Buried in the garden beneath wide spreading redbuds and various evergreens are a gold tipped cypress and long forgotten hydrangeas, but also native jack-in-the-pulpits (below) that are found on the very occasional clean up in these parts that are hidden from view. I delayed removing a native cherry seedling on the back side of the side garden years ago, and now it makes its way into sunlight between a huge beech with pendulous branching, and a columnar form of the evergreen Southern magnolia. Again, I resolve to remove the cherry, but this project is now a bit more complicated.
I see nothing but advantages to staying in place for thirty years, though inevitably this brings unforseen changes to the garden. How many times does the gardener say, “I won’t be here long enough to see it grow that big?” But, I have been, and thankfully, while there have been a multitude of mistakes, there are few regrets.
While weaker individuals beneath the canopy have perished, several have survived, though mophead hydrangeas no longer flower in the deep shade. Several vibrnums (above) remain despite the garden’s border growing wider by dozens of feet, a result of growth and additional planting, and these continue to flower despite vastly different conditions than when they were first planted.
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 
Why not just leave that native cherry? It provides food for the bugs and birds. I actually transplanted one to be a ‘street tree’ here on my block in Buffalo NY. I love seeing the birds enjoy those cherries! Cheers!
The cherry might stay since it’s on the backside of the garden, out of sight, but it’s too close to other trees. There are plenty of other trees in the garden and the forest that borders the garden, so I’ve no worries about birds and bugs.
Not being around long enough to see something grow ‘that’ big is what justifies planting way too many fast but disproportionately big trees into tight situations. I used to hear it often many years ago from retail nursery clients in the Santa Clara Valley. Most people there are only there for work, and expect to retire and move away in only a few years. They had no concern for their home or who lived there next.
There will be a few problems when this garden hits forty and fifty, but I look forward to being here to enjoy it. My wife is ready to move into a tiny condo, but she knows I wouldn’t think of it. I look forward to the day I can enjoy the garden in spring, intead of my work schedule being the busiest time of the year.
At the farm, we plan for the farm to be gone when we are done with it, but we also plan for the arboretum where we grow the stock plants to become a public place that can be annexed into the adjacent town. It is too pretty of a place for more monster homes to built on. My colleague and I are both natives of the Santa Clara Valley, so we resent how such excellent places always get ruined so someone can make a buck.