So, at first, we got one of the water bags to try to get it more water more often, and then I embarked on a project to get sprinkler water to a more formal tree ring. The tree ring grew in diameter with each iteration of the project....
The chokecherry tree out front has still been struggling. Lennar planted it in Summer 2022. I contacted Schulhoff's and the arborist
said it didn't have bugs or disease - it's just stressed.
So, at first, we got one of the water bags to try to get it more water more often, and then
I embarked on a project to get sprinkler water to a more formal tree ring. The tree ring grew in diameter with each iteration of the project....
August 9th
I measured out a 3-foot circle with the thought that it seemed to be outside the little hill for the root ball. While putting stakes in the ground, I noted to
Mike that there was one very hard root that I had to go around.
August 21
Following HOA approval, I ordered stones from Home Depot. I set them up to see how they looked.
August 22
Mike helped me measure out the diameter of the ring, and I spent some time after work doing a rough cut of the grass.
Found the "hard root" - one of my tent spikes from the Electric Zoo.
August 23
Off to Pioneer Sand for supplies! Driving on the dirt road off Highway 93 is always fun. :>)
Back home with buckets of road base...
A lovely ring... spoilers: wrong size
Some weird holes:
Work stoppage for a much needed rain storm...
Click for full-sized video
Click for full-sized video
Click for full-sized video
Click for full-sized video
Adding roadbase to my ring:
Running the sprinkler line:
Panic, Heartbreak. Texts to Mike in his office upstairs. My dad happened to call at the wrong time and heard all about it, too. It's the wrong size. The ring is too large. I don't want to cut any more roots
back to make it smaller.
Mike came downstairs to brainstorm with me. We settled on a different layout for the stones, but this meant we no longer had enough stones to complete the design.
August 24
After searching for more stones, we decided to just go with two layers instead of 3. I still need to set them into the roadbase correctly, but it works for now.
Last updated 31Aug2025