Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Necessary sadness

I love trees, but as one young tree climber said to me years ago "the problem with this place is too many big trees". Trees on Maryland's Eastern Shore are predominantly Oak. In 50 years an oak tree can reach a height of over 100 ft. Since we bought our place on 3¼ acres 16 years ago, we have lost approximately 18 - 20 trees. More than half as a result of hurricanes. The rest as a result of old age or climate conditions. And recently two out of fear of risk to life and property. All that being said, we still have an abundance of nice large trees on the property that provide shade and support wildlife.

 Over the past few years, I have been observing 3 in particular that have had an increase in limb die-off. This has been a source of stress for me because I know that eventually they will either have to be cut down, or they will fall down. I have experience with dead, rotten trees, and believe me, they are dangerous. Better to cut them down before they start falling down.

During the last hurricane, I made this post about our evacuation, partly due to the huge trees that could crush the house.

This spring, opportunity presented itself, and I seized it. The power company put our electric underground and my go-to tree man was looking for firewood. Three dying trees plus the two biggest threats to the house were selected. I was made an offer that I couldn't refuse.

The stump on the right is from the biggest.
Sometimes I imagined this tree as a sapling during the civil war.
It was 40% dead on top and becoming a hazard.


That's a huge tree!


This one was way to close to the house and right next to the bedrooms.
It was also cracking the driveway.


Like putting an old dog down. Sad.


On the other side of the house. Stump and brush left as evidence.
Although seemingly healthy, this one scared me the most during storms.

No more trees will be cut unless they die on their own. I'm done.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do.

1 comment:

Tyler said...

I always feared this day would come. Sad to see them go but happy you guys won't have to run from every storm now.