It is always a sad day to lose a tree in a garden. We held on to this one long after its best life. Prunus padus, Mayday or Serviceberry Tree was planted forty-four years ago and should still rightfully be there. However this was a case of wrong tree in the wrong place. It grew quickly, scented the garden in spring with its frothy racemes of white flowers, dropped millions of juicy red tiny berries on the patio every fall and shaded the house from the hot south sun in summer. I should however have given more thought to placement of this lovely tree.

We loved the tree but with two dogs to daily track in squished red berries it became a lot of work. I didn’t think we could have too much shade in our hot summers but the house became very dark. Fifteen years ago we decided to remove most of the tree, leaving a feature sculptural trunk. We enjoyed this feature as much as the living tree. Ivy and Virginia Creeper soon smothered it in a flowing cloak. Woodpeckers kept it clean and the rusty owl atop the snag kept a lookout along with the Crows, Bluejays and other assorted birds, who would perch on it.

Two years ago however, we noticed large black ants leaving a trail of sawdust around it. Immediate action was taken to eliminate the Carpenter Ants but more damage had been done internally than we realised, as when I leaned on the trunk one day this summer it moved! Becoming unsafe, it was time for it to be removed.

We called in our favourite pruner to remove the stump, who took great pleasure in being able to push it over! We are so grateful to have someone who can now help us with jobs that have become challenging for aging limbs! Thank you Caleb.

We will miss this old snag but I’m hoping the old roses I moved from the front garden will grow large and beautiful to replace it. We just need to find a new look-out for the owl.