Ode to a Tree
The "Tree Fort"
The trees in our yard our young and small. The largest was a maple big enough to climb, and the previous owners had nailed boards on the trunk to serve as steps up to a one-board fort. We enjoyed the small amount of shade it provided.
But this tree had problems. Lots of problems. The neighbors had a large pine tree that grew next to it for many years and crowded it out (according to them), thus it’s gangly, one-sided structure. It had a huge split in it, half the tree looked dead (and more was dying), and fungus was starting to grow on at least one of the branches (which means it’s already rotting). It was so stressed that it produced a massive number of seeds this year.
As Jack Handey once said “If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” This tree was screaming all the time.
A Screaming Tree
We’ll need to get someone in to grind the stump down so we can use the space where the stump is, hopefully to plant another tree.
We’ll need to figure out what to plant in its place. Another maple (fast growing, but if this tree was diseased, probably not a good idea to replace it with another maple), an oak (sloooow to grow), or Justin’s suggestion: A Ginkgo (there are many in the neighborhood. Cool, ancient trees, but not really a shade tree), or …?
The yard somehow looks much larger with the tree down, even though it took up very little space.
Goodbye, tree.
Coming Down
Down
mde on 12 Sep 2009 at 12:50 am #
I think you should have saved the trunk and made a totem pole.
Ray on 20 Sep 2009 at 7:50 am #
The only good tree is a cut tree and the sawdust from making boards or furniture is like perfume.\
They do rent tree stump removers that I have used. 2-3 hour rental would do it.
A ginko would be fun but they may be a bit messy and as discussed even stinky. Course you should be aware that the source of this suggestion may not recognize stinky? Esp. on canoe trips. (:>)