Death of a Mother Tree!
My friend Sandy points at the birth year of a daughter tree, cut down at the age of twenty-six. Pictured below the stump of the Mother tree and behind her the broken stump of her mother; the grandmother tree. Beyond these trees the apartment building where I live, looks out on this small copse of trees. Last year a Humming bird mom nested and raised two young to maturity in the Silver Maple closest to my window. A story of organic life and death to be told. A floodplain tree Silver Maples can live for 130 years. Fast growing with shallow roots Silver Maples tolerate wetter conditions than most. Frequently planted in yards and along streets they tolerate typical lawn watering. I grew up in southern Indiana on a short street lined by large Silver Maples. These large trees provided welcomed shade. On the hottest steamy day I could walk down the middle of the street and remain under their cooling shadows. Many changes have occurred since my boyhood years that now