Tree No More

Around the house we bought in 2005 there were some b-i-ig trees. There were two Maples in the front yard, and another had been removed, we've been told, before we moved in. In the backyard were three huge Cottonwoods, a Mimosa tree and an old, gnarled fruit tree. The latter pair had to be removed early on, due to disease or nuisance value. As of last week, we now have no trees at all. One by one the lovely trees have needed to be felled, due either to disease, fungi, ice storms, or drought effects.

It was the sound of whispering Cottonwood leaves that encouraged us to buy this house - husband used to say that it reminded him of his childhood home, Cottonwoods had whispered to him there, too. The trees were old, probably, before these houses were built, they had formed part of the groups of big trees in the pasture adjoining our back fence.

Last of our trees to go was the third Cottonwood, it stood near to our shed and house; it had, over time, listed even nearer towards the shed and house, dangerously so, as well as being close to the house next door. It was riddled with some problem which caused it to begin shedding its leaves soon after they blossomed. We hated to lose our last tree, had tried to save it by special treatments, but were unable to do so. The house roof had long benefited from the tree's shade, cutting down heat from the worst of summer's sun. In the end, in the midst of tornado season, there was nothing for it but the felling.

The job took several days, with a necessary break due to windy or wet weather. Now the tree has gone, its stump carefully ground down.

We've just bought two Redbud trees for the front yard, the tree farm guy will plant them for us, probably on Monday, weather permitting. We planted a Crepe Myrtle bush in the backyard, some years ago, almost lost that due to ice and/or drought, but it has, eventually survived. We also planted a very pretty Smoke Tree in the front yard, but it succumbed to an ice storm. On the plus side, a Mimosa tree has grown up just outside of our back fence, we've watched it grow from a tiny seedling bush; in just a few years it has reached the phone/cable lines above - it's likely spawn of the Mimosa tree once living in our yard.

A handful of photos of the recent "tree job" - a job not for the faint-hearted I reckon!