It looked like it was going to make it.
Last November, before we left for the Guatemalan mission with DSF, I had raked up all the fallen leaves, but a few of the large tress in the backyard had not yest lost their leaves by the time we left. By the time we returned home, all the leaves had fallen, but so had snow which covered the ground. So, I never had a chance to clean the lawn before winter set in last year. During the winter, we received a great offer from a garden caretaker which included a Sping cleanup. It was such a great offer, that I decided to try them out. They cleaned the garden better than I ever did, which made for a good impression. The contract also covers weekly lawn mowing...this is actually a job I enjoy, but because it was part of the package, it was simply one less thing to worry about. When Michele and I returned from our bicycle trip to Lachine on Thursday afternoon, Jerome reported that the fellow who mowed the lawn confessed with great remorse to having mowed down my chestnut.
Oh, the horror! Hard to imagine how he didn't see it...as the picture above illustrates, there was a stake next to it and a white plastic protective sleeve around its tiny trunk.
No big deal...the squirrels had ensured that I had a supply of back-up saplings, so I simply dug up another one and replanted it. There will be two big tests to pass in order for this sapling to survive. It will first have to survive the hot dry summer which we are anticipating while we are away in Malta and Italy. Then, it will have to survive the winter. If it can make it through the first winter in it's new location, then it should be good. I've placed an additional stake next to it as well as a plastic guard rail to protect it from accidents and will keep my fingers crossed.
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