Today I finally got rid of an old friend. This tree was here when we moved in. It was understory to a giant Hackberry that we removed fairly quickly.
Without the tree above it, it grew into a nice shape. It was centered perfectly in the flowerbed. It was just great.
But then we had one of those storm cells that whipped around and tore off half the tree. Then when they were digging out the pool they got a backhoe stuck in the hole, so they brought in another backhoe in to pull the first one out. This involved tearing up a lot more flowerbeds which were probably covering this tree’s root zone.
I let it go on for way too long hoping it would get better. But it did not get better. The one remaining branch just kept growing towards the pool and dropping leaves and flowers into it.
So I started chopping it down last week. Unsuprisingly the center was infested with ants. It was a bit thick at the base for my chainsaw so I left a large portion of it.
Today I went and bought an axe.
I really need to stop buying rubberized handles. Every time I’m in the store I’m like, “I probably won’t injure myself from the tool slipping out of my hands if I get the rubberized handles”, and forget that rubberized handles are amazing for grabbing onto skin and creating blisters and then ripping them off. I digresss.
I think it’s looking good. I’m planning on adding a Mexican Plum tree in that space and a lot of Greg’s Mistflower. We’ll see if I get around to that plan.
And per the last post a lot of these branches are gonna become swales… :)