a little off the top
by Bella Rum
What’s the number one mistake homeowners make when planting young trees? They plant them too close to the house. Then the tree grows into a beautiful specimen, and the clueless homeowner is forced to prune the backside of the tree within an inch of its life.
I just made that up. I don’t know if that’s the #1 mistake, but I’d bet my vacuum cleaner on it.
Our crepe myrtle has gotten too big for its britches. When we bought it, the tag assured us it would only reach 12 to 15 feet at maturity. Ha! It’s about 20 to 25 feet. It was already hanging over the gutters and the roof before the The Storm, but it was much worse after the storm, scraping the sides of the house and dropping trash all over the roof. H finally bit the bullet and pruned it yesterday.
I can’t believe I didn’t get “before” shots. The poor girl (a little lopsided now) is still a beauty by any standard. I wish I’d taken shots of it when it was in full bloom. It was very pretty.
Ah, yes. The walnut tree went under the chainsaw just last weekend. The weight of the walnuts had major limbs dragging back and forth across the roof, loosening and chipping shingles, much to my husband’s chagrin. He lopped off several big limbs, sending a sea of walnuts cascading onto the deck. Fortunately, our little neighbor kid is ecstatic to earn cash by picking them up.
Mary
Mary,
Those trees can really damage a roof. I’ll be more careful about where I plant next time. So glad you have a neighbor kid who’ll do the job of picking them up. I know they can cause quite a mess.
Bella
I’ve never seen a crepe myrtle so tall! In fact, for the longest time I thought they were just tallish bushes
I miss seeing crepe myrtles everywhere – but we’re headed to NC so I’m sure I’ll see some down south!