Uncategorized

I’m beginning to think she didn’t really want a tree…

37 Comments

.

Eight years ago the flowering pear tree we’d planted by the bird feeders when we moved to this house died. My late mother, who loved nothing more than sitting on the deck watching our fine feathered friends, told me we needed to replace that tree because the birds missed it. Sadly, she passed two months later… and because she wanted me to make the decision what to do with her ashes, I laid part of her to rest with a beautiful tulip tree in that very spot.

Unfortunately the tree wasn’t hardy enough for the rugged Maine winters and croaked two years later. As did the flowering dogwood we planted after that and the Rose of Sharon after that. Two years ago when our neighbor gave us a few river birches to plant in front of the man cave/barn, we transplanted a flowering plum to my mother’s spot. It did well, for two years.

But now….

.

.

There it goes.

.

.

Undeterred and very determined to give my mother the tree she wanted… we went to an extremely expensive nursery where I paid an astronomical sum for a flowering crabapple.

.

.

It was a beautiful specimen. Tall and bursting with good health.

.

.

So in it went, with my mother.

.

.

My fingers and toes are crossed this one makes it more than two years.

.

.

Because if this one dies, I’m really going to wonder if my mother is trying to tell me something.

.

37 thoughts on “I’m beginning to think she didn’t really want a tree…”

  7. Uhm, did she say to replace the original tree that died with another just like it or to replace it with just any old tree? What have the tree arborists said about these deaths every other year? This is a mystery worth solving. Mona

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. I wonder why any tree you plant hasn’t lasted more than two years? What goes on every two years that those lovely trees kick it? I think that crabapple tree will make it past the dreaded two year mark. Maybe you should have gotten another flowering pear? Just saying.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. My mother-in-law gave us a “baby” ficus one year – about 1 1/2 feet tall – and that thing did nothing for many months. As it was just on the verge of being “excused” from duty, my wife suggested we put it in a new location and see how it did there. That ficus is now about seven feet tall and has been trimmed back several times, only to renew with new vigor. Here’s hoping your new arrival stays in active service and prospers for years to come.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. My suggestion would be to change the spot by 4 to 6 feet. We have a “”dead spot” in our yard, so we dtopped planting things there. The grass loves it, and moving a few feet away, things grow just fine. Must be something in the soil. Your spot was there before you added your mother, as evidenced by the death of the pear tree. Just saying.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. The first tree lasted 12 years until a bad storm ripped it apart. As for slightly moving it, I’d be alright with that but when the husband digs one up he likes to save his back by using the same spot.

      Like

      Reply

      1. Not saying I’m right, but therein could lie the problem. I dug a hole where the shrubs were dying, and 18 inches down I discovered clay so thick it would stop any tap root from reaching down. Like a fool I kept digging. Five feet later, I gave up, it was still clay. Yet, six feet away, the Amur Maple was doing just fine. The Saskatoon bush four feet to the other side is not thriving, but it is still alive 12 years later, still bearing berries. Maybe it doesn’t root down, but sideways.

        Liked by 1 person

  14. I’m seeing this from a different perspective. I’m thinking she loved trees so much that she’s killing them after two years so you’ll plant another variety, then when she’s had enough of that one (after about two years), the cycle repeats itself. Yeah, I think she loved trees!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s