I'm so confused!

sueann

I'm trying to figure out some trees to plant around the back of the house and this article says a willow tree would be a good thing. But I heard somewhere they will grow into pipes and things. So now I'm confused. I love willow trees and if it would be a good thing I would plant one. What do you think?

I do have a huge backyard but I guess there are pipes there somewhere.

Check out this article though!

Flowering Bushes | Spring Landscaping

windthrown

If houses are like here in Oz, you do not need to worry about pipes in the back yard. Mainly the front yard is where pipes are all buried here (buried and run in from the streets to the houses). Willows are good trees to grow; we have several dozen or so native Salix (willow) species here in the western US, and a lot of them are pussy willow types (the article is wrong about pussy willows being only from the eastern US and Canada) as well as a hundred more imported types. I like most all of them myself. I had about 100 growing on the ex's ranch of maybe 15 types? I forget. My favorites were Pacific and Red Willows, as well as the giant Weeping Willows. What we call red willow here is a semi-weeping/semi-upright medium size tree that is an excellent tree for damp, pond and stream settiings. They, along with most willows are excellent for stream bank and errosion control. They may have a high allergy potential (I never had any issues with them though). Red Willow = Salix laevigata.

I never had problems with willow roots though. In my yard in California maples were the real problem. They have shallow roots and they invade flower beds, lawns, raised beds, under the decking or concrete patio, and anyplace that they can find water they will root into and really build up the root mass. If they find a sewer pipe they will grow into them if they are the old style (pre-ABS) pipes.

sueann

I think you're right WB! I think the pipes are at the front of the house.

I think it might be safe to go ahead with a willow tree. Thanks for that.

Oh god!! guess what! I have planted 2 japanese maples in the front yard! Now you tell me that might not be such a good idea???
Or are they different to Californian one's. I better go google!

windthrown

You can relax. Japanese maples are far smaller and far less invasive. I grow them here with my bamboos (and sell them in my plant nursery). The ones I had in California were natural crosses (as best as I could figure out) between Arizona and California native maples. They were upwards of 40 feet tall and 30 feet wide in their native habitat. They were thirsty buggers.

sueann

Thanks WT (not WB, sorry) I was thinking of windblown not wind thrown!

I did google it and they seem to be ok where they are and all is as you say it seems.
Cheers.

Jeff Darby

Whats so unusuall about that..?

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Eric Frei

Bugger all willows up here so I cannot speak from experience.

Thanks for helping out there Windy, can always count on a man.

Dang, now I need to add a witches broom and pointy hat (I think you already got the warts and nose) to the comic now Sueann! I bet she goes for the Pussy willows.

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sueann

Pussy willows? of course! need you ask?

Purrrrrrrrrr.

Eric Frei

Jayd's and expert in all things pussy I assure you.

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Jeff Darby

Meoww, JayD at your service...

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Join the Australian Tree Association...Have your voice heard !

Arboriculture, A life long study for some, a passing phase for others

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Drouin Tree Service

Willows are no good near the house.Even the pussy willow

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sueann

No doubt. He's got the whiskers for it I guess.

Totally irrelevant smiley - I just like it!

Eric Frei

Especially if divorcing one!

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sueann

Oh no! who's getting divorced?

That's really sad.

sueann

My husband and I divorced over religious differences.
He thought he was God, and I didn't.

~~~~~

Eric Frei

It's a figure of speech .... most trees when cut down just go, but a pussy willow might take the house and bank account with it.

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sueann

Yep, it's expensive to get divorced they say, best to try and work it out.

Plant more trees and be happy!

windthrown

Now, that's one for the ages.

windthrown

Oh, several of us have busted up in the past year or two here. Some are still in long drawn out court proceedings over child custody and all (not me). Actually, in most cases (and countries) that seems to last a lifetime (the court and custody thing).

My ex and I are still debating who will get my pussy... cat. At first she demanded that I take him with me. Then she wanted to keep him on her ranch. Now she wants me to take him and another pussy that she has since taken in. I cannot keep pace with all the pussy, really.

sueann

Sorry about your divorce WT. I'm not really divorced btw, I just heard that somewhere.

If I ever did get divorced though, my pussycat will definitely stay with me, I'm the only one that knows how to look after her properly.

windthrown

Eh... shit happens.

This is my cat Milo as he appears on my Capital One credit card.

sueann

He's beautiful WT! I read somewhere that all ginger cats are male.

This is my cat Kasey, she's a pretty bossy cat and beats up on the dogs if they bother her. She likes to sit on my desk when I'm working, which is a pain sometimes. But I just work around her. I'm buying trees on ebay atm so it doesn't bother me when I'm just messing around.

Do you think it's a good idea to put your credit card up like that? People can steal your identity so never put your real birthday or things that people can identify you by. I guess with a credit card they would need the numbers on the back but still, best to be careful? I wouldn't like to see you get robbed!!!

Will have a go at putting up this pic but will probably get roused on as usual! Meh!

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windthrown

Ha, you think I would put a CC card on a web site? Moi? I scream at people for doing stupid stuff like that. That was a dummy mock-up sent by the CC company to approve the cat photo on the card. Nothing is remotely real there, and the CC number sequence is not correct nor the location of the logo, the name, dates, or anything else. Except the photo of Milo is real. He is perched on the wooden saw horses overlooking the driveway.

Anyway, not all orange tabbys are toms. They are far more common though. I like tabby cats, and I like short hairs. My ex prefers long hair cats. She never had a short hair cat, or an orange one before I lived with her. Milo also liked to hop up on the desk when I was working and sit on the computer or sleep above the computer on the book shelves in my office.

The same shot of Milo... sans the fake CC info... (geez, people!)

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Eric Frei

This is Sharnee, she was a long haired Ginger. She's gone now poor thing.

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sueann

Sorry WT! I didn't know you could get fake CC cards, unless you were a crook or something. I had a slight freakout. I thought maybe you weren't thinking as I've done that before, not put a CC thingy up but said something that maybe wasn't so wise to say on the internet, sometimes you don't think about it.

She is lovely Ekka! My Nan had a persian cat for years and had to brush her all the time, I bet you miss her.

I had a beautiful blue heeler that I had to put to sleep 2 years ago as she had gotten old, she could hardly walk and was blind but she always knew when I was going riding and wanted to come anyway. It broke my heart not to take her as she would cry.

windthrown

I never had a fake CC made, I have the real CC with Milo on it. It is just that when you get a photo apporved by Capital One they send you a mock-up for your OK. The mock-up card photo has a fake name, fake data and fake information on it so that no one can use it. That is the photo that I posted here. Only the CC data is fake on the photo... no fake CCs are issued. Of course, I can see them in Nigeria cranking out Milo photo CCs, thinking that the orange cat photo has something to do with the CC validity and authorization.

I almost put this photo on the CC of Davey my pet ram that was also orange (they call it 'mouflan' in the sheep trades). He was an Icelandic breed ram. He would follow me around down at the barn and was the most tame of all the sheep. He was also the smartest ram there. The other rams would rear back and charge him and he would wait for the last second and move to one side, like a torreadore. They would zoom by and put on the brakes, thinking, "WTF?"

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sueann

lmao! that is one kool ram WT! I like his style.
I think you can do that here re the CC cards but I'm not sure, it's a cute idea though, I get it now and sorry for freaking out! I was just a bit worried for you.

We had a pet lamb when I was a kid and he was so tame as well, but one Sunday night my Dad said did you enjoy your dinner, that was Ned Kelly! Us poor kids were stunned and I threw up! even my older brother's were pretty upset. He thought things like that were funny the rotten old sod. Mum didn't like some of the things he did, but she never crossed him. Oh well, he's dead now, too bad, too sad. The drink got him.

I guess he died happy. lol!

sueann

This is my horse Chance. He's a 17hh warmblood stallion rising 4 so only a baby and still learning to jump. I do endurance and cross country racing, this boy is just learning and only had a few outings last winter, he'll do quite a few more this winter though as has muscled up nicely and jumping a little higher now.

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windthrown

Sounds like something my father would have done. He was a drunk too, and died of liver cancer at a fairly young age. Feeding the pet lamb to the family? We had a rule; never make sausage out of a named pet. We had to put Davey down because he got an anurism in his brain. He is buried in a place of respect on the farm. No mutton from Davey. We had a freezer full of lamb though. The tomb of the unnamed ones.

Davey's grandson lives not too far from me now. He is a full horned ram, same color and just as tame and smart as his grandfather. He has won a lot of awards, and the current owner is breeding him. I may take one of his lambs if I buy some acreage here soon. Keep the lawns mowed. I never got into horses... or cattle. Sheep, cats, and dogs. I hate goats too. I made the ex get rid of them all. And llamas; free is too much to pay for them. Nasty camels that spit/barf all over you if they are mad or upset.

sueann

Goats are ok I guess, some neighbours down the road a bit have a few of little brown and white one's, I forget what you call them. I have to warn the dogs they are not roo's and they are not to chase them haha!

My Dad was ok, he was just a tough old nut and knew nothing about child psychology, and wouldn't have given a toss if he did lol! he would backhand you quick as look at you if you mucked up. So you didn't muck up!