Normal summer activities came to an abrupt halt last week. I was still grumbling about the fact that I had received no newspaper when I finally noticed that the front walk was impassable. The violent storm the night before had ripped yet another major piece from my once-stately maple. A major limb from this same tree poked a hole in my attic in 2011. I knew it was slowly dying, but I could not part with it -- especially when it would plunge the rest of my shade-loving plants into the roasting sun.
So I temporized. The part of the tree that could actually harm the house had already done its worst. Now I was just gambling with my plants. So I left the maple alone but bought some insurance in the form of two babies: a Burr Oak and a Pecan.
And, "Why two?" you might ask. Because the pessimist who lurks within whispered that if another branch came down, it would probably land on the new tree.And sure enough, the Burr Oak emerged from the storm unscathed, while the poor pecan was completely flattened.
Fortunately, the young trunk was pliable, and while the top 90% of the tree was against the ground, the bottom of the trunk had bent. When we rolled the branch off, the youngster popped back up again. It is battered and bruised, but lives on.
Our chain saw also survived after a very wearing day.
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