We Lost a Tree to the Ravages of Time
Jul 2 2008
This past Sunday, my husband, Erin, happened to look outside one of 
our front windows and noticed that one of the limbs of our big tree was leaning on our roof. It had not been doing that just the day before. This tree was unique in that instead of a big trunk with several limbs it had 5 separate big trunks growing from the same base. I’m guessing it had to have been at least 30 years old. We have oak trees in our back yard that must be 50 to 75 years old.
Fortunately, the limb was resting rather comfortably with no sign of roof damage. The next day while I was at my day job Erin met with the tree inspector guys who said we had to cut it down.
We were so sad to see it go for many reasons including shade, beauty, the birds/lizards who would visit, and 
the fact that we used it to hang our US Flag on during holidays like the upcoming 4th of July! However, it was apparent while they were cutting it down that it was rotting at the core for quite some time (see pictures below) and the limb that had fallen on our roof had been hanging on for dear life for a while now.
What I found really interesting is that although on the outside we noticed one dead limb the other trunks/limbs (even the one leaning on our roof) was full of leaves and looked healthy. I guess it goes to show you that something can look healthy on the outside but be sick, diseased, and dying on the inside. That’s really kind of a sad, yet eye-
opening thing to think about.
Now we are wondering what we should do next. Should we plant another tree? If so what kind? Or should we just let the grass grow over it?
Author: Aruni | Filed under: random stuff | Tags: healthy outside, lost a tree, plant a tree, save a tree, unhealthy inside | 4 Comments »
I would plant another tree, since you loved the shade, beauty, and birds, etc. Japanese Maple is very pretty, but I don’t know if it grows well in your climate.
Of course you must plant another tree! Choose a tree that doesn’t lose all of its leaves in the winter (like a live oak) so that you’ll have a little shade even in the winter months and also maintain the greenery in front of your house. Take the kids with you to the nursery to pick out a tree, and choose one that already has some size to it (be willing to spend more for a tree of some size).
[…] We Lost a Tree to the Ravages of Time […]
@Asianmommy – I’m not familiar with Japenese Maple, but we’ll check it out. We have very hot and humid summers here and the winter’s don’t get tht cold.
@Jackie – We went to Home Depot yesterday and looked around. We might do a big crepe myrtle. They had some pear trees and other interesting trees at Home Depot as well. We’re still not sure what to do!