Work Horse

See that tree in the yard?  You wouldn't know it from this picture, but it is UGLY.  Someone years ago decided to prune it and made it lopsided.  So one half remained short while the other remained tall.  I couldn't stand it anymore and wanted so badly to replace the wretched thing.

Three days ago, Matt and I got to trying to dig it out.  It was a piece of work, let me tell you.  He even told me to call a landscaping company for quotes.  Apparently, they were more than he anticipated, so we continued to dig away, trenching, hosing it down, waiting for the water to soften the hard Texas clay, exposing and clipping away as many roots as we could before finally pulling her to the ground.  It was really quite comical.  Once the root ball was adequately exposed, Matt strapped us both to the tree and then we began pulling and tugging, hoping for her to lean and eventually topple...and she did...right on top of us.  Fortunately, I was hit by the short side, so I only got a few branches in the face.  Can't say the same for Matt.

There she lies.  You can see all the branches we trimmed off her in the background.  And look at how tiny that root ball is.  The neighbor says the trees been there for about ten years.  You'd think the roots would've been bigger.  Thankful they weren't.

That was her previous residence, though she has now been evicted.  And the newest tenant has already begun moving in...

...my Vitex, or Texas Lilac.  She's not much to look at now, but she'll grow three feet a year for the next few years.  Ain't she purdy.