I went up the road to the hardware and bought an ax.
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| A good place for heather |
After the trees were out, I added some plants into the area. Around the base of the stump seemed like a good place for heather that had been brought from the previous residence. And it seems happy there. Its long stems lie against the stump making it look like it is rooted into it. An illusion- the roots grow into the ground around the stump.
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| Colorful things grow on the stump |
After fourteen years the stump has a patina like an antique thing covered in mosses and lichens. Quite beautiful with all of those tiny, tiny things thriving on it. It’s a true wonder.
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| A parking place for containers |
The stump is useful for more than propping up heather. It’s also a parking place for rusted and earthen containers- yard art in lieu of pink flamingos. Aged, rusty, dented, torn and chipped, the objects seem right at home on top of the mossy, rotting stump.
How long does it take for a stump to rot? Will the rusty bucket give way before the wood turns pucky? By virtue of its natural beauty it deserves a spot in the oasis and will stay until it finally rots into nothing. It’s kind of nice to have a stump in the yard that will not have to be wrangled out of the ground. -jmm
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