can't see the castle for the trees

....well our hope is that sooner than later we'll see less of the castle because of the trees.  Probably the biggest "con" on our list when buying this house was the castle next door.  We did check with neighbors who assured us an old retired couple lived there and was building their dream home.  The mason that did work on our house also shared that the bricks and masonry the neighbors were using was one of the most expensive techniques around.  As it turns out, Greg and Kate are not old-though they are near retirement and we remain hopeful they will keep working toward finishing their vision-whatever it is.

"the castle" at dusk

In the meantime, we decided some trees and privacy were in order.  We ended up with bigger tree$ than we initially sought, but a sale and supply led us to these.  We purchased them on our fifth anniversary and there is one for each year. :)  They say you can't buy time, but in this case, the bigger and more expensive trees will give us the privacy we desire-sooner.
These beauties are admiral junipers and, as evergreens,  will be green and full all year.  They will grow together at the bottom depending on how we trim them and are considered fast-growers.  They should top out at 20 feet. 
It is likely the new garage will come back some and be close to where the trees start.  We also thought that even if the house eventually expanded towards them, they would be nicer to look out at than a plain fence.
I'm excited to nurture these babies and watch them grow.  It feels great to finally be making improvements and purchases that are just for us with no end in sight.  It's good that I'm so in love with these guys because they were a big investment and will be the last one for awhile. :)

 

We had to remove a planter box before the trees were planted.  We're hoping to relocate it for a shade veggie garden in the spring as this was the sunniest spot in the yard.

Moving the boards proved easy.  A fairy named Moi worked through many nap times hauling buckets of dirt.  I was very proud of my level ground.

They were planted SO straight.  I'm very glad we left this one to the professionals.

 

Luke is quite a photobomber!

 

before and after