Way back in 1986, one of my sons was in first grade. It was Arbor Day and the students were given seedlings to bring home and plant. My husband and I, well, most likely just me, planted the tree in the back corner of the garden. And honestly, I totally forgot about it.
Fast forward nearly twenty years and I decided that the back corner of the yard needed clearing. The Russian olive tree had succumbed to an ice storm, the honeysuckles had been eaten by aphids, and the invasive buckthorn had taken over.
It took me an entire weekend and I had enough tied up branches to cover much of the frontage of my home waiting for the compost truck to haul it away. But in the process of clearing, I had rediscovered the white pine. It was barely a foot tall. Obviously, the deer had been chewing off the top growth each year as the tree had increased in the girth.
So, I dug it up and moved it to the center of the lawn where I could keep an eye on it. And it reached about two feet tall. And then the top disappeared - again. So I built a barrier around it!
After I retired in 2008 I set about relandscaping. I had the shrubs removed from around the deck and decided to move the tree to that open area. It was about three feet tall at that time. Its trunk was a little quirky thanks to the deer, but it has eventually filled out nicely.
And today I looked out, again, and marvelled at its resilience. The back yard is fenced and deer are no longer an issue. Here is my view:
No more deer? What happened, did you take a tank to them:)) that tree is resilient and it looks good.
ReplyDeleteOh, I just chased one away from the back fence, and they get in my front yard, but they have not mastered the locks on the gates. Yet.
DeleteThat's a beautiful tree. Glad you didn't give up on it.
ReplyDeleteWell done! Very nice tree!
ReplyDelete