During high winds the other night, a dead red oak tree fell over in the back yard.
I heard it crack and crash about 6:15 a.m.
We have lost a lot of trees in the last 18 months. The ash borer took out all of the ash trees and several oaks died. I think the ash borer also hit the oak trees, but maybe it was something else. Maybe they were simply older trees and it was their time.
I tend to think of trees as living forever . . . if we'd only leave them alone. But of course they do not, though they may live for thousands of years. Several trees are known to live over 4,000 years, and a grove of trees in Utah is thought to have been alive for 14,000 years. (This is called a clonal colony and is not an individual tree, but a large living organism.)
The oldest known oak tree in the US is thought to be 850 years old or more.
Mine, I think, succumbed to a disease or bugs.
Losing trees makes me sad.
It is so sad to lose a tree. I am glad it missed your shed.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that no creature was hurt when that big tree fell. The Bristlecone Pine in California is among the oldest trees, as well. It's hard to lose trees. like you, I hate to lose them.
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