Globe Willow and National Garden Month

My Garden from A to Z

Globe Willow and National Garden Month

I grew up with huge willow trees in my yard when I was a kid.  We could climb up into their branches and play and daydream to our hearts' content.  The willows became whatever we wanted them to be:  A castle, a haunted mansion, a pirate ship or a spaceship.  The imagination was the only limit.  They shaded our playtimes and provided roasting sticks for our hot dogs and marshmallows.  The provided an abundance of leaves to rake into piles for jumping in during the fall.  The willows are now gone, but they will forever live in the memories of my siblings and I.  

When DH and I bought our home, the Globe Willow in the photo above came with it.  Though not as large as the willow trees of my childhood, this willow has been a favorite hangout for my children through the years.  Unfortunately the side yard where it is located just is not large enough for the grand aspirations of the tree, and we have had to continually trim and tame it's lovely branches to keep it out of the overhead wires and from completely overtaking the yard. At one point my Dear Father In Law came and cut off all of it's branches.  The kids were disappointed, to say the least.  It took us months to get rid of the branches, and even though we did our best to kill it, the Globe Willow won the fight.  It's now back to taking over the yard and ripe for another big round of taming.  Is anyone up to the task?  (And notice all of that long, lucious, green grass underneath that needs taming too!)

photo source from facebook

101 Ways to Celebrate National Garden Month

As a side note, I recently found out that April, along with being the A to Z Blogging Challenge month, is also National Garden Month!  So happy National Garden Month to you!  May your gardens all grow well and prosper.  (And click on the link above to find 101 ways to celebrate!)