When I was a little girl, MeMum gave me this antique picture and I’ve had it hanging in my bedroom ever since then.
Trees
by Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain,
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
So, I’ve always loved trees. MeMum, the English major, saw to it. That’s why it always kills me when we have to have them cut down. We’ve been in this house for 15 years and up until now, we’d lost about 18 big trees due to wind damage from a wall cloud and that nasty ash borer a few years ago. This week we added five more big trees to the list. (Which means, we’ve lost about half of our trees. And I know this is probably boring most of you to tears, but this blog is a record of parts of our life and I want to remember my trees. ;-( )
We lost three sugar maples to verticillium wilt. I’d never even heard of that *(&(^*@#% and the loss of these three really make me want to cry — they provided our prettiest color in the fall. The picture below shows the one that was in the best shape of the three — it’s hard to tell with the trees behind it but all the leaves are shriveled up. The first two completely lost all of their leaves a few weeks after the shriveling started.
We also lost what they said was a hickory, but I’m not convinced. The top half of this tree completely died out. We debated topping it out, because the bottom was still lush and pretty, but there was a lot of bark damage so it was best to let it go. The tree guy thought this was due to root damage. Here it is after the guy had cut all the bottom branches away. I had big plans to get up early and take pictures of the trees before they started cutting, but they beat me to it.
And the fifth tree. Remember this ash that we treated and tried to save? This was my favorite tree because it was so unique — no branches until the very tippy top.
It took two years, but the treatments didn’t work and this is what it looked like the morning of our sadness. (That’s what I’m calling it haha.)
Another shot of the tree cutters — the foreground is the best of the three maples and the background is that tall ash.
While they were here, we also had a few trees trimmed. At one point, I ran into the house to get something and I heard a bunch of screaming. It scared me and I thought maybe someone had fallen or been cut by one of the chainsaws. I went outside and all the guys on the ground were laughing. The guy up in a big oak tree had a little fright. On the way up the tree, he poked at a squirrel’s nest and nothing happened so he assumed it was empty. When he got higher in the tree, up next to the nest, two little squirrels jumped out of the nest and into his lap. He wasn’t very happy LOL!
The other tree we had trimmed was a paper-bark birch, another favorite. (I promise, they aren’t all favorites!) It’s really susceptible to breaking during ice storms and the branches were hanging too far over the house.
Here’s a picture of the afore-mentioned squirrel guy who is part monkey. This guy was amazing. I was a little worried that he was going to drop a branch on the house, but they all hit the ground.
Poor little birch tree had a pretty severe haircut. It still looks pretty from the front though, and I know all too soon it will be grown back out again. In the meantime, the roof should be safe.
So, a sad week here — I hope yours has been better! I’m off to contemplate which of our remaining trees will become my new very favorite tree while I work on my trip around the world — it’s almost time for our next set of instructions and I’m just 1/2 row from being all caught up. A progress shot next time!
XOXO,
Anna
My week has been no better! Our tree guys were here today, removing trees and trimming others in an effort to save. Our big one that endured the recent lightening strike is looking worse each day, but they still think it might be saved. So they’ll be back tomorrow to do some serious intervention. I feel your pain…
Thank you for reminding me of this poem…… It’s always been a favorite!
So sorry about your trees. We don’t have many around our house but I have always appreciated a pretty tree and seem to always pick artwork that features trees or leaves. So I am jealous of all your pretty trees. Good luck with the rest of them!
We had four big pines here when we moved in, but there is only one left. It does make you sad. I love trees, and they seem to be not nearly so enduring as I used to think they were.
I love trees. I had 17 Japanese maples at our last house. Plus a huge amount more of other specimen trees. We need trees to clean the air. Can you check with the local nursery for disease resistant trees so you can replant? Sadly you can’t replant the same kind. I’m so sorry for your loss. I really do live my trees.
Oh Anna, sending you big hugs. I think I would be in tears also. I hate it when I see any trees being chopped , so sad. I often moan about the fact that I can’t see any green at all from my house , no grass no trees nothing . I think you need to plant some new ones :-)
Beautiful poem! I too love trees and can totally understand your heartbreak . Are you planning to replace them?
so sad x
We only have very small trees in our very small garden, but I would still be upset to lose them. Fortunately I don’t have to walk far to enjoy the sight of large trees.
Sending you big hugs to cheer you up!!
Anne XOXO
I’m so sorry about your trees, Anna and totally understand your sadness.
Trees are really important to me – my Dad adored trees and as a city horticultural officer was responsible for many tree planting schemes that have now turned Birmingham (UK) into a much greener city. His legacy is that people living in tower blocks can now look down on a green canopy of beautiful trees where 30 years ago there was only concrete and short grass :)
We were really sad two years ago to have to have the only two trees in our garden removed as they were damaging our neighbour’s property. We have plans to plant more on the other side of the garden when we do our relandscaping!
It’s sad to see these beauties having to go, Anna. I hope the trimming saves the rest from getting the chop any time soon.
I bet the monkey man said a few *(&(^*@#% words! :oD
Oh Anna! What lovely trees; but they don’t last forever, it only feels like that. And if they are getting dangerous or dying, then better to deal with them. We have two in our titchy garden that need to come out because of root or trunk damage risk. Will you replace them? I hope so; that way there will be trees for generations to come to enjoy!
I’m sorry and understand how you feel. I think of trees as being sacred and I too feel a loss when one has to be removed/damaged. Cute story about the little squirrels too. xoxo jewels
sorry to hear the sad fate of your beautiful trees! Your yard looks amazing – what a beautiful wide open space you have.
I’ve never seen those trees with the bare trunks – they remind me of palm trees.
I wish I could give you some of my trees, I have too many here at my place.
Awe. I’m sorry, Anna. That’s a bummer. I’m not that attached to the nature outside because we have so much of it (6.5 acres is ours and 100+ is my in-laws) but there was a major tree thinning happening here the last few months. My “back 40” looks so bare! My husband and FIL got rid of a lot of trees due to damage, age, and firewood. Plus the farmer needs land to plant more grain. :)
the damnable ash borers have made it to Colorado – The Peoples’ Republic of Boulder, in fact – and when i took inventory in our yard i realized that our two biggest trees (which are dwarfs compared to yours) are ash, with another smaller one that has only been here five or six years … the People Who Are Supposed To Know say not to start treating if we’re not in a five mile radius of the Original Site, but i dread the next ten years of watching the tree canopy in the metro area die out by 20-30% … pine beetles took most of the forests in the mountains and have made it to the plains … so sad … i feel your pain
I really sympathize with you. I know that poem well and have always loved trees myself. When I was living in Virginia, they cleared a whole area of trees (committing arborcide, in my opinion) to build… wait for it… a Whole Foods! I found that a bit ironic.
We are moved to FW now–been here almost two weeks. We are buying a house in Leo. Do you go to the quilt guild? Maybe we can meet up sometime for lunch or something.
I love trees, too…always love seeing so many of them when I travel!
I love that poem, too!
sorry so many trees had to go – sounds like that one guy screamed like a little girl LOL about the squirrels – would have been startling
I love that poem Anna. And I also love old trees. We lost another three trunked one in Spring City last year. It just laid down and died during a thunder and windstorm. I feel your pain. Your yard looks lovely though and the trees will appreciate the trim.
Oh no! I mourn the losses of your trees with you – there is something about the great outdoors which is so comforting, and to have a tree to sit under to read is one of life’s great pleasures. ((Hugs))
oh anna banana this almost brings me to tears. so sad. i still remember when i was 16 and the parental units decided it was a good plan to get rid of the pine trees in our yard that were dropping needles onto the roof they were replacing. so they put 35 year shake on there and cut down SEVENTEEN TREES. they should have both died by the time the roof needed replacing again…. i explained this theory to them but they failed to see the logic. i shouldn’t have started my talk with “YOU’LL BOTH BE DEAD BY THEN!!!!”, because it got them irritated from the beginning. time to plant more trees. you’ll still be alive to enjoy them, i swear.
:waves
Oh no that is awful Anna. Perhaps in time you can plant new ones to start growing again. I truly miss my trees from our old house but since we now rent our gardens arent even really gardens, just ugly little bushes and weeds. It was nice to see your garden too.
Oh Anna, I aways hate to hear about trees being cut down – they are so important to our world – so sad that yours have had to go. Will you plant replacements? Hope your week improves!
i love trees, too. we have a HUGE mulberry tree in our front yard that shades the yard and makes everything look cooler in the summer. i love that. i live in an old neighborhood that use to have lots of trees. they are expensive to keep up but beautiful. ;p
It is so sad. I understand as we have three large trees and I would hate to lose any of them. I hope that you can plant some replacements. xx
I do love that poster, very, very much. The verse always reminds me, however, of the Muppets rendition!
Well dammit when you mentioned a trip around the world I thought you might be coming to London again!
It’s so heart-wrenching when you lose trees as mature as those ones because it takes such a long time to fill the gap. Maybe you should have a fun tree planting ceremony, plant time capsules underneath…
oh poo, sorry you lost a few more trees Anna. Really, its hard to imagine you started with so many…my dad also had 5 cut last year…but they needed to go…sorry your Ash didnt make it, that was a very unique tree…im thinking more and more about a trip around the world myself…
I completely understand. I was sad to think we’d love a tree – and I thought we had a lot with eight, by the way! But after a year or two of worrying about it falling over on the house, I was very glad on the day it came down.
Oops, I meant that we’d LOSE a tree.
So many trees! You’d be lucky to fit half a dozen into most of the gardens here in the UK.
I always feel a pang when a local tree has to come down and it must be worse when they’re your own.
I haven’t had the best of weeks either, here’s hoping things improve for both of us!
Oh Anna! I’m so sorry about the trees! I just now saw this. My iPad has been misbehaving lately but I think it’s going to be good now. I nearly cry at the thought of losing a tree. And you’ve lost so many, so sad. Plant some new babies and they will grow fast. Do you have any Japanese Maples? Take care dear.
So, you “must” be a fan of the Lorax? I love trees too! You are not alone. Did save a couple of acorn from the Red Oak that fell last year. Not sure where I want to plant them. You would love our big Oak tree in the back yard, it has fairies living in it. It is huge. If that tree could talk…. it must be at least 200 years old. Thanks for sharing your trees! Cheers!