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Day 2 - Our furry friends need shade too!
Well I’m on a roll now, I just planted my 2nd tree of the month, only 28 more to go! Today, I was at my other favorite not for profit, The Humane Society of Indianapolis (HSI). This is where I adopted my best friend Blake from over 7 years ago. Blake is a very big fan of trees also, and makes sure to check out as many of them as possible when we go on a walk.
HSI was the first place that jumped into my mind when I was thinking about the places I wanted to plant my 30 trees. Around a year ago they lost a tree in the fenced in area you see as you walk up to the front door. This is an important area for HSI. This is one of the places the shelter’s “temporary residents” come out to stretch their legs during the day. It is also where the staff will introduce an animal you are considering saving to your current pets to make sure they get along. Having trees in the area to provide both comfort and a distraction for dogs can help to make this introduction go a little bit better.
Not only will this tree look very nice as you walk up to the front door, but it is going to serve one more purpose. As you walk into The Humane Society you will see on your right an open area that many of the cats live in. They can freely pass between their family room to a fenced in patio that looks out on the yard where the tree is planted. On the warm sunny days of summer the intensity of direct sunlight can get quite warm, but as this tree grows and matures it will provide great shade for the cats who like to hang out on the patio.
The tree that I planted today was a Redbud (Cercis Canadensis). This is a tree that in the spring is covered with pink-lavender flowers. It is funny, as a kid I just remember trees being green; I have no recollection of trees with pink-lavender flowers (or any other colors). Now, one of my favorite parts of the spring is seeing the flowers on all the varieties or ornamental trees across our city. An additional asset of this tree is that it is known for its rapid growth in its first few years.
Today was probably the most fun I’ll have all month planting a tree. I’m also hoping that it will be the hottest I am all month too. Yes, the ground was a bit hard (how I hope we get some rain to soften things up…just not while I’m planting), but I had the assistance of Blake. Since it was a fenced in area I brought him in with me and he helped me to dig the hole and prep the tree. My wife Maureen (who has been drafted into service and will likely be at a lot of the plantings) was also there. The perfect start to a day.
