Garden

[sweetee2]

I have a 100 year old Apricot tree with a 14 foot base that is almost split to the ground. It still produces masses of apricots every year.

[drizzellla]

Lilysmom - Thanks for the suggestion

Last week we went to Shofuso Japanese House in Fairmount Park. And the cherry blossoms were out. So we talked about getting a weeping cherry blossom tree.

We planted a Japanese maple in the front yard last year. 

Our maple is just shedding bark from all it's branches. Our yard is slowly getting covered in bark. We liked that tree so much. It shaded a portion of the back yard from the afternoon sun. So if the dog wanted to sit outside, he could easily have plenty of shade. So now my husband bought a "party tent" so the dog would have shade, if we ever get warm weather.

[Lilysmom]

@JustJazzmom@sweetee2, I am encouraged.  Fingers crossed!  LM

PS, the Satomi is one I copied from the internet.  I moved a lot of photos and don’t have one of mine handy.

[Lilysmom]

@JustJazzmom@drizzellla@sweetee2@BirkiLady@GingerPeach@mousiegirl

I was just going through some photos and I came upon these two which I took immediately after the two big spruce came down In December of last year.  Compare the second photo especially to the one posted above showing the split in the trunk.   It appears that the tree has already done considerable healing don’t you think?  It looks much better now.  Isn’t Mother Nature amazing?  LM

[GingerPeach]

You're so right, @Lilysmom  That's a lot of healing since, did I get it right, just as recent as December 2017?  

It's encouraging and inspiring.  We can, and more of the human race should, take cues from Mother Nature.

I have always been in awe of trees.  Someday I might write a book.

[Lilysmom]

@GingerPeach, yes just since Dec of 2017.  It is amazing!  LM

[drizzellla]

I am impressed. And it did that much "repair" during the dormant season. 

[drizzellla]

---

@Lilysmom wrote:

@BirkiLady, hoping @drizzellla‘s Neighbor is nicer in other matters.  I love my neighbors Thank God!  I might even ask them if I can shorten one precarious limb on the oak.  The oak is gorgeous and is very old.  We both love it.

@drizzellla, if you do lose your tree, maybe you could try something like a Satomi Dogwood which is gorgeous and doesn’t get as large as maples.  See below.  I have one of these and I love it.  LM

---

Lilysmom - you know the more I look at it - the more I like it. Sadly, we have lost a few trees since we lived here. I always liked flowering trees. Will have to look into buying a Satomi Dogwood.

[Lilysmom]

@drizzellla, it is my favorite flowering tree.  As the tree gets bigger, so do the flowers.  They are so pretty.  The photo doesn’t do it justice.  LM

[gardenman]

Your tree should be fine in the short term. The only "living" part of the trunk is the outer layers of the bark. Everything internal is just structural. As long as the bark stays intact the tree will live and do fine over the shorter term. The long term issue is insects and moisture getting inside the heartwood and eating/rotting it out creating a hollow tree. That's not much of a problem with a smaller tree however. They can be very hollow and be fine.

Rabbits can kill a tree by eating the bark around the base of the tree, a process called girdling. Early settlers in wooded areas would girdle trees to kill them and stop them from leafing out casting shade on the crops they'd plant in the fertile soil under the trees. A fairly common cause of death in those days was deadfall where a large branch would break off and kill the farmer. It was much faster and easier to girdle a forest of trees than to cut them all down. A farmer could create a large field in just a few days by girdling the trees growing there. Deadfall would provide them firewood and collecting the deadfall was a daily task typically performed by the children. On windy days you'd have to be very careful as there would be a lot of deadfall raining down.