We are starting our latest bungalow style home at 1316 Washington Avenue in Fairmount. Our slab is set and we are pouring this Wednesday. The home will be a great addition to the neighborhood.
Onto My Fail:
There were two small beautiful trees on this lot, and I wasn't about to have them simply dozed. Complex and careful arrangements were made to transplant the trees. After much coordination between multiple subcontractors, we went about getting the job done. The trees did not cooperate. The soil was so hard that hand digging was impossible for the size root balls we wanted, so a tractor was needed. Then, the once hard soil crumbled away from the root balls we excavated, and the roots were exposed. We slowly started losing the trees. Three more days of efforts by 3-4 men, one mini excavator, one skid steer loader, and one frustrated me. We wrapped the root balls in wire and poly. We set a day to transport them, and the rain delayed us two days. Then the invoices started rolling in. A hundred here, a hundred there, and a rental invoice for $200. And there the trees sat dying two feet away from their original home.
Day 5: My landscaper, two labors and I looked down on the trees this morning. I reluctantly admitted defeat upon my landscaper's estimation of a 20% chance they would survive. I told him I didn't want to sink another dime into this. I tried, so help me I tried.
As he walked away from me, I looked down at the sad little trees. I was sulking. Johnny (my landscaper) paused from his truck door, turned and yelled, "If you like those trees, I can get them the same size for about 90 bucks."
