Saturday Short Subjects: Little Spruce Finds a Home

A home for a spruce tree, a home of his own. Where would a spruce tree find a home?*

Little spruce began his life in a small tube, one of many Colorado Blue spruces (Picea pungens) destined to be distributed by the National Arbor Day Foundation. He came to us some years back as an Earth Day present for recycling an ancient air conditioner.

We planted little spruce in a pot, placed him outdoors in our sunniest spot, watered him well, fed him, and watched him grow. We transplanted him a couple of times, always knowing that someday his roots would need to be in the ground. Our .07 acre lot was simply not big enough to support another tree. 

But where would this spruce tree find a home?

This year it was obvious that the time had come to plant little spruce permanently. Luckily I now knew just where to turn for help. My friends at URI (Urban Resources Initiative) suggested Beaver Ponds Park, on the west side of town and promised to move little spruce there if the Beaver Ponds Park volunteers were interested.

Indeed they were and they had a perfect spot in mind – in a little grove of new conifers, one red cedar and two white spruces that were planted by URI during Rock to Rock. 

On Wednesday, URI intern Jancy came by in her truck and drove little spruce to the grove across town.

On Thursday, Nan and Bill, stalwart Friends of Beaver Ponds Park, transplanted him.

Doesn’t he look happy? We certainly are.

Thanks to everyone who made this move possible.

Have a great Saturday and a perfect weekend.

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

*Apologies to the late Margaret Wise Brown, author of the beloved children’s classic Home for a Bunny.