There was no sound of groaning limbs or crashing trees, just the wind screaming through the trees, blowing warm rain horizontally through battered leaves for a brief 15 minutes.
As the front passed, a soft drizzle fell under grey skies, and the aftermath was revealed. Giant black cherries, oaks and arborvitaes, along with smaller trees were uprooted or snapped in two, laying prostrate on the forest floor.
Luckily the house, out buildings, above ground pool and greenhouse were unharmed and everyone was safe.
It’s heartbreaking to see a 100 year-old white oak laid to waste in just a few short moments, but Mother Nature can be cruel, there’s nothing we can do about that. For better or worse our landscapes evolve.
Trees can hold a special place in our hearts.
We’ve watched them grow, maybe watched our kids climbing up them or have enjoyed their ephemeral blooms.
A favorite flowering crabapple had just finished blooming when the storm hit. For nearly 30 years we’ve watched it flower from the kitchen window each spring while doing the dishes. A decade ago, it was broken in two by a falling pine. I begged the team from Davey Tree to try to save it. They understood and deftly pruned the tree in a way that in just a few seasons, it was hard to tell anything it was ever damaged.
The tree was never really the same though and weeks ago I noticed some pealing bark and a crack in the trunk. The storm cracked it in two.
There is hope though as half the tree still there and below the drip line of leaves, a small sucker had emerged from the original roots. After cutting away the broken limbs, I hope what’s left of the tree will thrive. I’ll sprinkle some Treetone organic fertilizer at the suggested application rate under the tree and be sure it gets the water it needs if rain is scarce.
Crabapples are tough and I’m going to do everything I can to help its survival and will pray for flowers next spring.
It was a miracle a huge arborvitae didn’t crash onto the pool, as its limbs continued to reach towards open space over the water for the last few decades. The wind was blowing the other way thank goodness.
A black cherry that creaked in the wind the past three seasons over my shoulder while working in the garden was gone, an ancient rhododendron I’ve been trying to nurse back to health is probably a lost cause along with a plethora of other trees.
I’ve been spending the last couple of days clearing what I’m capable of, waiting until the dust settles, and power is restored around the area to get the Davey folks here.
It's time to get onto the process of deciding what should be replaced with another tree and what should be left alone.
That arborvitae over the pool was dropping all sorts of needles and bark into the pool, the spot will remain open.
Where there was once shade under tall oaks and cherries is now filtered sunlight, presenting an opportunity for new, unique plantings that will bring diversity into the woodland landscape.
Planting trees
Our spring planting window for trees lasts all summer, but I prefer to plant no later than Memorial Day so the trees can get established before heat and drought rear their ugly head. Even then, newly planted trees will need water until the ground freezes. Hopefully that will come in the form of rain, if not, supplemental watering is a must.
Native trees like sourwood, serviceberry, striped maple, paw paw and others are being considered. If not planted by the end of May, fall is the premiere time for tree planting.
The garden consumes much of our time in May, the later planting might be more realistic, we’ll see how it goes.
There are two mistakes homeowners commonly make when planting trees, planting them too deep and not taking into account how big they will get. Choosing the right tree for the right place is critical, that includes finding the right amount of sun, shade and moisture needs for a species.
Dig a planting hole two to three times as big as the rootball and find something called the root flare. It’s the area where the trunk meets the roots. Gardeners should brush off the top layer of soil in a potted or balled and burlapped tree to find that flare.
Keep the root flare just above grade.
Once the root flare is found, use a shovel handle to determine the proper depth of the planting hole and the tree can be put in place.
This is one of the only planting jobs that doesn’t use additional organic matter like compost. It’s best to use the native soil when backfilling the planting hole.
Seven years ago my wife helped me roll a large, heavy American hornbeam into its planting hole and as I started to shovel the dirt back into the hole, she said, “that should be a tree dedicated to your brother,” who had passed away that year.
I try to dissuade people from planting memorial trees, if they fail, it can bring up traumatic memories, but I thought about it and decided to create a living memorial for my brother. American hornbeams are native, tough and beautiful. They are often called Musclewood for their smooth, sinewy silver bark.
After the storm I navigated my way through the maze of twisted branches of fallen trees, overjoyed to see that somehow the legacy hornbeam was untouched.
It looked downright lonely now, but will have more light and plenty of room to mature, destined to be one the champion trees of the landscape.
The storm destroyed many of the mature trees through the forest, and even though that’s sad, it’s part of the inevitable evolution of a woodland.
Subscribe to my free gardening newsletter here
Host of "In Doug's Garden" on CBS KDKA-TV Streaming
Host of the Talking Trees podcast for The Davey Tree Expert Company
Consultant for Farm to Table Buy Fresh Buy Local
Columnist for Pittsburgh Earth Day's "The Green Voice"
Leave A Comment