I Miss My Tree

[max]

Thirty or so years ago a friend gave me 3 small maple trees. He had bought several for his house and had these left over. I planted 2 in my back yard and 1 in the front. One of the 2 died several years ago, but the other thrived and provided shade for a new patio that was my wife's retirement present. Over the years, a bird feeder was hung in it and a small toy tire for Golden #2 to play with. They were both removed years ago. I spent a great deal of time sitting on the patio listening to music, reading, or just spending time with my dog.

Two weeks ago, the tree fell on the house in the middle of the night. No storms, winds, or lightning it just fell. All has been cleaned up, but I sure miss that tree. The friend who gave it to me, died of cancer 2 years ago and our 4th Golden died 3 months ago. I have sat on the patio, but it just isn't the same. We will plant a new one, but we won't be around in another 30 years to see it. The 4 Goldens are buried near the patio and where the tree was. I miss my friend, my tree, and my dogs.

 

[lihpster]

I used to work at a factory that was expanding fairly quickly. They had a bit of land and put up buildings and put in parking lots. They needed to put in a certain amount of parking spots to have the project approved and permits issued. They also had to put in "decorative elements" as part of the parking lots. No large flat areas of asphalt with lines on them. Gotta be pretty. They were having trouble fitting the parking spaces in the area they had. They were short like 5 spaces. They wound up buying a small piece of land from the neighbors. The company had recently been sold and the new owners had planned on putting some spaces next to the warehouse building. We'll just take out those trees and put some spaces there. It was only then that they found out one of the clauses in the sale agreement. See, when the previous owners had bought it 30 years prior, they had agreed to something. And that agreement stated that future owners had to abide by it, too.
They had bought it from a Japanese American man with 3 children. When each one was born, he planted a cherry tree by his business, so he would be reminded of his family while at work. The sale stipulated that the trees were to be allowed to stay and could never be cut down. They would have to fall down on their own.
I worked there 20 years ago. Judging by recent sat photos, only one of the three is still standing.
I don't know why, but that makes me a little sad.

 

[jaydoc]

The old farmhouse I grew up in was surrounded by Huge oak trees. Had to be over 150 years old. My parents sold the place a few years ago and moved to town but stay in touch with the new owner. Found out that one of those monsters fell across the road and two more have died. I drove by there and the place looks bare. I’m sentimental about trees.

 

[DWalt]

Many years ago, my old childhood home had a beautiful large black walnut tree in the yard. I spent much of my childhood playing around and climbing in that tree. I loved it. When I was away at college, my father had it cut down. I never knew why and I never quite forgave him for that.

 

[LittleAugieMo]

Not familiar w/all varieties of Maple....but can say from experience soft Maple do NOT age well...once the get large they start having problems. They ARE fast growing tho, that why people plant them.

 

[M1A4ME]

When I was a kid one of our favorite spots at my grandparent's house was just across the creek under a couple old apple trees. One was a red delicious apple tree and the other a McIntosh apple tree. There were two more there, one just up the creek from those two, by another foot bridge and one up above those three, an early transparent apple.

My dad cut the red delicious apple tree down many years ago. Whenever I walk through grandma's yard on my way to the garden or the old barn I look across that creek and remember laying in the cool grass in the shade reading a comic book or a book.

Dad has been gone for several years and no one has trimmed/cleaned up those last three trees up for many years. One has a grape vine growing up well off the ground from the old arbor that has fallen down now. The other two are just getting packed with dead/dying limbs.

I don't know if I'll still be visiting when the last of those apple trees are gone, or not. Those days of sitting in the shade reading are 60 years in the past. Those apple trees were good sized and producing apples then. People say fruit trees don't last too long but those sure have.

 

[67tempest]

When I was a kid back in the 60's my neighbor had 2 beautiful silver maples in his back yard. I asked my father if I could plant one in our yard and he agreed. I grabbed about a dozen "helicopters" from my neighbors tree and planted them in our garden. I cared for them until they were about a foot tall and then I made my choice. I picked one that was perfectly shaped with four lower branches all at the same height and about 90 degrees apart from each other. I planted it in the middle of our back yard where it grew to be well over 30 feet tall, a truly beautiful tree. Several years ago I drove through my old neighborhood and from the street I could still see my tree towering over the house in the backyard. My love of trees may explain why I picked a heavily wooded lot to build my house on 30 years ago.

 

[Onomea]

In 1997, living in Tokyo, some career turbulence resulting from a merger occasioned my wife, son, and my move from our company provided apartment to a small townhouse in a less expensive neighborhood. There was a little backyard patio where I set up my bbq grill, and a small lawn bordered with bushes. No trees though.

So we planted a small cherry sapling. In the five years we were there, the cherry grew healthily but was still pretty small when we moved again to a different house in a different neighborhood. I've never been back again to look at it, but my hope is that after nearly 30 years it has grown to a respectable size and provides shade and beauty to that backyard.

I've never lived long enough anywhere to watch a sapling grow to an adult tree. (I've counted 27 distinct residences where I have lived for three months or more. Seven are in Japan. Four are in Germany. One is in Hong Kong. The rest are in the US.) So I envy those of you who have. To see a tree that you have watched grow over decades... somehow, it is meaningful.

Hmmm... In Tokyo I occasionally go by my old office building, between two famous hotels, where I worked from 1987 to 1997, and there I see a cherry tree lined street behind my old building that I recall from1987 as being small newly planted saplings and which are now large, beautiful trees.

I bet we could all write stories about individual trees we remember, and the experiences we had with them.

 

[AJ]

We have lived in our house since I retired from the Corps. We have planted five different trees in our yard since moving in (there were several here before that). Of the five, the one that means the most to me is a Orchid Tree. We started it from a seed that came from a tree in my Mother's yard. Unless it falls down on it's own, it will remain standing until at least until I pass.

 

[SMSgt]

Two southern oaks were planted in the backyard when out house was built in '94. One spread out over 3/4s of the backyard and provided shade and cover for all sorts of birds from sparrows to hawks. Dozens of ducks would camp out there by the feeder. One day I came home and found that lightning had struck it and blown a long strip of bark clear into the neighbor's yard. That was the death knoll for the oak. I lived & hated that tree, being as it shed leaves and branches with the lightest breeze, filling the gutters in a week, but it was a real beauty of a tree. Like you, I don't have 30 years for a replacement to grow.

 

[desi2358]

Many years ago, shortly after buying this house I planted two willow trees in front of the house by the road. Don't recall what kind of willow they were but remember the info tags said they would grow to @ 20 ft. The soil must have been extra good for them because both grew closer to 30 ft. tall and very full. Gave great shade to the house in the afternoon and evening. Sadly, one took a lightning strike and had to be cut down @ 10 years ago. A few years later the other died as well, not sure why. Miss them and the shade that made sitting on the front porch pleasant on summer evenings.

The only trees I have left now are out back, 2 spruce and a pine. The spruce were transplanted saplings from my mother in laws house and the pine was a seedling my daughter brought home on Arbor day when she was in grade school (and she turns 40 this year so it's got some age on it). I doubted it would survive but I planted it along the rear property line and it's the tallest tree left on my property. They do provide a nice shady spot out back.

 

[GypsmJim]

We bought our campsite in 1986. A second property directly across the road was purchased a few years later.

The base camp has the family RV and is surrounded by mature white pines. Some are 4' diameter at the base. My son and buddy have their own RVs across the road.

The first disaster came in Winter a few years ago. Our "guest house" (a 50 year old RV) became the target for a wind-blown tree. Interestingly enough, she survived with only a single dent. Last Spring, my buddy's RV was completely inundated by a tree that appeared to have rotted at the stump.

Now, we cringe every time the weatherman predicts high winds...

 

[Lance Boyle]

When I was a kid one of our favorite spots at my grandparent's house was just across the creek under a couple old apple trees. One was a red delicious apple tree and the other a McIntosh apple tree. There were two more there, one just up the creek from those two, by another foot bridge and one up above those three, an early transparent apple.

My dad cut the red delicious apple tree down many years ago. Whenever I walk through grandma's yard on my way to the garden or the old barn I look across that creek and remember laying in the cool grass in the shade reading a comic book or a book.

Dad has been gone for several years and no one has trimmed/cleaned up those last three trees up for many years. One has a grape vine growing up well off the ground from the old arbor that has fallen down now. The other two are just getting packed with dead/dying limbs.

I don't know if I'll still be visiting when the last of those apple trees are gone, or not. Those days of sitting in the shade reading are 60 years in the past. Those apple trees were good sized and producing apples then. People say fruit trees don't last too long but those sure have.

It’s amazing what old abandoned apple trees can produce at times. My house is on a 12 acre piece sectioned off the neighboring farm. Several years ago the old trees went nuts and had a banner year making large apples. I had a few up by the house that are young I tend to and an older one by the garden that I prune. Those ones in the woods I leave for the wildlife and they produce from time to time.

I also have two pear trees but they’re so far apart they seldom produce fruit. The one time they had fruit I was watching them and intended to harvest some. when they were almost ready I had to go out of town for work for a week. I got back and they were overripe and filled with bees or wasps.

 

[oldbrownhat]

Wonderful stories (except Gypsum Jim's As I type this, looking out the windows on my rural property I am surrounded by trees. Very healthy and relaxing.

Made me think of this:

 

[Green Frog]

My parents bought the house in which they spent the rest of their lives in Fall of 1964. I’ve owned it since their passing six years ago. The first Spring there, they planted four maple seedlings, two in the front yard, two in the back. One in the backyard grew up through the power lines and had to be removed 20+ years ago, and last Fall the two in the front yard were dying and had to be cut down. The sole survivor in the middle of the back yard, losing dead limbs every time the wind blows, but hanging on. It got so big it interferes with my view of the mountains when in leaf, but I’ll still hate to lose it.

 

[wlw-19958]

Hi There,

All this talk of trees and sentimentality, I think of many things.
In particular, I have an old apple tree growing on my property.
It is unkempt and I should trim it but I have trouble cutting the
old Girl. You see where I live in Lewes, the peninsula was once
an orchard; over 80+ years ago and this is the last tree from
that orchard.

Cheers!
Webb

 

[GypsmJim]

Hi There,

All this talk of trees and sentimentality, I think of many things.
In particular, I have an old apple tree growing on my property.
It is unkempt and I should trim it but I have trouble cutting the
old Girl. You see where I live in Lewes, the peninsula was once
an orchard; over 80+ years ago and this is the last tree from
that orchard.

Cheers!
Webb

Sentiment...yeah.

When I was a kid we had a peach tree in the backyard. One Sunday Great Grandma stepped backwards and the tree snapped. Dad tried and tried to repair it with grafts and steel rods, and it survived...sort of.

A year later Grandma died and Dad gave up.

 

[grover99]

Had a large tree in back of house which I could see from my bathroom. Spent a lot of time on the throne watching the birds and squirrels play in that tree. Were several hollows limbs where baby squirrels were born. The tree started rotting from within and should the tree fall it would take the garage with it. So it had to go. I miss that tree every time I spend time in the bathroom.

 

[LVSteve]

Trees are great, right up to the until:-

They fall on your house/garage/car or worse, your neighbors property;
Their roots get into your sewer pipes or septic system (if you have one);
Their branches get into the power lines, and the power company makes a mess of the trim and your property to get access;
The insurance guy looks at the beautiful, tree covered property that you just bought and says, "That tree, that tree, and that tree will have to go before we even consider insuring this place".

Don't get me wrong, I love trees, but you'd better have plenty of space and be careful where you put them on your property. Sadly, this last message seems to have eluded too many HOAs here in Vegas, resulting in all manner of chaos in the increasingly frequent extreme weather events we are seeing here.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

I planted some trees at my first house in a fairly new neighborhood and moved away maybe ten years later. Now, when I drive by, all of the trees are approximately 40 years old and have grown beautifully. Makes me smile.

Meanwhile, in my present abode, in a much older neighborhood, the trees are monsters and create shade all summer long. And then in 2018 I had a fire, and one of the sad losses was some large trees burned near the house. So, not only did I replace those, and the ones are really looking well and growing fast, but - you'll love this - I had them pour my cement driveway around the trees that survived, which were far from the house. Everyone hates my curved, tight driveway. But those 100-year-old pecans are doing fine!