Tag Archives: oak wilt

Goodbye Red Oak

So we’re sitting in the kitchen last night going over some elementary school handouts for parents when we hear this big sound, just a big whoosh. We go outside to find it is the second Red Oak to give up the ghost in two months, except this one was two feet in diameter, versus about six inches for the other one that took out part of the fence. The new one seems to have done little damage, missing the house by inches, but sadly it sheared off the west side branches of the Red Bud, and of course it is blocking access to the back yard pretty good. The landscaper, who can’t come to start the chainsaw chorus until tomorrow, blamed it on the drought, but it also might be oak wilt. Looking on the bright side, we will now have more sunshine for the planting of more antique roses to keep safe from more deer, etc.

UPDATE  Something I forgot. Mr. Boy, getting into the spirit of our nightly readings of The Lord of The Rings trilogy, glanced at the fallen tree in the back yard and pronounced it Treebeard, cut down by the Orcs in mid-battle for Isengard. "Back to Fangorn!" he shouted to the other trees.