Dr. Minn, I would like to visit your future dream place when we go back to California.
I am trying to imagine what your place will look like in ten years. Surely it wii look
beautiful with all the blooming trees, ponds with lotus and colorful fish. I love to live
and see the product of your hard labour, but then will I be still living? My favorite tree is
ginko tree, I would like to donate one and plant it myself somewhere in your dream land.
I promise I will call you next time when we go to Southern California for our winter retreat.
I hope you would not mind to show us around.

Keep up the good work!

Seong Koo

Hi! kyungtak: I could not see your pictures on my computer.
I may visit you when I go to San Franscisco and Sacramento area if you don't mind.
It must be beatiful place with your pond and trees which remind me a peaceful French country side.

Ken Baik from Claremont, CA

Dr. Minn;
The pictures are not showing in my screen also.
Please try to upload pictures in www.photobucket.com and then use the URL from there.
Pictures in the photobucket are free and seem to be working very well in any website.

Good !!
The pictures from Photobucket.com come up well.
Now, Please remember that you do not delete the pictures in the photobucket.
If you do, pictures in our website will disappear.

What a wonderful scene I see from the pictures you posted.
What a hard labor as well as keen planning you must have been doing.
This place looks just like the Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, VA
where the wildflower bluebells is the most famous for.
Try the perennial flower bluebells which will grow at low light and along the bank of the slow moving streams.
What a place you are making!
Congratulations!

선생님들에게:

It is still raining near the Sierra Foot Hills every other day.
Late rainy season in California.
So wet that a tractor cannot go over the new road. I have to wait another month.

1.

I hire two workers here 3 days a week when it is not raining.
It is hard to keep up with new plan here and there: what trees where, etc.
I planted about 50 Ginko seeds and I do not know if they will come out this spring.
Willow tree is a quick solution to prevent land slide ready in 2-3 years.
Dr. Cho's Ginko is for the next 50-100-1000  years.
Welcome of course!
There is Starthristle (kills cattles)  invasion in this area and the county gives special lectures
on the prevention of the undesirable plants

2
I have to think about next 10-50-100 years when the trees will be fully grown, especially walnut and pecan, ginko, trees etc. and mode of transportation could be beyond our imagination.
One day, this area may become a city hall center.

Everyday, I keep realizing how important the planning is .
Some of the road was washed away every year as I miscalculated the amount of water that will flow in certain direction.

So far I enjoy my weekly immagination exercises on this property.
Also the pond water functions like a mirror with the ability to make double images with reflexions.
One thing I keep in mind is to make it simple and simple so that the intention can be seen from the
airplane.

3.
What to do with the final product when I am gone is another preoccupation.

Some of the images in my head.

1.  300 년전 소쇄원 설계도

담양에 소쇄원 정자

2.
전라도 출신 허백년 화백의 할아버지가 진도에 지엇다는 운림산방.
이 꽃나무는 은 미국에도 많은 Crape Myrtle 같고 한국에선 백일홍이라고 부르는가 하지요.

작은 이 나무 몇개 심엇는데 몇년돼야 이정도 크겟지요.

3.

The gazebo that inspired many poet and painters.

倪瓚의 그림 (이분의 호가 雲林인데, 이분 호를 그냥 따다가 쓴것이 틀림없지요)

원나라 화가로 쓸쓸한 초겨울 풍경을 자주 그린분.

 

3.

독일 뮨헨 교외 미완성의 Neue Schwanstein Schloss

 

 

Dr.Minn, I have experience with ginko tree. Years ago when I was young and still living in Seoul I planted some dozen ginko
nuts in a pot. A few sprouted and I planted in my yard and grew them to be 8 feet. But ginko is such a slow growing tree, they
don't seem to grow if you watch year by year. Trick is to find very fresh nuts to plant. You can mail order few feet tall nursery
grown ginko which I did for my previous home I built and saw them to grow to about 9 feet, then we moved. I will try to find
a commercial nursery who has them and see what will be price including shipping. They are becoming very popular in our town.
At one of the hospital I work for, they have planted so many ginko tree along the parking lot but they are still very young.

As for Neue Schwanstein Schloss, we have visited the place few years ago, I had feeling that it was finished for tourism.
It was beautiful and impressive. I understand it was a model to imitate to build The Cinderella Castles in Disney Resort.

Dr. Minn, I found it. Michigan bulb Co have them on sale for 12.99 per tree plus shipping charge. They suppose to grow in zones
3-9. Your place look like in zone 8 or 9. Please e-mail me the address and good time to send. I will try to send at least three and hopefully
one will survive.

Dr. Cho,
Many thanks for your offer, but..

Ginko tree:
We have Ginko tree  in Korean nursery in California and this state has strict plant quaranteen program. No fruit or nut trees are allowed from another state. As you say, it is slow growing and can live several hundred year (?) with the impressive yellow fall color. I bought one pound of fresh Ginko seeds and planted those seeds
2 in one hole, 20 cm apart. If ten or tweny come out this year, I will transplant for the views, 10 years later?
Even walnut trees cannot be brought here.

Some one tried to bring some seed from Peru and was fined several hundred dollars in the airport, according to a Peru travel guide. I bought 20 different corn seed iat a Peru farmer's market for decoration, but I threw away before I came to the airport. I ordered some water lilly seeds from Internet not knowing where they are coming from.
They came from Thailand and there was a green quaranteen certificate, fumigation for fungus and insect eggs?

Red wood trees can live 2-3000 years and I will plant somewhere to be seen by those who will come to this earth 2-3000 years later!

Your wife seems to like weeping willow trees around a pond with ducks sliding below their shade. I planted willows every 10 feet around the pond for quick erosion control and weed prevention.
If all survive, I have to thin them out one day.  I cut branches of willow trees, 50-100 of them, and put in water
bucket in warm place. The root come out like white mustaches, so easy to multiply.

You see them in the pots here too!

 

"Big tree" planting is not for our generation to enjoy.

Weed control and Ground cover.

This is a major preoccupation for every garender or owner of a house.
Strongest plant, usually weeds take over the yard, if left alone.
They have developed several kinds of "ground cover" according to the climate. I overed purple ice plant, sedum(?). perrywincles, etc for the road side. I have suitable aggressive grass bamboo, but they are green year around
and a bit monotonous to plant everywhere.
Another problem in this area is "No rain in summer" which kills every plant unless irrigated when young.
So any ground cover must be drought tolerant.

Also, rabbit, deers,..all kind of pests need to be considered. When I bought many nut trees, they told me I have to have many cats! 
CATS FOR NUT TREES?
Nut tree bear fruits, which attract squirrels, which steal all your nuts. So cats take care of squirrels.

NORTHERNCALIFORNIA VISIT.

 I remember March 1-15, plums, peaches, etc blooms. early April wild flowers bloom.

Sierra foot hills, about 2 weeks later than coastal area for wild flowes. I noted nurseris do not sell anymore braeroot plant in April in N. Calif as the trees wake up and begin to flower.
From now on, I must keep a diary of plant "wake up" dates!

Anyone who wants to visit my property, this year, welcome, welcome!
but please do not bring a camera, but a shovel and rubber boots!