Tree Update

Well, our magnolia turned out to be nearly a 60 footer!! The trunk was 18” in diameter! So sad. Turns out, it was rotting at the base—it basically broke off below ground level with the high winds. The tree was perfectly healthy looking and gorgeous. The flowers were dinner plate size! 

I would have thought that it would have shown some signs of distress if it was rotting. Oh well. 

Butch called a few companies right away to get it removed. He was told it would take 2 days. When he decided which company he was going to hire, they said they'd start on Thursday. Our family party was to be on the 4th, so that worked just fine. By 11 a.m. on Thursday, we were becoming concerned when no one had shown up. Butch called, the guy said they'd be there that afternoon. The "crew" showed up at 4:45. It was amazing to see how fast 4 guys got it cleaned up—2 hours. They had to haul every bit of it by hand since there was no way to get a truck back there. They did a great job with the clean up. 

They haven’t ground the stump since they couldn’t get that back there either. On the other hand, Butch said it broke below ground level so maybe there isn’t anything to grind. The hydrangeas and crepe myrtles are bedraggled and the umbrella is toast. It looks a little bare, but at least there are other big trees outside the fence. I think I’ll get a Forest Pansy Redbud to put there.

If you didn't know there was another tree here, you would never know it was gone. Actually, as much as I hate losing such a beautiful one, I like being able to really see the even larger tree that was behind it. It barely looks like anything is missing.

The damage ended up being pretty minimal. On Friday, Butch spent a couple hours getting everything cleaned and back in place for the weekend. He said that in reality, the tree fell in the exact place to cause minimal damage. 

We have two more magnolias left, so I still have plenty to use for Christmas decorating. But, if this one comes down, we're moving!! There are no big trees behind it!