Summer 2018 – A Sad End to a Tree


One of the things that attracted us to this house was a backyard full of trees! We were especially fond of the majestic Bradford Pear tree that towered over the house. It gave such beauty in all seasons and survived several snow- and ice-storms.


And then, last summer, its leaves started turning long before they should have. Ken sprayed and pruned, trying to save the tree. But this spring, it barely put on any blooms or leaves and it seemed apparent the tree was dying, as Bradford Pears are wont to do after the 20-plus years this one has probably been growing.

We had a tree guy come and take a look and he confirmed our fears. The tree was diseased and needed to come down. We were SO sad! I never knew you could have such feelings for a silly tree.But down it came, limb by limb. And within half an hour, this tree that took decades to grow so tall was only a memory. :(
But even in death it gave us some gifts. A nice pile of free mulch.

Gorgeous sunrise views that we hadn't even realized we were missing!And memories that will last a lifetime. We might replace it with a much smaller tree (although the budget is blown by the price of removing a tree!) Or we might just enjoy the views and wait for our other trees to grow tall and strong.

My favorite outdoor office

It's the end of August, but there have still been some days when it was cool enough early in the day to bring my laptop out to the back deck to work. This is my favorite spot on our property when the weather is fine.