I stopped by our lake property last Sunday for the first, and perhaps only time this year. We own a lot on Sewell Lake that is completely empty – no utilities or structures or anything. Last year we planted 150 trees, so I went to take a look at how they were doing and took a look at the shoreline to see how much the water had come up. The trees looked very good – there were three dead maples and 1 dead pine, but out of 150 trees, that’s not a bad ratio. Last year we cleared out branches on our way down to the water, and that path looked pretty good. Dave and Alicia helped make a little stone stairway down the steep bank, and that was still in place. (Unfortunately Dave and Alicia got poison ivy from helping me that day – sorry guys).
There were four lots in the mini-development there and we bought lot number 2, with lot 1 already having been sold. The day we bought our lot at the auction, they also supposedly sold lot 3, but somehow the buyer managed to reneg, and that lot, as well as lot 4 are still available today.
Last year I was struggling with what to do about keeping the lot cleaned up since I didn’t really have means for mowing the 1.5 acre lot. Through the real estate agent, I contacted a nearby farmer and he agreed to mow the lot if we allowed him to take the straw – sure, I had absolutely no problem with that. So now we have the property being mowed for no cost and taken care of without any intervention on our part. I have more on the to-do list there – I’d like to clear up more of the branches that have fallen into the water and to remove (or wood-chip) the branches we knocked out last summer. Other than that, we plan to let the trees grow and then evaluate it in about 5 years to see if we want to build on it or sell it. The Lot 1 neighbors expect to build a house there in the next year or two, so that would be good for our property value if they do that.
Here are some pictures of the trees, the shoreline and the walkway down to the lake.
Eric's space 