On Wednesday night, during a severe thunderstorm, that huge limb that you see on the left hand side of our maple came down. It’s a massive tree. The limb just missed our car, took out some branches from the catalpa tree and, I’m sure, decimated parts of the garden.
I was watching the final dress rehearsal of Macbeth. It was intermission and I happened to look down at my phone to see that Don was calling. I knew something was wrong.
Yesterday, some friends came over with a chain saw and the clean-up began. Right now, we’re heartsick. If you remember, we lost a huge limb off this same tree two years ago during Hurricane Irene. Now, we’re wondering whether the tree is diseased, whether it is in further danger, and heaven forbid, whether it might have to be taken down. Don has contacted some arborists who are going to come by on Saturday to examine it.
Neither of us can imagine our house without this majestic Sugar Maple by it’s side. You know, when we first saw this house, we fell in love with the four big trees that were nearest to the house: a weeping willow, a shag hickory, a sugar maple and a catalpa. The shag hickory has mysteriously died. The weeping willow had to be taken down. Now, we’re wondering about the Sugar Maple. All of this in the eight short years we have lived here. We have many, many trees on the property, but they are mostly in the wooded portion of the back forty. These four trees; beautiful, old, majestic, were a great part of the siren call that reached out to me on the day we first viewed this house.
So send some positive energy to my tree, please. It’s a living thing and surely if all of us send healing energy its way, it can’t help but thrive.
In a way, I’m glad that I’m away during all of this. But I also wish I was there to help Don.
I’m starting to really hate huge storms.
Happy Friday.
Oh Claudia.
I know what you mean about losing trees. In the 17 years since we’ve been here…we’ve lost quite a number of trees. Some of them due to age…some FIRE ANTS… and some storms. The drought has been the worst culprit in the past couple of years…
So sorry about the damage to your tree. I hope it can be saved. Is there a tree doctor in your area? (I’m not trying to be cheeky) they have those around here… They will come and assess the damage and make suggestions on how to save it and some will do the work. (for a fee, I’m sure it is hefty) But just a suggestion.
Pat
Don has an arborist who specializes in trying to save trees come by tomorrow.
Sending good thoughts your way Claudia. I always say that the yard and what it holds is more important to me than the house itself. We have a very large elm tree off to the side in our front yard and a very large pine in the back yard, other wise, when we moved into our house 12 years ago, there were no other trees. Since then, we’ve planted two maples and two snow crab trees out front and an autumn blaze maple, two apple trees and a buckeye tree in the back. We love our trees and watch over them. I can imagine how heartsick you are with your tree. The shade in your yard is what I noticed when I first saw a picture of your house. I hope that grand sugar maple can be saved….will be anxious to hear what the arborists have to say…keeping my fingers crossed (and toes!)
Lori
I don’t know what we would do without that shade.
My mom had a big tree like that fairly close to the house that she had taken down about 2 years ago….lest it fall on the house / too many stories like that were going on around here with severe storms :(
I know. And we seem to get hurricanes in our neck of the woods now.
Claudia,
Positive thoughts. We had to have some taken down at Jack’s. They are too close to the house and the wind storms are an issue. The weather has been so strange these last few years. The ground is either soaked or dry. I wonder what this does to the root system and health of the tree. Hope you can save it.
Carol
We’ve had so much rain this year, it makes me wonder. Plus we’ve had hurricanes the last two years.
I’m so sorry. I do hope they’ll say it’s not diseased and can live on. I know you’ll miss the shade as it is. Sugar maples are my favorite tree here. My husband loves the huge old elm tree but it is the three sugar maples that are like a green umbrella over our back yard that are precious to me. So, live on, Claudia’s sugar maple!
I love sugar maples. This one has to be over 100 years old.
I will send healing energy your way. I love trees and always strive to protect them.
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
Thanks, Susan.
I love old trees. I notice them when I’m out and about. Have you ever looked at the old pictures in a museum about lumber companies? I live in Illinois and there are pictures of fallen trees with lumber jacks posing in front of the growth rings. The man look tiny in front of the huge trunk that is fallen. If you take a tape measure and run it strait across the center it is much wider than the man is tall. This whole area was once covered in those giants.
It makes me sad. The trees that people think are big around here now – are not even a whisper of those huge oaks – that all got cut down.
I lived in Alaska for years and came down a couple times a year to visit my folks. On time when I got there I was shocked to see all the big Hickory trees gone. Must have been 6 or 7 old Hickories around the yard. When I was a kid my sisters and I would pick up all the nuts for granny and help her crack them and get out the goodies. A race with the squirrels cause they wanted to bury them all. I understand the sickish feeling you get when you loose one of your trees. When I ask what happened to the trees they said they were tired of cleaning up all the nuts. Not a trace of them left, not even a stump. (Sometimes I am absolutely sure I must be adopted or something)
Well, my tea is gone. Got to go and tackle the day. (With thoughts of climbing those old Hickories, gathering nuts, finding bird nests and so on.)
Smiles to you. Linda
It’s hard to imagine cutting down a tree because the nuts were annoying. We have black walnuts and hickory nuts and I wouldn’t dream of cutting down a living tree because of that. Sorry you had to see that, Linda.
Dear Claudia, That is bad news, I am truly sorry I will keep you in my thoughts and I believe it is OK for me to pray for a tree and the family it serves. After all a tree is one of Gods creations too ( I believe). Help is on the way Dear! -Judy A-
Absolutely. And a tree has energy, as do all of us.
Sending healing thoughts to your tree. We all know that trees have a life span too, but it isn’t easy to see them have to be taken down. And I am with you about the storms! I used to love them when I was younger and would stand and watch the blow from a window. Now I just wonder what damage we well have when it is all over.
Me too, Tana. I dread them. The only place I don’t dread them is here, because I’m in a solid old apartment building with no dangerous trees nearby.
Very sad, just thankful the limb missed the cottage and car! Hopefully this beauty can be saved – the arborist should be able to tell. Sending positive thoughts to your sugar maple.
I LOVE all trees but have grown to be scared of the ones in my own garden ever since terrifying Hurricane Fran hit us in 1996, followed by Hurricane Floyd in 1999. We lost my car and our roof the night when Fran hit…………thanks to massive oaks that fell on us. We replaced part of the roof again in Floyd when another huge oak fell. Since then we’ve had to remove all the remaining tall pines and several dodgy oaks – and had one huge one with double trunks cabled to make it safer. Every time there’s a high wind and continuous heavy rains, I pray really hard that we sustain no further damage – there are many sleepless nights for me when storms arrive and when I’m traveling I’m always keeping fingers crossed the little ole cottage I’ve left behind is safe from harm!
I bet Don wishes you were there too!
Hugs – Mary
I go through the same thing, Mary. I’m edgy and nervous when the winds are high. I’m sorry you had so much damage and had to cut some trees down. I know that can’t have been easy.
That’s not a limb, it’s half a tree..So sad when old trees start to become fragile..Happy thoughts…
Well actually it isn’t half the tree. Just looks like it in that photo. That tree is very, very high with lots of other branches and limbs. But, the fact that two lower limbs have fallen concerns me.
We lost nine trees on our property. They all had that tell tale sign of a dark place at the bottome.. with the bark off. Shaped like an upside down U. Hope you can save the rest of the tree.
Balisha
I don’t think this one has anything like that.
Oh Claudia, do I understand! Trees frame our homes, provide shade to keep us cool and beauty. My neighbor has a huge oak right next to our oak that is not doing well, we have already lost shade because of its branches that had to be cut. Recently a few blocks away the road had a beautiful canopy….but no more, they cut all the trees to expand the highway. I have been in morning, I hate to see a tree destroyed. So I hope yours can be saved. I guess it is because my Dad was a botanist!
I hate it, too. It makes me feel sick inside. Trees are so good for us and the atmosphere. They provide homes for birds and shade for plants and homes and people.
I so understand your feelings. I love my trees…and old sugar maples are beautiful! We’ve lost some trees and huge evergreens due to illness and wind storms over the years. Usually, we replant…you can never replace, but you can start a new one. I currently have three trees in our backyard…they were originally volunteers…and now one is a viable shade tree..a silver maple. I hope your sugar maple will be fine…sending positive thoughts your way! ;)
Thank you, Donna. This tree has to be well over a hundred years old.
Our house is near the edge of the woods on one side..we have had trees come down across the driveway several times and take wires down also..your Sugar Maple is a gorgeous huge old man I would hat to see him taken down..sending positive thoughts his way..
Thank you, Nancy.
About 9 yrs ago it rained for maybe 3 months off/on, and one night my daughter and I were volunteering at the Cultural Center, we came home and ran in the house due to rain. My husband said: Did you miss anything? I said, What? Our old pepper tree that was around 45 ft high had fallen over, uprooted itself due to the rains. Luckily it went down the length of the house, and not on the patio and kitchen, otherwise it would have taken out my husband. It cost over $1200 to get it cut up and removed. It was like losing a family member! We still mourn its loss. And now w/the heat out here I’m about to lose maybe 3 fruit trees. So very sad for you to lose that limb. I’m sending positive thoughts that a good tree man can fix it up and make things better for you.
I hope your fruit trees hang in there, Annette. That heat has been so hard on plant life.
i know how bad you must feel, Claudia, and I’m sending positive thoughts. I know you and Don must be so relieved nothing was damaged. And I’m hoping nothing is found wrong with the tree. I believe they drill into it with an auger like tool and this can tell you a lot. We lost a big oak in the front of our house one year, it just keeled over right over in the mid section of the trunk. Thankfully, nothing and nobody was hurt. I just remember trying to get used to that blank spot on our lawn, the lack of shade and seeing the houses across the street that had always been shrouded. Very sad. Sending my best wishes.
XO,
Jane
We had to deal with that when the willow came down. Suddenly our house was exposed to the road, we could see our neighbors across the street and we lost its shade. So hard to deal with.
I hope the tree is savable too:) They are pretty hearty so my bet is it will be ok. I think this is the first time I have seen a pic of your houses porch. It is darling:)
I’m hoping it will be okay.
I feel your pain, Claudia. As you well remember, we lost the huge maple tree that graced our front/side yard in the freak October snowstorm a couple of years ago. Like yours, our maple was one of the reasons we fell in love with this particular lot when we purchased into this newly developed neighborhood.
The limb you lost is so huge – you should have them save some pieces that can be used as tables or bird bath stands or whatnot like I did. It’s nice to be able to still have those in the backyard to remind me of that beautiful tree, which is still gracing our yard, but in a different way (our own personal “Giving Tree”).
Donna
I’m not there to control that, and I think some of it has already been carted off. We did save a couple of pieces from the other limb that fell off during Hurricane Irene.
I am a “tree hugger.” I get teased about it, but I don’t think that alot of people realize just how valuable trees are. ( One of the best things that they do for us is give us our fresh air to breathe.) Sending positive thoughts to your tree!
Thank you, Susan! I am a tree hugger, too.
I do love big old trees. I think catalpas have one of the prettiest canopies ever, but the string bean pods and the leaves that fall in autumn can sure cover a hard quickly. The flowers in the spring are so nice though. As for your maple, hopefully it was just mother nature doing some pruning. Are you planting some more small trees to grow and look beautiful in their place as they die? Perhaps another type of tree to avoid any diseases? These strange weather years are sure taking their tolls on all kinds of things…
I put up with all the debris from the catalpa because I love it so. It’s hard to plant anything new there as the new leach field for the septic system is in that section of the yard.
Oh Claudia, I am so sorry about your tree. I am definitely sending positive tree vibes your way, xo Laura
Sending positive thoughts your way…your tree is lovely. Jen
Thank goodness no serious damage to person or property was done when this happened. Your mind must be in a constant whirl considering the implications of the loss of this huge tree, it’s a major practical issue from the point of view of the shade it provides let alone the emotional aspects of it all so I can certainly understand your distress. Fingers crossed for good news!
Oh no, you poor thing and that poor tree. I sure hope you can get some help. Positive tree thoughts are on the way…
Hugs,
Mere
Sorry about your big tree limb. Just be careful that you don’t have others that could fall on your house!!
Judy
Poor tree! I love trees, and living in a hurricane prone area, I understand the feeling of loss. So glad no one was hurt.
Claudia, I’m sending some positive healing energetic thoughts your way! I get so sad whenever a tree comes down. Last year lightening struck a neighbors tree and killed the squirrel that was in it. This year the tree had to come down because the lightening damaged it. I was sad to see it go. Trees give us so much and they take a long time to mature. Glad the limb didn’t hurt anyone or damage your home or vehicles. I love neighborhoods with lots of mature trees.
oh no! i feel the same when we lose a limb or tree or even a plant! hope the tree doc can help save your tree. good green vibes being sent your way!
As trees are one of the three things that I cannot live without, I understand how you’re hurting. Praying for that fine old tree.
jane in tx
Crazy, we had quite a storm here, too, Wednesday night that blew down trees and broke huge limbs, all of which cause power outages all over the area. Luckily, we had no more than small limbs littering the yard.
I do hope the tree can be saved. An hour and a half away from where my son is at college in Colorado, there is flash flooding where 3 people have died, yet his area is only getting a light drizzle every day. Weather is truly crazy and unpredictable. Have a wonderful weekend, Tammy
It goes without saying – I LOVE TREES!!
Giving you my best that your tree can be saved. You have such a beautiful patio and there’s nothing better than a tree to shade it for you and to give home to all the creatures of your area!!
God Bless!
How would Joyce Kilmer feel about this???!!!
I too, love trees!!!! Years ago, we had to take out 3 California Pines (real beauties) that were slowly lifting our swimming pool right out of the ground, even though they were fifty feet away.
I felt sad when I re-looked at your cottage front yard picture. All you can do is go on the advice of the arborist and know that sadly, everything has to die sooner or later. Hopefully it can be saved!!!
AND if it has to go….you never know…..if this timing….was a saving grace against the next storm.
Good to hear no one was hurt.
That is a beautiful tree and yard.
May I ask what state you live in?
THANKS.
Elizabeth
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