The Land - Part III - Plant trees

So here we were with 20 acres of land.
Four kids under the age of 6.
Two dogs and three cats.

What do we do now?


First I met with a woodsman.
His advice?

Cut down every tree with a diameter less than 2 inches.

That gave me pause.
How can you grow bigger trees if you cut down the smaller trees?
Doesn't nature keep both small and large trees?
Why does his breath smell like alcohol?

I ignored his advice.

Next I called in a landscape architect.
I showed him the open field past the woods.
Verbally I painted the blueprints of the future house with huge windows facing the southern sun.

He rubbed his chin as he looked out over the field towards the rickety wire fence and beyond to the neighbors' fields


.

Your neighbors south may become houses, buildings, junkyards.
You'll want to protect your view.

Plant trees he said.

Thus began a new stage to my life...