Can't See The Forest For The Trees

We live in an older home with a very large area of roof. This means that in the winter, we benefit from having a roof line that absorbs heat into our attic and helps to insulate our house for the colder months.

The downside of that is the summer. It absolutely swelters in the second story in the warmer months. We have taken some steps to help alleviate it a bit, like adding an attic fan that comes on when the attic reaches a certain temperature.

Yesterday we took it one step farther and looked at little more long term. We bought four beautiful treas to put in our lawn.

Three of these we planted down our fence between the garden and the house, and one is a  very decorative tree that will help shade our porch and front windows from the afternoon sun.

This is the first one we planted, it's called "Crimson King" maple. It will have these beautiful maroon/burgandy leaves all summer and turn purple in the fall. It grows rapidly and we hope to reap the benefits of having it in the next few years.

Next we planted two of these:

They are called "Emerald Queen" maples. I have seen them on the Internet referred to as Norway Maples as well.

They are a little taller than the purple tree and already have a fuller canopy. They look very tight here because they were smashed together at the nursery and the limbs were all pointing upwards to compete for the sun. Already this morning they have relaxed and are pointing more outwards.

In the fall this one turns the most amazing bright gold. We are also happy because just by chance, all of the trees we chose attract birds for nesting. We have a large population of birds around here and since the feeding of them is monopolized by our neighbors, this may work out well for everyone.

And last, but not least, our little ornamental tree:

"Galaxy" Magnolia

This one is a little smaller and will never provide the mass amounts of shade that the maples will, but it will do well to shade our porch in the afternoons.

And let's face it, at this point I will take all the shade I can get!

So there they are, four trees for our four girls. One showy and bright, one flowery and demands attention and two that are sturdy and nearly identical.

So that brings our grand total number of trees to 9 in our yard. Someday, someone who will live here will thank us for it.