Landscaping stage one - Tree planting!

We planted a tree! 

That's the first stage of our new landscape design done! 

It's a Shantung maple. Our landscape designer, Val, recommended it. She said it would be a good size for our yard as they only grow to about 25-30 feet across at maturity. 

I had heard that maples don't do well here, but apparently Shantung maples are different. They are from a part of China that is similar to our climate and soil conditions. They can handle full sun and heat, as well as cold, and even our alkaline clay soil. So Val assured us that it would do well here. She has one herself that is quite healthy looking.

I did have doubts though when I read that they need consistent watering. We are sometimes away for long periods. But John did not think that would be a problem since he is developing a drip irrigation system for our yard that should go on working even when we are away. He is doing a beautiful job creating the system. I just hope the technology is as reliable and as easy to maintain as he expects.  

Anyway, a week ago last Friday we went to Metro Maples in Fort Worth, TX. Getting it home in our car was an adventure. We put both the front right seat and the back left seat down and laid the tree down with the bucket in the back of our small hatchback. The trunk and branches went up through the middle of the car. It was even touching the dash. I sat in the back right seat. Somehow we got it all the way home without breaking any branches. Sorry we didn't get any pictures. John said it would have been the most interesting part of the whole process!

We got the variety called "fire dragon" for it's red Fall color. There is also a variety that has yellow leaves in the fall but John preferred the red. Of course being late Fall here the leaves have all fallen off for the winter.  

It was a 15 gallon size. (I just measured it and the height now that it is in the ground is 93 inches (7.75 feet) tall.)

Figuring out how far from the side walk to plant it. 

Before we planted it we did a perk test. That is, we filled the hole with water and waited and measured the water level frequently to see how long it took for the water to drain out.  

It took over 13 hours to drain! Val said anything over 2 hours would indicate poor drainage. So it seems we have very poor drainage. 

I wish we had known that before we bought the tree. The staff person at Metro Maples (MM) asked us if we had good drainage. At the time we thought we did since we had never noticed a problem. I wonder what she would have said if we had known how really poor it is. We might have decided to pick a different kind of tree. We'll never know of course! 

Anyway, Val didn't seem too worried. She said it mainly means we don't need to water as often. But I wish we had done the test before buying the tree. 

Here is the hole the next morning after the water finished draining. The leaves blew in over night. John only dug part of the hole deep enough for the perk test as he needed to get back to work after our trip to buy the tree. 
(I tried to take a picture when we first filled it with water but my phone battery went dead and I had to recharge it and then I forgot to do it later when it was more charged. I really need a new phone!)

John digging the rest of the hole out so we can plant the tree.

A few roots from our old ash trees were in the way. Here John is removing one with his sawzall (reciprocating saw).

We cut the bucket off the maple because
there was a root coming out of one of the holes at the bottom.
Unfortunately it broke despite our best effort to save it.

We added two inches of expanded shale to the bottom of the hole. Val said that would help even out the moisture by improving both drainage and moisture retention. The two small brown tubes going across the hole are part of the drip irrigation system John created.

Here (and the next picture) John is loosening the root ball a little. That is important to help the tree roots to reach out properly. Otherwise they might end up growing round in a circle like the shape of the pot they were in and eventually strangling the tree. 

The tree was a little root bound in places. It was kind of scary since Val said breaking roots can have long term consequences for the tree! We did end up breaking a root in the process. My friend Susan, who is a master gardener, said not to worry about it. She said the tree would be ok. It's interesting how every gardener has strong opinions that often contradict other gardeners!

Then we had the "fun" of getting it to the right level and position. First we had to stand back and make sure we had it straight and turned the way we wanted it. 

And then we had to get it to the right level. Deciding what the right level was was the hard part! MM said the top of the root ball should be 3 inches above grade. Val said in her printed instructions that the same grade as it was in the pot was best. But when we told her what MM said, she said we could go an inch above grade. She thought that three inches was much too much. Most other experts said in their tree planting guides that the top of the root ball should be level with the grade. We ended up splitting the difference between Val and MM and did about one and a half inches above grade. Now I wish we had done it even higher since it will likely settle. And we could have just added mulch around the root ball. 

My friend Susan said that more than 3 inches would have been better! See what I mean about gardeners having different opinions! John wondered if maybe since all these experts have different opinions maybe it doesn't matter as much as they think it does. The main thing that they all agree on is that the point where the trunk meets the root ball must never be below the level of the surrounding soil!

"Watering it in" before mulching around the root ball. 

More watering after mulching it. Notice mulch is kept away from the base of the trunk. That is another thing all gardening experts agree on--never put anything around the base of the trunk!

We did a few other steps including adding compost ("top dressing") around the outside edges of the root ball once it was in place before mulching and applying something called Seamist root stimulator after mulching.*

Here it is the next morning. I was standing a little off center when I took this photo. It really is centered between the two left windows. 

*Please note: this account is not meant to be a complete tree planting guide!

Vacation blogging meets life

It’s 10:01 a.m. and high time I started writing.

I should write about our vacation. I keep procrastinating… Tomorrow it will be two weeks since we got back. It's starting to feel like ancient history. 

We stayed at four state parks which is the most we have ever stayed at in one vacation.

We took hundreds of pictures. It feels overwhelming.

Here are a couple of them:

I'll try to write more about our vacation soon so you can find out where the photos were taken :-)

I also need to write about landscaping. Though there isn’t much to tell, yet. We met with Val. She is working on a design. I am a little nervous about it. She was not impressed when she found out I am not much of a gardener. I also think the shade tree she recommends, Shantung Maple, needs too much babying for us and our situation. My friend Susan recommends: Chinese Pistache. Another friend: Red Oak. I was interested in Gingko, but Val said we won’t be able to find it.

Decluttering is also sort of up in the air. I want to give a backpack and a down-sleeping bag to a friend who’s wife thought he would be interested in them. I emailed him but have not heard back yet. I know he has had a lot going on right now so I will give him until after Thanksgiving and if he has not responded by then I will email him again and then donate them to another place.

I made lists of several other things I plan to donate too, now I just need to find the lists…

Several weeks ago I bought a photo album with plans to create a scrapbook as a way to downsize more photos and memorabilia. This time I plan to focus on my years at university (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California). First though I need to find the photos and such.

There are any number of other decluttering projects that need doing. One example is a collection of my Mom’s old letters that I want to go through. I put them next to my office recliner, where I am writing from right now, more than a year ago with plans to read and blog about them. I still hope to do that some time. But maybe they should go back into my cedar chest to keep them from gathering more dust. 

I also have several sewing projects…

And cooking projects…

And my health issues...

Caring for my mom and her health issues also continues …

There seems to be too many balls in the air to name them all.

In an attempt to get a better handle on my life and to do's I am trying to learn to "bullet journal" (look it up) (No I am not planning to get fancy with it.). It is supposed to help me get organized so I don’t need to have so many sticky notes everywhere and so I can remember where I put lists and to do's and what I did when…

I’m also, still, trying to get a better handle on house work. Maybe at my age I should have that nailed, but I don’t.   

And the motor home needs more cleaning from our vacation. And I have a pile of things to put back in it: clean sheets and towels and misc.

And Thanksgiving and my Mom’s birthday is next week…

A couple more photos from our vacation. I am thankful for the time away!

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving!

New landscaping next steps

Yesterday while I was sitting in my office a butterfly came and basked on my window. Basking is when a butterfly perches on something in the sunlight and opens its wings to get warmth from the sun. It was a cheering sight. It helped spur me on to keep going with my landscaping plans. I took this picture. I was a little too far away to get a good shot. But here it is. See if you can spot it. 

I hope to get a big rock or two as part of our new landscape for them to bask and “puddle” on. “Puddling" is when butterflies congregate on mud or damp sand to extract minerals and drink the water. There might almost be enough dirt on my window for puddling but of course being vertical there’s no water! 

I’m glad that even before I finish my landscaping they are willing to bask on my window anyway.

Speaking of landscaping, you may be wondering how my landscaping is going. 

Slow - is the word.

So far, it’s mostly in the mental stage. I think the mental work is the hardest. My husband might disagree. But that would be because he doesn’t know how hard the mental work is. I don't know about most people but I find that mental work includes, in addition to research and making decisions, a lot of lifting and digging up things like fear, worry, perfectionism, and “what will the neighbors think.” It feels much harder to me than lifting rocks and digging planting beds.

But I have done other things too, besides ponder, worry and procrastinate.

Yesterday I wrote to a designer, Val Nolen, that my friend Susan recommended. A few minutes ago, she rang back and we made an appointment to meet next week.

Last week I took a series of photos of the house to see how much sun and shade our yard gets throughout the day. Here is a compilation. The top left photo was at 7:30 a.m. The last photo at the bottom was at 5:55 p.m.

According to my calculations:

The part of yard along the foundation gets about 4 hours full sun (some parts more or less). The front half of the yard (closer to the side walk) gets about 7 hours full sun. The "nature strip" between the side walk and street on the side closest to the mailbox gets 7 hours full sun. The "nature strip" between the side walk and street on the side closest to the fire plug gets 6 hours full sun.   

I have also been reading books, watching videos and sketching out rough ideas.

We recently also took a walk around our neighborhood to see what other people are growing and how they have arranged their front yard (for my Aussie friends “yard” means garden.) It was nice to see that even simple designs and plants can look appealing. I was also intrigued by how many people have added patios in the front of their homes. I've always thought it a shame that most houses in our area were not built with porches. It's nice to see that so many people seem to agree and have decided to create their own. 

Other things I want in our landscape in addition to a sitting area and butterfly and other wildlife friendly plants, is that it will look nice, be low maintenance, drought tolerant, cold and heat tolerant, with a mix of perennials and evergreens that will provide year round interest. If you're not familiar with the concept of year round interest, it basically means that it won't all just die back to bare dirt or dead twigs during the winter. I also want a walkway that will go across the front of the house that will connect with the walk ways we already have along the side and in the back. We also hope to plant another shade tree or two but of course it will be a while before they will provide shade.

It sounds like a lot, but I know it is possible and I am looking forward to meeting with the designer next week. I'll keep you posted as to how it all goes.

Thanks for coming along on this adventure with me.

Feel free to share your landscaping experiences or suggestions in the comments.

Tree Removal Part 2

In case you missed my last two posts, here's a quick recap: Our big ash trees in the front yard were severely damaged by the big winter storm this past February. Experts advised us to remove them. 

Last week I recounted the first day of the process. In this post we'll look at the rest of it. (see links at bottom for last two posts) 

Day 2 - Tuesday 8/17/2021

10:59 TG (tree guy) arrived a little while ago. Did quite a bit already. A different, older, man (OM) is with him this time. GS (grandson) not here today.

A little video:

TG is sawing up the parts he just cut off. OM is loading them into the trailer.

Weird how discombobulating it is to have all this happening. Partly, I suppose, because I’m trying to document it and still do other things, like cleaning and decluttering. Also, because John is home and grumpy about it. [I found out later that he was stressed about some work stuff, not about being home.] Maybe I didn’t really need him to be here. But I felt like I did. I wanted him to be here in case they needed to ask anything urgently or if anything bad happened. [Like a couple of years ago when another tree guy injured his back.] So, I very much hope John won't actually be needed, accept for taking photos I mean :-). 

John took this at 12:54

Sometime after 3:00 it started pouring rain. TG took shelter under the eaves in front of my office window. After a couple of minutes, he dashed to his truck to shelter in the cab. OM kept sawing but then joined him a few minutes later. I was talking to a friend on my cell phone at the time so did not take any photos. John took this one from the front porch. 

Their truck was parked further over to the left, so it doesn't show in this photo.

They started up again after things dried up.

They left around 7:00 p.m. Their trailer again piled high with branches.

Day 3 - Wednesday 8/18/2021

9:45 a.m. I went outside and took the above photo this morning before the tree guys came. I surprised a squirrel that was coming down from the top of what's left of the tree on the left. It ran away before I could get a photo. I wonder what it thinks about all this. 

I sent John back to his office this morning. He is stressed about work problems and our internet has been so intermittent. I hope nothing happens that I’ll wish he was here for. [Thankfully nothing did.]

10:30 TG and OM just pulling up. 

10:43 I’m going to do a little cleaning while they set up.

Just after 11:00 they began the process of cutting down the trunks. TG cut around the base of the trunk with his chainsaw. He stopped a few times and OM poured something on the blade. (maybe water to cool it?). After TG had gotten most of the way around they cut a large wedge out of the bottom of the trunk on the opposite side, no doubt so it would fall away from the house. Then OM used a blower to clear the saw dust out of the cut at the base then TG used his chain saw again and cut away the remaining sections.

Here is a video of that final cut and when the trunk fell:

2:17 Both trees down. TG sawing up trunks. OM raking debris and carting giant chunks of logs to the trailer.  

It’s hard to grasp. The trees are really gone. I feel sad. 

But I’m glad the "tree guys" took their time (not slacking-- just not rushing). It feels more respectful of the trees somehow. (safer too)

5:55 they have been gone most of the afternoon. I assume they will be back tomorrow to grind the stumps down (and I haven’t paid them yet). I have a dental appointment in the morning though, so we will be away until noonish.

Thursday, 8/19/21

Got back from my appointment around 12:30.

TG here-- alone this time-- blowing wood chips off the walk ways. He's already finished grinding the stumps.

Later: I was glad it was done but I felt bereft. 

The house looks so barren and ugly without the trees. I wanted to have a cry. Instead, as I wrote in the previous post, I went on-line and looked up landscaping companies in our area and signed up to have a company come out the following Monday. 

But the company never showed up. Could it be a sign? Maybe my friend Susan is right. Maybe we can do it ourselves. We might even enjoy it. It would certainly be an opportunity to practice overcoming perfectionism!  

Mind you, I’m not promising we’ll do it ourselves but whichever way we do it I’ll try to blog about the process. So, stay tuned as we explore options and figure out what to plant next.

Links to previous two posts:

August 4 - End of an era

Sept 8 - Tree removal Part 1 and next steps

Tree Removal Part 1 and next steps

It’s taking longer to write about the tree removal than the actual tree removal did. Not that I've worked on it as long or as hard or as steadily as the tree removal guys did over the four days it took them to remove the trees, but it’s taken me nearly two weeks to post about it. 

Meanwhile progress in figuring out what to plant in place of the trees is also slow. The yard looks so barren without them. It’s depressing. I’ve long felt that our front yard didn’t have much “curb appeal,” but now with the loss of the trees it has even less. Of course, they have been dead and freaky looking for several months, but it was easier to be in denial about that while they were still there. Now there is no denying the yard is bare. 

I did try to make progress with landscaping. On the last day of the tree removal when the trees were gone and the stumps ground down to the ground, I felt so sad and the yard looked so bleak that I signed up with a referral company (Home Advisor) to have a landscaping company come to help us design a new landscape. I felt like we needed expert help and I was worried that if I didn’t do something right away we would end up doing nothing. 

But the company never showed up. 

I told Home Advisor that. Actually, I replied with the number “4” to their multiple-choice question when they texted to ask if the landscaping company came. 

I expected some sort of response or effort from them to make sure they came another time, or at least an apology. But that was a week ago and still no response. 

[Home Advisor finally called two weeks later--from Colorado. So they aren't even in our state. I told them what I thought of their services. They apologized that the landscaping company never showed up and sent me an email with a list of landscaping companies that are supposedly in our area. (Including the one that was a no show). None of them is near us though, so I don't know if they will really be willing to help us.] 

Meanwhile I spoke with my friend Susan and she recommended someone else that is closer. She also encouraged me to think about us doing it ourselves. 

She said that thinking about it is doing something. (I told her I was afraid that I would just wind up doing nothing.) In situations like this I usually get anxious and perfectionistic and then feel too discouraged to do anything at all because I am afraid of doing the wrong thing. Or, I get an idea but “second guess” myself--or let other people’s opinions persuade me too much--so that we end up doing something that is nothing like my original idea and I spend the next ten years hating how it turned out and kicking myself for not following my original idea. (That has happened before and it is a bummer. I really don’t want to fall into that trap if I can avoid it.) But I know that gardening in general is often a matter of trial and error. And experts--and the internet--sometimes give contradictory advice. Of course, things grow and change over time, or die, and have to be modified anyway. But I do want to get off to a good start at least.

Meanwhile, I have lots of photos of the actual tree removal so without further delay: 

The Removal

Monday, August 16

It’s 8:27 a.m. and the tree guy (TG) isn’t here yet

When he said he would be here in the morning I asked “do you mean around 8:00 a.m.?” he texted back, “yes”

Maybe it would have been better if I had asked “what time?” and let him fill in the blank.

8:49 TG just arrived in time for John to explain something about our drip irrigation system before John’s on-line meeting started. John said that TG seemed to understand what he wanted when he told him about the black tube and what not to do. (I really wish we had a normal sprinkler system.)

I see there is a young guy out there with TG. I wonder if it is his son or grandson, I’m guessing grandson (GS).

GS got a ladder out of the truck. Putting it against the tree by my office. That is the tree that another tree guy was working on a couple of years ago when he fell and broke bits off 5 vertebrae in his back (Thankfully he recovered!). I texted several friends last night to pray for safety.

They are doing stuff to get ready but not in a rush. 

I made a cup of tea and washed dishes.

9:31 TG up the tree. Cutting. Several smallish branches down. I took a bit of video from my office window of  GS using rope to guide down a branch. 

9:48 more branches coming down. I hope I am not distracting them by taking video or photos through my office window.

Chunks falling with a thud

10:03 I switched laundry to dryer and did a little cleaning.

TG and GS made a lot of progress while I wasn’t looking.

Switching ladder to another branch. Ladder nearly straight up!!! I would not want their job!!!

More sawing. Branches falling with a swish and rain of saw dust

John went outside and took these next few photos (don't worry he was at a safe distance!)

10:20 TG cutting up branches on the ground and GS helping

10:42 TG back up in the tree. Not much left of that tree

It’s surprising how much more light there already is coming into my office and into the front door. Even though the tree was mostly dead its trunk and branches and odd leafy clumps still provided some shade.

10:54 Took another video this time from outside far enough away to be safe. 

11:22 I’m trying to clean my office. It certainly needs it. But it’s difficult to declutter and clean and chronicle the tree removal all at the same time even though I am in my office while watching them work. 

1:49 TG starting on the other tree

5:00 They left with their trailer fully loaded with branches. 

One tree mostly gone and the other tree still to go.

It was a shock to see the tree like this. Then I noticed a large yellow butterfly sunning itself on top of the stump. I was delighted! I love butterflies and it seemed like a confirmation of an idea I had about what to plant next: since our yard will be getting a lot more sun with the trees gone, we can grow more butterfly friendly plants. 

But meanwhile we still had a few days to go of the tree removal... 

To be continued...

End of an Era

Our big ash trees in the front yard need to come out. Apparently, the big freeze we had in February was too much for them. Experts we consulted were unanimous in saying they are not worth trying to save. They said that if they were going to come back from the freeze they would have done it by now. So, on August 16, a tree guy will be coming to remove them.

They do have some clumps of leaves growing directly out of a few of the larger branches and trunks. But it's not normal or healthy growth. 

The large patch of shade in the foreground is from our next door neighbor's oak tree. So we won't be completely without shade in the front yard.

It’s hard to imagine the house without them. They’ve been here longer than we have. They were already fairly large when my husband, John, bought the house in ’91. (That was before we met.)

We don’t know for sure when they were planted. Our next-door neighbor said they were not planted when the house was built in '76. She said the builder planted maple trees at all the houses along here. Very strange since maples don’t do well in this area. Not surprisingly her maple tree died within a few years. In fact, none of the original maple trees are still around. It seems likely that the maple tree that was at this house met the same fate and that these ash trees were planted a few years after this house was built. That would make them a little over 40 years old.

One tree guy said that ash trees’ average life span is 50 years. But I’ve found articles that say they can live few hundred years. At least if the emerald ash borer (EAB) doesn’t attack them. After that they usually die within five years. The EAB is an invasive pest from China that has been wreaking havoc on ash trees in the US for a few decades. I don’t know if they are in this area yet. I haven’t seen any evidence that they are on our trees. 

We were told that our trees were likely stressed out due to improper pruning. They were also probably stressed by some bad droughts several years ago. And then the big freeze in February.

We have mixed feelings about losing them. They are really too big for the space and too close to the house. But we will miss their shade especially during our hot summers.

I used to feel frustrated that we had so much shade. I had dreams of creating a lovely landscape with lots of pretty plants and flowers. All the plants I liked, though, needed full sun. Eventually, I let go of my landscaping fantasies and chose to be thankful for what we had: two big trees and lots of shade. I did make some attempts to create shade compatible landscaping but for various reasons none of those attempts were very successful. Now, ironically, I just want a simple landscape--preferably created by someone else! 

John also has mixed feelings. He loves big trees and he never shared my landscaping ambitions--his preference is to never change anything. But he wants to put solar panels on the roof so I think he's glad we will have less shade.    

Despite our mixed feelings it feels like the end of an era. 

No more mountains of leaves to rake each fall.  

No more sitting outside in the shade and watching the neighbors go by--not that we did that very often. One of my fantasies is to live in a house with a porch where we can sit and wave to the neighbors as they walk past, and maybe even talk to them if they have the time to stop and chat. But hardly anyone ever walks. They just speed past in their cars--windows tinted too dark to even see who it is to wave to. 

And what will I tell people when they want to find our house? "It's the brown brick house where there used to be two big trees," probably won't help much. 

Here's a look back (not in chronological order).

Photo from the real-estate flier when John bought the house in 1991. 

 

February '96
Another memorable February snow storm just after we were married.
It was one of those fun snow storms that we rarely get here in Dallas: a few inches of pretty snow and not much ice. Snow storms here are usually mostly ice and driving can be dangerous. People don't go to work if they can help it. I remember we celebrated by making yummy pancakes for breakfast using a special pancake mix and syrups from a gift basket that a friend sent for our wedding. Then we went for a walk and took lots of photos.

The February storm this year was much different! Some people dubbed it the "Snowpocolypse." It was one of the worst winter storms Dallas has ever had. It was really more of a series of snow storms and deep freezes that lasted a week. Many people lost power. Lots of havoc and suffering ensued. We thought we didn't have any damage and even felt a little guilty about that. But apparently we didn't get off as easy as we thought.

The photos I took were taken through the windows from indoors. I didn't want to risk a fall on the ice. And the extreme cold, extreme for us anyway, was not something I wanted to be out in. I think I did go out later in the week but I don't think I took any photos. Maybe John did. I don't remember.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 11:41 a.m. Three days into the big storm. Not much of the trees showing from the window but their trunks. I think it was snowing in this photo. The foot prints in the foreground are likely John's. He does not like to be cooped up for long!

Saturday, February 20th at 8:39 a.m.
You can see from the foot prints that other critters were out sometimes too. This is looking at the other tree from my office window. Notice the sheen of ice on top of the snow--another reason I was not out on it. (the leafy branches that look like they are coming out of our tree are actually the neighbor's live oak tree across the street.)

In '97, a couple of years after we were married. By this time we had gotten the trees pruned a little. We also removed the shrubs in front to let more light into the house and help keep bugs out.

This is from a Google photo I found on-line from several years ago. You can see my neighbor's oak tree at the top right. Our tree in the middle of the photo has been cut back a lot over the years because it was encroaching on the neighbor's oak too much.    

October 2019. Having tree work to cut them away from the roof.

A winter sunset a few years ago.

Tyler State Park - Part 4 - Canoeing

Late on our last afternoon at Tyler State Park we went canoeing on the lake. 

I wanted to take photos just before sunset during “golden hour.” That’s when the sun is low in the sky and casts a golden light on the landscape. (Just after sunrise is also a good time.) 

We were actually a couple of hours earlier than the recommended time for the true "golden hour" that photographers usually aim for, but given that we also wanted to have a picnic dinner on the lake and I was already hungry we set out around 5:00 p.m. Still the sun did cast a nice golden light on some of the photos as you will see.

There was a spot I had in mind for the picnic. It was across the lake from the camping area. But when we got there, we discovered that the water was too deep to land the canoe there. Instead, we ate our sandwiches in the canoe in the shade of a high wooded bank nearby. 

This is the spot I wanted to have our picnic at. I took this photo when we went there on foot a few days before. Instead we ate on the other side of the trees on the left while floating in our canoe.
After we finished eating we made a detour out into the lake to avoid disturbing the man who was fishing from the fishing pier (center). 

Then we kept going around the lake.

This might have been a good place to pull up the canoe for our picnic. But by the time we saw it we had already eaten. Maybe next time...

This little dragon fly hitched a ride for a few minutes.

The beaver pond with the turtles that you saw in part 2 of this series is on the other side of this bridge. There was no way through in our canoe so we had to turn around on this side of the bridge. There were also turtles on this side the other time, but we didn't see any this time.  

Still a lot of pretty golden light even if not officially "golden hour."

Just passing the boat rental area on the right. We brought our own canoe so we didn't need it. (Just before here there was also a nice swimming area with a beach, restrooms and snack shop but it was too windy and bumpy to take photos at that point. I also didn't think the people who were there would want me to photograph them.)

Now heading toward the boat ramp. It's in the shadow to the left of center. 

Thanks for coming along on our canoe trip. I hope you enjoyed it.

Below are links to the other posts about our time at Tyler State Park. 

Part 1 - Camping at Tyler State Park (lots of flowers)

Part 2 - Tyler State Park (2nd half lakeside hike w/turtles)

Part 3 - The Rose Garden (flowers again, obviously ;-)

Two more photos because I can't help myself! 

John took this on our lakeside hike in Part 1

I don't know what these are. Any ideas?