The Mighty Oak

This summer I asked my gardener to cut the oak tree in my front yard down to the ground.  He did.  He also told me some week he would bring a drill, put holes in the remains of the stump and pour salt down the holes. Supposedly, that will to prevent 'suckers' from growing around the base of the stump.

He keeps forgetting to bring the drill and the salt.

As a result, 'suckers' are growing all around the outside edge of the stump.  He has whacked them off once, but new ones have replaced them.  They are beautiful.  The leaves remind me of precious jewels in their color, a turquoise green blending into gorgeous geranium red and orange that inches outward to a hint of cherry pink at the outer edge.  It makes me sorry that I simply didn't 'top' the tree instead of such a drastic thing as having it totally removed.

This is what I so enjoy about nature, its desire to replenish itself.  This wonderful oak wants desperately to survive, and if it were not for the power lines directly overhead I would allow that to happen.  However, it is easy to see that within a certain number of years I would have to face the dilemma of either topping the 'sucker' branches or having them cut back to ground level again.  What to do, what to do? On the other hand, we've a lot, I'm talking a lot of squirrels in my neighborhood, and since my old oak was finally producing acorns, a lot of acorns, the squirrels have been busy lunching on them, and burying them all around my yard.  Guess what? Yep, this spring a new batch of oak trees sprung up all around my yard.

There are two in particular I've been keeping a close eye upon, both in my back yard.  If they make it through the winter I have hope I might...just might...be able to transplant them to places where they can thrive and grow for a hundred years in perfect harmony with their surrounding environment.

However, I don't know what to do with the oak 'suckers' in the front yard.  I know that for at least 5 years I could keep them pruned and under control below the power lines, but (sadly) and eventually they would meet the same fate as the 'mother tree'.  Oh, if only my gardener had finished the job in the first place I would not be in such a tizzy.  It's quite distasteful for me to have anything of nature die.  Remember Bobby, my winter house guest?

I guess eventually I'm going to have to make a permanent decision about the oak 'suckers', but I think I'll wait till spring, maybe Mother Nature's winter will make the decision for me.

I found this poem on line this morning, and it touched my heart.  I'm hoping Johnny Ray Ryder Jr. is okay with my spreading his lovely words around the world.