Felled Giants
Prairie Village, a quaint yet trendy little suburban village, is bordered by quainter and trendier Fairway, also officially known as "The City of Trees." That's what the signs say. And it's probably true, but the trees don't stop at the city line. This whole area on the Kansas side of the state line that shoulders up to Kansas City, Missouri, and is officially known as Shawnee Mission, Kansas, has more trees per lawn than probably is legal in new neighborhoods!
Until last summer, we had eight on our short acre. A huge pin oak and gorgeous sugar maple live in front, and the back had a sweet gum, silver maple, Russian olive, Norway maple, an opportunistic mimosa and an enormous hackberry. The house directly next door to the west is historic in that it was the first home, a farmhouse, built in our county (Johnson) in the 1880s. The owners have a picture that was taken of the front of the house circa 1910, and our hackberry is in the background! We're talking elderly. Many years before we were its keepers, its huge Y-shaped trunk had been chained to prevent splitting. The chain, each thick link the length of my thumb, had been swallowed by the 50-foot tree as it continued growing so that most of it was hidden within a large scar. I was never overly fond of the big guy, which contributed nothing in the way of fall color and was constantly dropping sticks. I often threatened to chop it down. But one afternoon last July, my husband Rick and son, Ryan, were at a baseball game, while my daughter Megan and I were home. Our other son, Trevor, was at a friend's house. It had started out as a hot, sunny day, but had started clouding over before they left for the game. As it became apparent a big storm was brewing, Megan and I were watching TV near our large picture window that offers a panoramic view of our backyard. Suddenly, we heard a burst of strong wind and watched as the hackberry just lay over on its side. It was a very graceful, quiet fall. The only noise was the sound of electrical surges as it took down all of the power lines in its path. My reaction to the surreal scene was palpable--I almost threw up. It was as if someone died.
Luckily, it fell into the open yard. Had it fallen toward the house, it would have done a lot of damage. When we got estimates for its removal, tree guys said we were unlucky--if it had hit the house, insurance would have paid for the repairs AND removal of the tree. Interesting perspective. As it was, we were out the megabucks it costs to remove a 100+ -year-old tree! As you may have guessed, it was having problems that we couldn't see. It seemed to be attached to the ground by only one large root--the rest had rotted, as had much of the tree's inner base. Our tree guy said it was essentially sitting on top of the ground connected by that one root! Thank God it fell when it did and we avoided a truly tragic scenario. But that's not all...
The Norway maple was the most perfectly shaped maple I've ever seen. It wasn't a maple that turned the glorious reds and oranges of fall; its leaves turned a ho-hum yellow. Even so, it was the focal point of our backyard because it sat right in the middle and had such a perfect umbrella shape. Also at least 50 feet tall, it was healthy until two summers ago. That year, it leafed out, then shortly after, lost all its leaves. We called in a tree guy, who diagnosed a girdled trunk. A root completely wrapped the base of the tree, strangling its food/water supply. (Sadly, he also realized our sugar maple in front has it, but it's not struggling yet. He thought it may have 8 to 10 years left. It's very common for maples to girdle.) He said the Norway maple may not be dead yet; we should wait until the next spring to see. Well, last spring it had only about five deformed, shriveled leaves, so when Mr. Hackberry kicked the bucket, we arranged a double funeral. So we lost two huge trees at once. Talk about the microclimate of a lawn changing! In past springs, the shade was so heavy on the roof that we could wait until afternoon to turn on our air conditioner--not this year! And my only real planting bed went from part shade to full sun, so I've been dealing all summer with the ramifications there!
Once we're out of hock for the tree removal, :) we plan to plant at least one to replace the two we lost. Rick really likes black gums. I tend toward maples. Suggestions are welcome. We're in Zone 5. Any really great trees out there?
Until last summer, we had eight on our short acre. A huge pin oak and gorgeous sugar maple live in front, and the back had a sweet gum, silver maple, Russian olive, Norway maple, an opportunistic mimosa and an enormous hackberry. The house directly next door to the west is historic in that it was the first home, a farmhouse, built in our county (Johnson) in the 1880s. The owners have a picture that was taken of the front of the house circa 1910, and our hackberry is in the background! We're talking elderly. Many years before we were its keepers, its huge Y-shaped trunk had been chained to prevent splitting. The chain, each thick link the length of my thumb, had been swallowed by the 50-foot tree as it continued growing so that most of it was hidden within a large scar. I was never overly fond of the big guy, which contributed nothing in the way of fall color and was constantly dropping sticks. I often threatened to chop it down. But one afternoon last July, my husband Rick and son, Ryan, were at a baseball game, while my daughter Megan and I were home. Our other son, Trevor, was at a friend's house. It had started out as a hot, sunny day, but had started clouding over before they left for the game. As it became apparent a big storm was brewing, Megan and I were watching TV near our large picture window that offers a panoramic view of our backyard. Suddenly, we heard a burst of strong wind and watched as the hackberry just lay over on its side. It was a very graceful, quiet fall. The only noise was the sound of electrical surges as it took down all of the power lines in its path. My reaction to the surreal scene was palpable--I almost threw up. It was as if someone died.
Luckily, it fell into the open yard. Had it fallen toward the house, it would have done a lot of damage. When we got estimates for its removal, tree guys said we were unlucky--if it had hit the house, insurance would have paid for the repairs AND removal of the tree. Interesting perspective. As it was, we were out the megabucks it costs to remove a 100+ -year-old tree! As you may have guessed, it was having problems that we couldn't see. It seemed to be attached to the ground by only one large root--the rest had rotted, as had much of the tree's inner base. Our tree guy said it was essentially sitting on top of the ground connected by that one root! Thank God it fell when it did and we avoided a truly tragic scenario. But that's not all...
The Norway maple was the most perfectly shaped maple I've ever seen. It wasn't a maple that turned the glorious reds and oranges of fall; its leaves turned a ho-hum yellow. Even so, it was the focal point of our backyard because it sat right in the middle and had such a perfect umbrella shape. Also at least 50 feet tall, it was healthy until two summers ago. That year, it leafed out, then shortly after, lost all its leaves. We called in a tree guy, who diagnosed a girdled trunk. A root completely wrapped the base of the tree, strangling its food/water supply. (Sadly, he also realized our sugar maple in front has it, but it's not struggling yet. He thought it may have 8 to 10 years left. It's very common for maples to girdle.) He said the Norway maple may not be dead yet; we should wait until the next spring to see. Well, last spring it had only about five deformed, shriveled leaves, so when Mr. Hackberry kicked the bucket, we arranged a double funeral. So we lost two huge trees at once. Talk about the microclimate of a lawn changing! In past springs, the shade was so heavy on the roof that we could wait until afternoon to turn on our air conditioner--not this year! And my only real planting bed went from part shade to full sun, so I've been dealing all summer with the ramifications there!
Once we're out of hock for the tree removal, :) we plan to plant at least one to replace the two we lost. Rick really likes black gums. I tend toward maples. Suggestions are welcome. We're in Zone 5. Any really great trees out there?
posted by Karen at 11:24 PM
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