We have a tree planting strategy on this farm.
It's called: doing nothing and being surprised. We have a willow that appeared next to the flower beds. Nobody planted it. It just decided this was home now and got on with it. I spent time carefully planting chamomile seeds this year. In the right spot, right depth, right time of year. Watered them. Checked them daily. Talked to them nicely. Zero. Nothing. Not one chamomile. Meanwhile chamomile has appeared in three places I definitely didn't plant it — including between the paving stones near the back door. Thriving. Unbothered. The fig tree we planted with full intention and a proper stake? Still thinking about it apparently. The random elder that showed up between two raised beds this spring? Already making flowers like it owns the place. The moral — and I think about this a lot — is that the things you force rarely come through. And the things you weren't expecting show up anyway and do exactly what they were supposed to do. This is either a farming lesson or a life lesson. Possibly both. Anyone else's garden doing things you didn't ask it to do?