Time in the Garden: A grieving tree hugger at heart

Last week, in my absence, my gardener's new crew took the bottom 6 feet off my beloved 40year+ Blue Atlas Cedar.He knows to never cut or prune any of my evergreens but his new guy did not. He cut a conical evergreen into an umbrella shape. I was devastated, I sent them all packing for the last time . I love that tree, it is the anchor of my backyard. She and I together survived babies, toddlers climbing branches, toy saws and teen parties. Her huge branches shaded us while the children played in their blow up pools and on their swings. I was so sad I just could not get over it. Finally, a poem from my littlest one helped me heal.

There is a tree
It's a wonderful sight
The most marvelous green
at the most perfect height
It's appearance has changed
but not too extreme
We will fix it
and make it what it used to be
maybe even better,
we'll see...
-Nina Myers

So this week with a trip to the nursery, Navlet's, we did indeed transform my tree's loss limbs. We filled in beneath the tree with plants of all kinds, creating a forest floor bursting with all shades of green. The plantings helped to close the distance between the ground and the lost limbs. Now, once again when I walk out into my yard, I can smile!