Where do you shop for your trees, shrubs, plants, etc? 35 years ago, I was shopping at Kmart's Garden Center, because that’s all I could afford at the time. I walked into the garden area at 35th & Greenway and lo and behold - in the garbage can - I saw two trees that were “mostly dead”. A mesquite and a green bottle tree.
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They each had a couple of green leaves hanging from their sad branches, and I took pity on them. I told the sales boy, that I was going to relieve him of the two dead trees that were in the garbage, to which he responded “I’m sorry ma’am, I can’t let you do that.” I then said, “I don’t understand, why not?” and he said, “because they belong to K mart”. So I followed up with, “But they’re dead, right? You HAVE thrown them in the garbage?” He looked bewildered by my question, and so his next words were, “I’ll go get my manager”. About 5 minutes later, a young and inexperienced, manager with a little bit of attitude came back to the Garden Dept. and after hearing the story, he said, “I’ll tell you what ma’am, I can sell the dead trees to you”. At this point I was finding the whole thing rather ridiculous, but it was as if the trees were speaking to me – crying out, “take us home, take us home ... please”. I felt compelled to ask, “how much?” and he said I could have them for two dollars apiece. I said, “SOLD!”, I quickly made my purchase and threw them in my car so as not to allow these ‘young men’ to change their minds.
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I was so proud of myself. I had just spent $4 on two trees that might be dead by tomorrow!
I got home and immediately began digging two holes, stuck these sad little creatures in the ground and watered them religiously, every day for months.
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Year after year, I have watched them grow, we have laid in hammocks, sat in chairs, and had picnics on blankets blessed by the shade that they have given us and I have thanked them many times over, just for Being.
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Then, about 25 years into her life, Mama Mesquite suffered an injury… she split! My landscaper friend said we would have to chop her down, as trees seldom survive such a calamity as this. I was on the verge of tears ... I was not willing to give up on her so easily, so I asked if there was anything we could do and he said that if I could prevent her from splitting any further, she had a chance, she ‘might’ heal. Have you ever felt like someone was trying to pacify you? I got the feeling that he thought I was nuts and we were just delaying the inevitable. For the moment though, it was his way of avoiding dealing with a hysterical woman and that was good enough. Enter my Hubby - the genius! He knows me well and he too did not want to deal with a blubbering wife so … he climbed up a ladder as high as he could go, rigged up a bright yellow towing strap around the two sections and ratcheted it as tightly as humanly possible. IT WORKED!
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Mama Mesquite, this wonderful creature, has survived near-death at Kmart, the tragic Split of 2011, and the loss of a sapling tree-child to a storm, but she is a beautiful survivor and I tell her so whenever we hang out in her shade. I am certain when the wind blows and she sways in the breeze, she is thanking me for saving her life on that day, 35 years ago.
She has grown to be 60 feet across and 30 feet high and we hope to play, eat, nap and dance in her shade for many more years to come!
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It is truly amazing what a little bit of money and a lot of love can do.