As someone who lives with a male dog I spend a lot of time next to trees. I suspect others do too. So today's task to visit the tree nearest to my house was easy. This tree is a beautiful rowan tree that was planted a few years ago by the tree officer of the local council who is now retired and whose job has now disappeared. The tree remains. It is a little taller than I am and is heavily leaning towards our house as its roots were not stable when the sapling was still small. This rowan tree provides a link to our own garden, where there is another rowan tree in a far corner. Our rowan tree is a mature tree that had to be topped last year as there were a lot of dead branches after a neighbour felt they had to cut it back. Thankfully we have a sympathetic tree surgeon who, instead of felling the tree, suggested we top it and see whether there will be any new growth this spring. And there is! I agree the tree looks odd but the fresh growth is promising and feels rather inspiring in its very own way.
Even better though, we have a healthy sapling that has grown from one of its berries and continues to develop into a beautiful tree. I discovered the sapling in an empty plant pot still full of compost last autumn. I was amazed to see this sapling grow from what must have been a single rowan berry dropped by a bird and decided to move it to a new pot and stake it to help it grow. Again it is inspirational to see what can grow from tiny seeds and this sapling is a wonderful example, linking something old and battered with something fresh and new. As I see it, there are three generations of rowan tree near my house, an old, battle worn one still determined to grow, a young tree already shaped by the environment in which it grows and, completing the circle, a shiny young sapling grown from the old tree. You can tell I love trees! Do join us again tomorrow.
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