5.Versluys'.us

I thought for a long time that one or two of our trees in the backyard were dead. No buds throughout April, and branches just snapped off.

Clearly, I was wrong. This morning, after 3 days of gorgeous 70 degree-plus sunny weather, I noticed bright green buds on all three of the formerly bare trees behind the house.

I guess it was the relentless April chill that kept them from emerging.

Now to see what kinds of trees they are, and whether or not we are going to take the axe to one or all.

Poor things. I feel a bit like an executioner, walking in our dirt yard, envisioning sod and a patio, and picking and choosing “who” has to face the guillotine in my pursuit of an aesthetically pleasing landscape.

The big pine is definitely going, since it drops deadly cones the size of Quincy’s head from a height of 30 feet on an hourly basis 6 months out of the year. It’s also in the way of the staircase to our second story.

The cottonwood is a big “if”; Eric is allergic to certain cottonwoods and if this one causes him to sneeze for the whole summer it’s going down. It’s also on the wait and see list because cottonwoods are supposedly notorious for infiltrating septic tanks with their roots – we are likely going to put a new septic tank in the back yard when we add on, in the vicinity of the currently alive and healthy cottonwood.

That leaves us with our huge pine and “Christmas tree” cedar in the front yard, and a few deciduous trees in the backyard. That particular pine doesn’t drop bombs, and is in a great spot, so we’re keeping it. The Christmas tree is one of very few cedars on earth that I can appreciate, precisely because it is shaped just like a Christmas tree.

The deciduous ones are among those newly budding this week, and we will allow them to fully unfurl their leaves before condemning them to any particular fate. Generous, I know.