Trees on Thursday

So, I've decided to do something a little different. Today, I'm going to focus on our trees. 

In January when we had our "big freeze"--we lost many huge limbs from our trees. As a result, they look decimated on one side and fine on the other. 

This is a scraggly pine and not particularly attractive. This is the good side.

This is the side you see from the street. So ugly! But taking it down completely would leave a pretty big hole in our landscape. It's already looking sparse since our neighbor lost a lot of their trees on that side. Plus we had several other large limbs lost.

And then there's this one:

This is from the street side. You can tell that it's sparse on the other side.

It's almost bare on this side. This is/was a pretty sawtooth oak. A lot of our trees seem a little lopsided now. And to top it off, we had an entire dogwood tree topple over during the ice storm. It was there since 1985 and was right in front of the house near the shade garden. Although I hated to see it go--after all, it was 40 years old, there's enough greenery on that side, that it didn't leave a gap. 

Then, you might recall the demise of this 50/60ft. magnolia tree that toppled over in 2020.

At that time, it left a huge hole.

We replaced it with a forest pansy redbud--which died within the first year. I was determined that I would get another. It has taken a few years, but I persisted!

Voila'--my new forest pansy redbud!

I just love that it adds color and a new texture to the landscaping. Redbuds grow horizontally and have pretty, heart-shaped leaves. But we do have a problem. We are currently in the middle of a drought. This is happening:

Our trees are so stressed that they are dropping leaves like crazy. We have a sprinkler system, but it has only been turned on in the last week--when the new tree was planted. In addition, we are watering the new tree. Planting in the spring is not ideal--fall is better. But sometimes you can't get what you want in the fall. So, we're making the best of it. 

Also, in the winter of 2025, the green giant arborvitae on the left lost about 4 ft. from the top. It turned completely brown. We didn't know if that meant the whole thing was going to die or what. I had my garden people cut the brown out. That looked ridiculous most of last summer--half the size of it's 4 brothers!

Now look at it this year--almost all caught up. These are the best conifers for screening as they grow 3 to 5 ft. a year! They last for 50 years--150 in ideal conditions. By next year, we should not be able to see the house behind us at all. You might recall that I was not happy that the new owners cut down the patch of woods that separated us and formed natural privacy. Pretty soon--another year or so, it won't matter.

And finally...

This is the view from my bed! I love looking out this window in the early morning. There's such a variety of colors--and that red--that's what I've been waiting for!!