Gardener’s Journal: A thousand forests…
Late in the summer’s heat we received notice that our final ash trees needed to be cut down and removed. Oh yes, we knew in our hearts they were just long trunks with hanging dead branches and even though they no longer provided shade and comfort…somehow because they were the last ones this grieved us. In the last two years all our ash trees have perished and now the landscape has opened up to heat and incredible light.
My husband has cut and dried the long ash boards and intends( as all wood workers do) to build something from these boards. One project is completed and others are in the mind. And the wood is truly beautiful…a lovely warm colour and incredibly solid. Sadly, I am reminded when I run my hand over the boards that these are truly the ‘dinosaurs of extinction’ among the tree family. It has come to this…
“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn” says Ralph Waldo Emerson…and the truth of that cannot be denied as we walk the woods and the acorns drop on us and land under foot. But the end of a thousand forests is indeed a sad loss…one which we experience each day as we move through our Great Lake community. Our tree canopy will drop by 50% when all the ash are gone. And even planting new trees of variety to help with the infection that took the ashes has a time frame. It is difficult to bring back the height and stunning cool shade from those native trees in a short time. But of course we will try!
As in all life cycles there is birth, life and death. We see the stubborn little growth from the ash stumps and we applaud the efforts of these trees, although down to keep on trying for life. There is no doubt all the woodpeckers and bird life have benefited from the food they can derive from these dying trees. And with the absence of the trees the ground has opened for more light and new plant environments. Oh yes…the change has come and we will embrace it and make it good.
But give me some time to mourn the way of life and the calm summer shade that used to grace my outdoor space. Let me wish again for the thousand forests that used to be. And let me hope for the future with the new saplings.
In life cycles there must be a time to mourn loss as well as a time to heal and give birth. And it is in the new life we find hope for the future and dreams of forests once again.
