Tuesday Photo Challenge – Recycle
The theme for this week’s Tuesday Photo Challenge is “Recycle.”
Over the years, I have tried to use different kinds of bark chips for the borders of the flower bed. They looked great in the first year. When they got worn out and the colors faded, I didn’t quite like the way they looked.
One day, my husband came home from a garden shop with bags of recycled rubber tires chips. They were in redwood color. When I first saw them, I was not receptive to the idea. After he finished his project, I grew to like the look. Now I have the recycled rubber tires chips for most of the flower bed borders.
There were three birch trees in my front yard. Over the past years, the branches gradually died and never came back after winter. We were wondering what happened to the trees. We talked about cutting down the trees and replaced them with other plants or another tree. I got used to the look of the white tree trunks and wanted to leave them as a sculpture.
I planted some mint plants next to the trees. A couple weeks ago, my husband wanted to pick some mint leaves for his drink and bumped his back against the trees. The trees started to uproot and fell. My husband was able to catch them and found that they were not heavy because parts of the trees were hollowed. He went ahead to cut them down close to the stump. Unfortunately, he found some termites. We then realized what caused the death of the trees.
With the worrisome discovery, my husband decided to chop up the stump and trace the tunnels of the termites and applied the spray as much as possible. He recycled some broken branches and buried them as part of the compost, then he covered up the hole with the soil.
Birch trees behind the Lavender
Removing the stump was a big job
The Showers of Blessings 
You and your husband make such a great life-team!
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We’re thankful for them. He does what he is good at that requires physical strength, and I do what I enjoy doing for fun!
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Great complements to each other!
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We learned to be. It took 22 years, still learning!!
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Congratulations!
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Hummm, still try to keep up!
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Oh no termites! They can be a real problem. Did you needed to check thoroughly that they are not anywhere else?
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Thank you, my husband check all around the house and attics.
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Sorry to hear about the birch trees and so glad your husband was not injured when one toppled. The recycled rubber tyre chips look great! :o) xxx
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Thank you, Xenia. The recycled chips idea is brilliant! 🙂 🙂
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Looks wonderful Miriam. Termites are such a menace. We had them in our building years ago. Caused thousands of dollars worth of damage. Your borders look great.
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So far my husband did the inspection around the house, in our attics. He treated the damage as much as possible. We’ll decide if we need professional treatment.
Yes, thank you. The borders are good for a long time.
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Termites are very destructive, Miriam. We had a landmark tree in our garden – a huge palm tree. We had to cut it down because it was attracting lightening and we kept getting lightening strikes – it was a shame.
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Oh no, lightening is frightening! I only saw them from afar. Yes, you don’t want to attract lighting anywhere near your home!
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Glad no one got injured. We have trees here that were hollowed out and toppled during a storm killing someone in the botanical gardens. Your husband is v good to be handling the cutting of your tree. Hands on too!😃👍
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Thank you! Now that he is retired, he actually enjoy doing handyman works. 🙂
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It’s amazing what can be recycled! Beautiful pictures!
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I know, Gail. It’s a great idea too. Now I don’t have to replace the “bark” chips. Thank you for your comment!
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Added blessings 🙂
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Yes, one less worry 🙂
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Nice border. I have thought of using bark chips before but never fake chips. Good idea!
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Yes, Nigel, I used bark chips for years, different colors and sizes. Now I don’t have to replace them!
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