The Magnificent Maple

I've written before about our lovely backyard Sugar Maple. I suspect the tree is as old as the house (1881) or close to it. I spreads across the center of the backyard, shading the large deck and providing lots of leaves to gather and compost for leaf mold. It is one of the features about the house and lot Dan and I both fell in love with when we first saw the house.

It is a typical old Maine Sugar Maple, with several trunks growing close together. It had received little pruning early in its life, but nonetheless, is a gorgeous shade-giving, loved part of our back yard. We had reluctantly decided to remove one center trunk of the tree which was dead and rotting. Although I loved the habitat it provided for the woodpeckers, we were afraid the rot would spread and damage the rest of the tree.

Yesterday, our local tree guru came and pruned some dead limbs and cabled our beloved maple. Jon McKenney and the crew of McKenney Tree arrived early in the morning, and promptly got to work. I took a few photos, which due to the size of the tree and my need to stay at a safe distance, don't show much.

I had to leave for work, but upon my return home, I was pleased to see, the tree looks great. If anything, removing the dead trunk gave the tree a more graceful shape, and the cable supporting the two main trunks is barely visible now with few remaining leaves; in the summer it will be all but invisible.

Although chipping the branches was an option, we elected to keep the wood, we'll use it in our woodstove in the barn and think grateful thoughts of the tree. The trimmed wood was neatly piled to one side, and there were hardly any gouges in the lawn from falling limbs. I was really impressed with McKenney and his crew. I hope the cabling helps our beloved tree thrive for many more years.