Remember these? From my favorite crabapple tree on the lilac side of the lawn about 8 or 9 feet from the road?
We won’t be seeing them again.
On Tuesday, a guy on a tractor was clearing the brush on the side of the road. There is a culvert that needs to be kept clear and once a year or so, someone clears any excess brush. I suppose the County contracts these jobs out. This guy was going back and forth along the edge of our property and the property of our neighbor to the left. He was out there a long time, and I started getting concerned about what he was doing. By the time I went outside, he was ready to move on. Don reassured me, saying “They’re just trying to keep the culvert free. It’s okay.”
Later, when I went out to investigate, I discovered that he’d taken down this tree, as well as a small fir tree. On OUR property, not the county’s. This tree was 6 feet in from the inside edge of the culvert, which makes it at least 8 feet from the road. (I measured it with a tape measure.)
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I kept hoping I was wrong. But as soon as I saw pieces of the trunk on the ground, I knew I was wrong.
They took my tree.
I went in the house and told Don, who was furious. I immediately called the County and reported it. And Don called them yesterday to report it. They supervisor is going to investigate.
Meanwhile, I am sick at heart. I cried on Tuesday. I cried off an on yesterday. This was my favorite of all the crabapple trees on the property and it was also the first one I ever discovered. I really loved it. It was a living thing and now it’s gone. I wish I’d gone out there earlier so I could have stopped it. I feel like I failed that tree.
That, coupled with the news, the hearings – everything – took me to a dark place yesterday. I’m still there. I am mourning the loss of that tree; gone because some idiot with a machine was careless. My tree – not the county’s – is gone.
I couldn’t summon the energy to write a post yesterday. I’m crying as I write the post today.
Stay safe.
Happy Thursday.
I am so sorry. It is awful to loose healthy beautiful trees. I hope the county replaces them!
Take Care,
Kaye
Thank you, Kaye.
Stay safe.
I hope you will be okay. I am sorry about your tree. Government…try to read and have a better day today. Maybe take a walk or go to a favorite bookstore. Get out and mask of course…
Thank you, Brenda.
Stay safe.
very sad losses for you and don. also frustrating for being completely unnecessary and wrong!
wouldn’t be the same, of course, but i hope the county will plant new trees for you … hopefully more than two (if you’d like) as small compensation for your losses and sadness.
you trusted the county to do the work properly as they have likely done for years. you didn’t fail those trees.
i can relate, though in a slightly different situation (different because i later learned there was a reason it had to be done). a few weeks ago, i came home to find the one tree in my front yard had been cut down. i was shocked at the time and remain sad to see a circle of dirt where the stump was removed. i miss seeing that very large old tree … it sheltered birds and squirrels (who are also now gone from my view), created beautiful shadows in my living room and bedroom as the afternoon/summer evening sun shown through its leaves and branches, was a beautiful living thing. (sigh).
i hope you and don have a better day today, can do something relaxing, fun, creative, whatever helps. take care.
stay safe.
kathy
Thank you, Kathy.
Stay safe.
Oh no. Claudia, I’m so sorry about your beautiful tree. I completely understand your feelings. We have been experiencing such pain and frustration with all that’s been happening in our country and the world. So our families and homes and properties are clear sources of comfort, and to have that taken away, or disrupted…..it definitely is jarring, to say the least. Unjust. That tree seemed like an innocent spot of beauty, which we all need in our life. I’m sorry. Sending you and Don warm thoughts.
I’m so sorry, Claudia. I know how much your beautiful yard means to you and Don. Your sanctuary has been invaded and that is never a good feeling. Please know that we are all thinking of you today. xo
Thank you, April.
Stay safe.
Thank you, Barrie.
Stay safe.
I lived in a rural area on a county road for many years, and unfortunately, experienced the same thing time and again. And from experience, I can tell you that had you gone out & confronted the fella (even asking nicely that he be careful and avoid the crabapple), the result would have been the same if not worse. I’m heartsick for you, Claudia.
You may see root sprouts (suckers) emerge around the base of the stump of the crabapple.
Gentle hugs.
Stay safe & well.
Thank you, Amy.
Stay safe.
Oh Claudia….I am so sorry about your tree. What a senseless act! While it wouldn’t be the same…I hope the county will replace it. I understand your tears. ;)
Thank you, Donnamae.
Stay safe.
I am so sorry Claudia. I love trees and it is such an unnecessary loss.
Marion
Thank you, Marion.
Stay safe.
I’m so sorry – trees can really wrap roots around our hearts, can’t they? We had a 120 year old tulip poplar blow down last August in a freak storm – if it had to happen at least it fell straight down the road instead of on one of the many houses that could have been crushed, not to mention the kindergarten bus stop that could have been in its path. As it turned out it was in the city right of way so the city was responsible for removing the stump and grinding the roots – the bad thing is that it took them 8 months to get around to it and my ideas about planting a replacement garden in the large clearing were on hold – all very sad and frustrating. The problem with county maintenance is that the workers are not trained at all to preserve habitat, wild flowers, etc – they just are told to mow it down!
Maybe metal rebar stakes hammered in along the property line/right of way line to preserve anything remaining, or new plantings?
ceci
Ceci that is a good idea, I think that is what I would do
That’s a good idea, Ceci.
Thank you.
Stay safe.
So sorry for you! Trees take so long to grow; I can’t image anyone not understanding their value and the effort it takes to get them to a nice size.
Several years ago, I noticed my fruit trees losing their leaves and looking sick. I found out that a spray truck, spraying the field next to my orchard, hit all my trees, strawberry patch and garden. It was careless on their part because of the direction of the wind. I was paid but how does money replace full-grown trees????
Stay strong! I always tell myself at least I have my health. Image the people getting cancer diagnosis. Anyway, hope you feel better soon!
I love your Blog!
Thank you, Darlene.
Stay safe.
Claudia, I can totally empathize with you. I sold my family home a little less than two years ago. I had a very large Norway Spruce in my front yard that my grandmother had grown from a seedling. There was a huge Maple that provided wonderful shade in the backyard. I had planted a white Dogwood in the front yard several years ago in memory of my beloved dog. There were also other young trees I had planted on the property.
The young man who bought the house had *everything* cut down! I was so angry, and frustrated because there was nothing I could do about it. I still get angry whenever I think about it. The one that hurt the most was the Dogwood planted to memorialize my dog. I know it won’t be the same, but I hope the county replaces your trees.
This is so sad! I see this time and time again over the years in my neighborhood, where the new neighbor comes in and totally eradicates the former landscaping and, too much of the time, they don’t do any replantings at all, such that their old house has nothing to soften it, everything too bare. I’m in the same neighborhood I grew up in and have seen more than I want to of this type of bad change. When one new neighbor came in and cut down the last surviving elm (whereas in the 50s, every house of the 50 homes in our circle had a front-yard elm planted as part of the subdivision), which I knew for a fact that an arborist had just declared totally healthy, I asked why and they said the tree covered up their house too much and they didn’t feel the street light gave enough coverage for vandalism or burglary yet if they’d just checked the neighborhood stats, we don’t have that kind of problem, besides which the tree had just been professionally trimmed and it was NOT ‘hiding’ their house and wasn’t even anywhere near their roof. Over the years the elms fell victim to a disease, but other homeowners removed them due to roots and plumbing problems; however, I knew the history of this house and had talked at length with the realtor, the tree having not been found to be having a root/plumbing problem, so it was a complete waste of a lovely tree which provided beauty, shade and oxygen.
Heartbreaking for you, Denise. I’m sorry.
Stay safe.
The large, old crabapple tree in the front yard was one of the reasons we bought our house. It’s a glory in spring and attracts all kinds of birds. I’m so sorry the loss of your beautiful tree – I understand your heartbreak.
Thank you, Deborah.
Stay safe.
It hurts my heart. I know how you feel. My boyfriend ‘trimmed’ a tree one time and I told him not to take so much off as I loved it. He whacked it to nothing. It took two years to come back. The boyfriend lasted much less time.
Linda
Sorry but you made me chuckle
About the boys friend
Boyfriend sorry
Thank you, Linda
Stay safe.
This makes me think of the many “landscapers” out there who have no idea what they are doing beyond the operation of a power tool. I hope you and Don get after the county until they make this right in a satisfactory way. Hope you have a better day.
Thank you, Lynda.
Stay safe.
I understand your grief, Claudia. The town cut down my 16 foot hedge of 4 foot high forysthia that I had planted as tiny plants at our previous home. I reported it (tearfully) to public works and the first selectman. They replaced them.
I think we are all walking on a fine line due to all that’s been going on. My daughter and husband are selling their home and the realtor told her (the person who is doing most of the packing, landscaping, cleaning, juggling children while working) that because her husband’s name is first on the title/deed he will receive all emails and texts about visits and offers. She is so upset because it’s just one more check mark on the no rights side. I know that the realtor is wrong about this so my daughter is going to speak with her. They should both receive these notices.
It’s good to take time off and care for yourself. I hope the town will do the right thing and replace your trees.
Thank you, Betsy.
Stay safe.
How awful! Here in Florida in my gated community, we seem to have no control over what the landscaping crews do. If you’re not here to stop them when they’re doing something destructive, you’re just out of luck. They trimmed our huge live maples last year to within an inch of their lives, and many did die. They trimmed all the just blooming flowers off my bushes which they’re not supposed to even touch. They heavily mulched my little garden and even my lemon tree! So I had to remove it all. They put so much mulch on everything that most of our grass is dead ! I so wish I could hire my own landscapers or just do it all myself!!!!
I know how it feels to lose a tree or a plant that is perfectly healthy and I, too, have cried over these losses. It’s like a murder when you love living things and see them destroyed. Hard to explain that to a lot of people, sadly.
Thank you, Suzanne.
Stay safe.
I am so sorry for the loss of your beautiful trees. We all have lost so much in the past few years, that adding on more can be more than a body can stand. It should have never happened. I am glad you and Don have each other.
Thank you, Tana.
Stay safe.
This is just abominable; I am so sorry, Claudia. We don’t need, any of us, ONE MORE THING taken from our lives, be it our well-health, our property, our rights; you name it.
They took away something that belonged to you; this is wrong. Especially when your yard and property has deep meaning for you. It’s a loss.
I can relate to your horrible experience because I went thru this about three years ago when somebody bought the acre parcel up above us on the hillside after it had essentially been abandoned for forty years. I guess they wanted to see all four corners; so, without asking anybody, took an industrial-sized chainsaw on a holiday morning when we were still asleep, cutting down a huge vine that had been there, likely, from before the old falling-down house was built in 1911, the vine having formed a tall privacy hedge which could be argued was on our property and not theirs by at least 90 percent; property lines clearly blurred over a hundred years; the vine’s trunk and branches all wound around an ancient chain-link fence between us that was also half falling down; my husband and I regularly paid a yard crew to keep this ancient/thick vine nicely boxed/groomed (you couldn’t even see the chain link) and it was healthy, took no water and was very green; back part of these people’s property which, to date, they’ve done NOTHING with since, except pile junk which we now see every day from the minute we open up our blinds in the morning, because we no longer have the vine/hedge up there as a separator/buffer between the two properties.
So, yeah, thanks a lot; you cut down the vine so that we get the daily view of your piled-up junk. Nice. And if we complain to the City about it, the City will probably do nothing (because that’s just how my small City IS), and then we’ll be in a neighbor war, too, because nobody’s gonna complain about this but us; they’ll know it was us (it mostly only affects us). And they’re unfriendly people who have shown us to be uncooperative. (These new ‘neighbors’ knew we were upset from the get-go; we exchanged some words that morning although I’d tried my darnedest thru my anger to remain polite. They got the drift we were NOT happy.)
When this first happened and I saw the massacre of this living thing, and now with no separation between our two properties (and they’ve never done a thing to it since; just left the desecration, as I said; just left the broken branches and sawed off trunk, and this extends the entire line of our property on the north end; we can’t do anything but build a new fence several feet away on level ground, which we can’t afford financially to do), I was left bereft and furious for weeks and I still, rarely, now, ever go up the hill stairs to the top because I loved that vine/hedge, I do not WANT to look at all the junk they piled up there but there’s nothing in view except old rusty cars and trailers, piles of nothing-wood and twisted-metal somethings like old gutters or siding; huge mess (and why ..?.. why are they keeping it ..?.. just get it hauled off; get rid of it); it ‘took away’ from the value of OUR property, definitely is NOT a selling point now if we were to move.
Clearly are people no one would want as neighbors, but we’re stuck with them; people who care about no one but themselves and aren’t interested in building good-neighbor relations. They were never apologetic and wouldn’t agree to building a new, shared fence. The entire situation has been nothing but a negative.
I have been disgusted with ‘people’ in general this week; from the cowards who won’t testify before the Jan 6 committee hearings; to every other awful thing in the news (like a dog-abuse case popping up on my home page that I just did NOT need to read which has left ME in tears for two days and more determined than ever to give our troubled foster dog a lifetime home with as much love and patience and kindness we can muster to rehab him; growing fonder of him every day); or the guy at the beach this morning who we realized, after he drove off, had dumped something down the boulders from a large duffel bag, assumedly some kind of trash, driving specifically to the end of that dead-end road where there were no other cars, fairly early yet in the morning, just to do that inconsiderate dumping (lazy, disrespectful creep); people who crap on other people’s places, other people’s lives, again only thinking of themselves and their agenda, with no respect; no conscience. The litter at ‘my’ SoCalif beaches is neverending. Leaving somebody else to clean it up.
I’m so naive; I thought that guy was getting out some kind of water-sport equipment, preparing to paddle-board or something. He’d disappeared in the boulders and I thought he’d left his equipment down nearer the beach but then came back to lock up his vehicle, until I saw him shaking out that bag of whatever had been in it. It just begins to dawn on you of what you wouldn’t think somebody would actually do. I was watching all this from a rear view and couldn’t capture his license plate number; the rear one, like his truck windows, being blacked out. Figures.
The County crews who clean up the beach can’t easily get to this place and the tide doesn’t come up that far (if he thought his junk would get carried out to sea although he probably didn’t even have a brain to explore rational thought). And don’t even get me started on the graffiti; how people can spray ugly paint and words in the beautiful, natural, pristine environment of the ocean beach, which is for EVERYone to enjoy and cherish; any surface from a sea boulder to a bridge or sign, let’s make sure we leave our ugly etchings and spray-paint markings. Creeps all.
Of course a shining light is the courage of a young staffer before Congress, all of 25-26 years old (whose life is now in danger).
Claudia, again; I’m so sorry; someone from the County will say to you (about the crabapple tree) that it’s not personal, but it is personal TO YOU; and, just like my ‘vine’, it was so unnecessary. The only thing I could think of was for you to get a crabapple seedling from the nursery and plant it elsewhere on your property although I know it won’t be the same; I mean, I know you have other crabapples, but this could be a tribute to the tree lost; make you feel better, something affirming and empowering when you’ve felt no control over what happened. It does take awhile for a tree to grow into maturity, but it might be fun to watch it flourish where nobody can touch it but you.
I guess you can file a claim with the County. You’ve got the proof that their worker literally overstepped his boundary. I’m sure you’ve taken a lot of photos; and of course you have the photo (above in the post) and others of it over the years to prove it was there other than the current trunk ‘debris’ which remained after the tree was destroyed. You should be reimbursed for the loss of the tree which is part of your landscaping. In that regard, he caused damage to your property and there should be consequence. They should have to pay for the loss of a mature tree, and also pay for a replacement seedling and the professional planting of it, like with a County arborist. I mean, it’s just so infuriating. Why didn’t the guy stop, come over to you guys, and inquire if the tree(s) belonged to you or not? He just plowed on/mowed down with the task, with no thought to adjacent property owners? That’s just negligent. He’s a liability to the County. And it’s stupid, with no respect for adjacent private land for which he should have been aware when assigned the job.
And you have every right to grieve the loss of a beautiful, living, alive thing. When life is already hard, why does stuff like this have to happen to make it harder? I hope tomorrow is better for you, dear friend. Deep sympathy; healing wishes for you and Don. You don’t need this stress; nobody does.
xo
Thank you, Vicki.
Stay safe.
The loss of the tree breaks my heart and brings back bad memories of our neighbors to the south who clearcut their lots to build their house and took some of our trees on the property line as well. And of when the utility company took out my hydrangea bush while taking down trees because of ice storms. No recourse from either but I hope your company will pay you for the destruction of the tree so you can replace it. Not that you can replace a tree that has had many years and grown big, strong and beautiful but perhaps a new one for the future. Horribly sad.
With everything else, it’s just too much.
Way too much. I can’t even look at that area.
Stay safe, Jeanie.