The cattle have been hard at work. Do to their pushing in dirt from various angles, they have created a pond that appears with a heart shape. It really is their work of love.
Author Archives: Lance Kleckner
Hackberry Leaf Drop
My Common Hackberry(Celtis Occidentalis) dropped a lot of its leaves this year. It was not a pretty sight and have not seen this happen before. To my delight, it started to grow out new leaves, so ended up not being a major problem that was going to kill the tree.
Disney Goat
This spring we had some beautiful baby goats born. Interesting thing is that I see Goofy’s silhouette on the side of one of the young buck goats. Also, here is another colorful boy that was born this spring. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be black or white.
Purple Spring
Every Spring I get to experience the vibrant Purple Beech trees leafing out. It is a variety of the green-leafed European Beech(Fagus sylvatica), which I also have. They are all slow growing trees, but Beech trees suppose to live for hundreds of years. Also when they are decades old, they suppose to produce Beech nuts […]
American Basswood
American Basswood(Tilia americana) is a common tree on my place. It attains a large size as this pic proves: When I came close to this tree to measure it, I saw a lot of rot inside the huge trunk, the whole inside is hollowing out. The circumference of the trunk is around 16 feet. I […]
Iowa Waterfall
A fun time of the year for me is walking around during snowmelt. All the snow that piled up during these winter months finally hit some warm days and quickly melted. This created a wide, icy waterfall along an eroding ditch that was beautiful to witness. Decades ago my dad planted Marsh Marigolds(Caltha palustris) back […]
Fall Colors 2002
Fall is a sad part of the year, there is less sun and everything starts to look drab. So what is there to help me through these cooler, dark months of the year? Well why of course, having some fall color on my trees helps me enjoy this letdown compared to the greener and more […]
Wind Break It
River Birch(Betula nigra) is a fast growing tree I like growing. It seems resistant to drought and has faster growth than most trees in its youth. The best part is the peeling flakes of bark on the trunk. I like to think it is one of the many trees I can grow to replace elms […]
Iowa Reflections
Sometimes it is nice to take a step back and see what direction one is going. As I am making subtle changes to the landscape, I have to decide how much effort it will take to make my dreams come true. I have to decide how much grassland, woods, and ponds fit together well on […]
Fast Growing Evergreen Windbreaks
When searching for fast growing trees for your windbreak, I doubt you will come across this conifer. This is for good reason, because this tree has actually been slow growing for me. This little treasure is called the White Fir(Abies concolor) and also another common name is Concolor Fir. So while it is slow growing, […]