Trees We Love

I have always loved trees!  They not only frame your home, but they put their arms around a neighborhood.

I grew up with Chinese Elms that made my father want tear his hair out.  They had become completely entangled in our city lot sewer system.  I remember the diggers coming to tear up our front lawn to rod out the system.

In the second home I owned, we had 100 year old American Elms that made a canopy up and down our street.  They evoked such a peaceful feeling as we raised our children and lived our daily lives.  However, one by one over a period of years all of those beautiful elms disappeared due to Dutch Elm Disease.  We would stand outside in the springtime and watch a village person come through and mark a big red X on the trees they determined were infected.  It was the X of death, and no matter how much we argued with the X maker, the tree came down!

Thousands of the Elms are gone, and even though I have a different home now on a street with many century old homes, most of the trees are new.  Two months after moving in we lost two one hundred year old trees and now have trees not much taller than me planted in front of our home.  I look at my new trees, and I can actually see which branches need to go, something I could never have done with the century old trees.  This is the best time of year to shape your trees, either by a professional or by you if you are a careful pruner.

I have an Accolade Elm and a Maple in the front of my house on the parkway and a Chanticleer Pear closer to my house.  The Chanticleer is an improvement over the Bradford because it's branches are more upright and stable during a storm.  The Trinity Pear is lovely, but it does spread out more than the Chanticleer.  These pear trees have leaves that turn a deep red in the fall and are the last to disappear.  I forgot to tell you that it has beautiful white flowers in the spring.

I have a Pagoda Dogwood in the back because my yard is so small I could never have accomodated a shade tree.  It has taken me a couple years to get this tree in shape as it was hit heavily by the cicadas a few years ago.  They really liked this tree, lots of pruning!

Does anyone have trees that they really love?