Violent wind/thunder storms came through Tama and surrounding counties early Monday morning while we were sleeping. Winds were so strong we could feel the house shake. We are still without power and water and are sad to report that we lost about 15 trees. Trees we planted ourselves in ’07 and ’08, many of which were showing such potential. Those who have visited know that our house and gardens are located in a mostly treeless area, except for the large Ash tree next to the house. On a side note, we recently learned that this tree was given as a gift to Emil Seidel (former owner of our house) by one of his daughters. We are very happy this tree was not harmed as it provides wonderful shade.
The loss of so many young trees is a big one, both for the shade they were on their way to making and because I now love trees so much, perhaps even more than flowers. I have recently come to the conclusion that watching a tree grow over a 4 year span is more rewarding than watching what a perennial does in that time.
Pictured are but a few of our losses.
Jonathan Apple. Not going to overdramatize this loss. This tree was already weakened by borers and scab. All future apple trees will have good disease resistance.
We classify this one as our biggest loss. This young redbud was full and beautifully shaped. And used daily by birds.
Second biggest loss- the other beautiful redbud. For a slow growing tree, they have not proven to be very strong around here.
Ornamental pear. Not such a big loss now that I am becoming a tree snob. Didn’t really like its columnar shape. Had gorgeous fall color though, and as I stated above any tree around here will be missed.
Another huge loss is the Toka plum we posted photos of this Spring. This was one of the very first trees we planted when we arrived in ’07. The fruit, tasted for the first time last year, was out of this world and the Spring blossoms were intoxicating.
This poor honey locust wins the “fastest grower” prize. Curly willow is the absolute fastest, but won’t be included here since all ours emerged unscathed. Yep, I plan to plant many more curly willow as it has proven to be fast growing and tough.
And finally, the huge old red oak on our hillside sustained major limb damage. And a huge old hickory (not pictured) in this vicinity went down
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oh, anne, so sorry to hear about all the damage! losing a tree is like losing a friend. hope your power and water are back SOON.
Thanks, Gretchen. I suppose I can look at it another way: I now have the license to make excessive tree purchases;-)
well, yes, there is that … does homeowner’s insurance pay for downed trees? or only if they topple on the house?
This is a great suggestion! I will look into it.
OMG! I didn’t know your area had the storm too. So sorry about the trees, I understand how sad you must be. We lost two trees, which now seems so minor in comparison. The 14 year old maple we lost was huge, shading the house and my newly planted hosta bed. I was very sorry to see it down. At least it didn’t hit the house! I think I might have to plant more curly willows too. I wish the tree I have that is getting chewed up by the Japanses beetles would have been knocked down, that tree I wouldn’t have missed.
Thanks, Lori Anne. I’m sorry for your losses too. Losing a shade tree is way worse than any of our smaller trees.
Just read about your farm in Widwest Living and loved it! You have inspired me to do more clearing and planting on our family farm of 80 acres. We have several large oak and pine trees as well as various other trees. I live in Northwest Arkansas and have clay soil too. My husband jokes that anytime we plant something, we have to dig a $100 dollar hole with all the soil amendments. I look forward to following your blog and learning more from you experences.
Thanks for reading our blog and commenting, Kimberly! In my experience there are plenty of plants that thrive in heavy clay. Winecups and Missouri Primrose would probably be very happy in your soil. We feel like we have to spend $100 on mulch and deer deterrents every time we plant a tree around here!
sorry for you loss and remember the red oak tree and of course all the hickory trees we used to play around, we lost 8 here on our little 2 acres so we have lots of bare spots, keep planting,