When gardens fight back
KT53
Posts: 9,009
There was a big elder tree growing at the bottom of our garden. It was best part of 20' high and shaded our neighbours garden for most of the day and our own in the late afternoon. I decided to do the neighbourly thing and chop it down. Not too much of a problem chopping the branches off as elder is pretty soft wood. I even cut off about the top 6 - 8' of the main trunk without problem. By this level the trunk was about 8" in diameter and more difficult to cut through. I finally managed to cut it about 90% through when it decided to commit suicide and fell over my shoulder! I was standing on a ladder at the time and although it missed most of me, it smacked my calf on the way down. That smarted a bit I can tell you, and I've got a beautiful bruise for my troubles.
The moral of the story - keep the **** thing from growing that high in the first place.
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Need a tree felling course KT!
You should never cut an Elder down - bound to lead to trouble - legend has it that a dryad called The Elder Mother lives in an Elder tree and if you fell it you will release an evil spirit ... If you believe in such things
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I always knew you shouldnt cut elder down, but didnt know why, had to remove one from the front garden, but went out of my way to keep it alive. Isnt it amazing how these stories still pass down the generations
Hope KT53's bruises are healing now - or at least that he/she's getting some deserved TLC
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The bruising is multi-coloured at the moment. I haven't killed the elder, just a bit of drastic pollarding I call it
. Anyway, have you ever tried to actually kill one? There are some branches growing from near the base so I plan to let them grow, but keep the overall height down so I can keep it under control without climbing ladders.
When I was a kid, I was always being told to respect my elders,