We have a rather old crab apple tree that had a rustic feel to it. The picture above shows the tree to the right of our cat, Oliver, taken in October of 2011. The trunk is gnarled slightly with three different main branches from the roots. It was quite nice in the beginning.
It's been several months since our damaging winter event back in October (see the post here). When the storm hit, the weight of the wet snow combined with the leaves forced the long branches to bow. The three main branches split creating an open cavity for rot to fester within.
A tree "expert" came by and said that in it's current split condition, the tree may survive for a few more years, but that would be it. We had hopes. I trimmed all the branches that were touching the ground now due to that split. The weight loss helped the crab apple bounce back to life.
Then, after winter finished, spring was in full force. Though the leaves did come back, the weight of the leaves began to lower the branches again. Several strong storms later and the tree looked horrible. Now, towards the end of spring, the crab apples have begun to grow. Now this is really putting a strain on this once grand crab apple tree. The trunk separated even more so. The branches that were no longer touching the ground when I lopped off the "dead" weight are now resting on the ground. It's come to that time to say good bye.
Here is how this tree looks as of June 2012:
The split at the base:
And the handy dandy lopper that will act as executioner...
I love having a surplus of firewood!
