Home Depot + HOA + procrastination = Dead Trees

We have no landscaping.  One 3 foot tall ponderosa pine with a half green branch doesn't count.  Neither does grass, rock and bark.

I'm part of Home Depot's garden club.  I get coupons.  BOGO coupons.  Buy one, get one free TREE!!!  I was thrilled.  8 foot black Austrian pines already on sale for $150 (normally this size can go up to $400).

We also had to rent a trailer (since someone stole their only rental truck) to get them home.  Each tree weighed about 500 lbs since it was a huge bucket full of dirt.  I asked them if it would be ok not to plant until we get HOA approval.  They said it would be fine.  Those suckers are heavy, but the wind out here knocked them right over.  We eventually got them to the back yard, standing up and secured.

Well, it took about 45 days to get our plan submitted and HOA approved.  In the mean time, we watered them once a week.  One started to turn a little brown, so we put it in the ground before the official approval came in order to save it.  The approval came, and the second one went in.  We didn't save either of them.  They are both completely dead.  Maybe that could be due to the fact that there were almost no roots on this tree.  There were 5 little 6 inch severed spikes for roots.  This was in a huge bucket of dirt, which I assumed contained a large root ball.  I've heard you shouldn't make assumptions.

Jim refers to these as his rare "golden pines."

Jim and Alex are especially upset at the time it took to dig these large holes.  I'm upset that I wasted a coupon.  I'm also upset that we rented a trailer to get them home.

The bird is happy for another perch.

I'm glad Home Depot told me about their great return policy and that I kept my receipts.  I tried it out with some dead ferns they insisted could live in my stairway on some pot shelves.  It's too dry here, so they died.  They gave me store credit.

Now I have to figure out how to get them back to the store.  The lady who I returned my plants to said I could cut them in half.  I think I'll bring in a pic with me standing next to it, then just bring in a chunk.  The lack of root ball perhaps.  Apparently they need proof of their dead trees.

Maybe next year I'll have the guys dig holes, then we'll watch for good deals, buy them cheap and just slap them in the ground, then ask for HOA approval.  How can I get great deals if I submit my plan first?