DEATH OF A TREE

This is how our tree looked during the summer of 2005, when I was building a mowing strip around the lawn and a hedge along the sidewalk...



This is how our tree looks today...

This is how our tree looked in the spring of 2009, just after Rich painted our house...

This is how our tree looked in the fall of 2009, just before I raked some of its leaves...

This is what our former tree location looks like today...

This is why I cut down the tree...

The dark spots are disease.

A few years ago, I had noticed what appeared to be a mushroom growing from the side of the tree. I went to the local grange to see if I could repair the tree by cutting out the diseased section and somehow sealing it. They told me that the disease could not be repaired and that the tree would eventually die.

I feared that the tree might someday meet its ultimate demise by falling, fully loaded with leaves, directly into our house. To avoid such a potential disaster, I cut it down.