Another tree down

As I described in this post, our ‘Desert Museum’ palo verde got blown over in a fierce winter storm on New Year’s Eve and landed on our minivan. Fortunately, there was no damage to the car or the plants next to the tree. We were able to cut it up for our biweekly yard waste pickup using a simple electric chainsaw.

We were very lucky, considering the horrendous damage these storms and the record rainfall caused in the Sacramento area. The coast was hit even harder, with piers destroyed and roads washed out. At least 20 people were killed in the nine consecutive rainstorms that started on December 26.

In light of that, our second tree calamity is a very minor footnote. For us, though, losing another tree is not a small matter, considering how few trees we have on our 8,100 sq.ft. lot.

It all started when my wife noticed this on January 18:


The root ball on our Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’ had started to lift up.


These photos taken from the street show how much the tree was leaning toward the fence:


Acacia baileyana has tiny leaves, but since it’s evergreen, there was plenty of surface for the winds to grip. In essence, the canopy acted like a giant sail, and the fierce north winds (our worst winds always come from the north) pushed the tree toward the south and the street.

Fortunately, this happened at the end of the last storm and the subsequent days were calm and dry. If another storm with high winds had come in, I’m convinced the tree would have fallen over, flattening the fence and the plants on the other side of it, and blocking the entire street.

I called Alliance Tree Service the day after, and even though were crazy busy dealing with far more serious tree business, they came quickly and cut down our acacia. I’m really grateful for their service. We’ve used Alliance many times over the years, and they’ve always been great to work with. A big shoutout to them!


This corner of the backyard looks strangely empty now, with nothing left but a cut off trunk and roots lifting out of the ground. (Alliance will come back to grind out the stump when things have calmed down for them.)

The view from the street is even more startling:


I don’t know what we’ll plant as a replacement, but it won’t be another tree that grows super fast, like the Acacia baileyana (and the ‘Desert Museum’ palo verde) did. As we now know from personal experience, these types of trees are the first to go in high winds. At the Sacramento Zoo, apparently most of the trees that went down in the recent storms were acacias.

There’s a lot of clean up to do, both in the backyard and in the front, but I feel a bit shell-shocked and can’t seem to muster the energy to get going. Maybe I’ll simply wait another week until I’ve formulated a game plan in my head...


© Gerhard Bock, 2023. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.

Comments

  1. I noticed a band on the truck just above the ground. What is it??

    ReplyDelete
  2. "There’s a lot of clean up to do, both in the backyard and in the front, but I feel a bit shell-shocked and can’t seem to muster the energy to get going."

    Gerhard, I know that feeling all too well, after my garden took a beating in the Texas deep freeze of 2021. Do take your time and know that the gardening mojo and excitement will return. You may find new design ideas arise out of the losses. I'm sorry you lost your trees and hope the weather calms down for you soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Pam. Yes, you of all people know what it feels like. And from a gardening perspective, things were much worse in Austin than here.

      Delete
  3. Ugh! I'm sorry you lost another tree but glad you and your wife have eagle eyes and noticed the problem as it developed and before it took out your fence as well. Down this way, it's eucalyptus branches or entire trees that seem to come down with the greatest frequency, often closing nearby roads following heavy storms. I think taking your time to research and identify a suitable replacement and planting scheme is a good approach.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eucalyptus are notorious for losing limbs. I see lots of that up here in the Sacramento area as well.

      But with the storms we've had, even trees that typically don't fall had a hard time. The fact that many were weakened by years of drought didn't help.

      Delete
  4. First plant thieves and now this, what a week you've had.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm hoping we got all the bad luck stuff out of the way at the beginning of the year and it's clear sailing from here on out :-)

      Delete
    2. Did I miss something about plant thieves? Maybe I just forgot?

      Delete
  5. I am so sorry to hear this loss has happened again, Gerhard! What a winter season it has been. This afternoon I was out covering so many of my plants because we are expecting frost for the next week. Ugh! Such a big job. No frost for you now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ugh, I hate covering plants--or rather uncovering and then putting the frost cloths away again.

      It was 30°F here this morning but the forecast says we'll be above freezing for the next week. I'm done with winter!

      Delete
    2. Uncovering and putting away is the WORST part! I've never heard that from anyone else.

      Delete
  6. I won't have to call a tree guy to remove mine, it's small enough that I can do it myself. I'm going to top it for now (a horrible practice) so I can enjoy the blooms and then I'll cut it up and dig it out. I hate loosing this tree. I know you do too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry yours is a goner, too. I'm particulary sad because ours had more flower buds than ever. It would have been spectacular very soon.

      Delete
    2. So sorry to hear about the bud loss. So sad!

      Delete
  7. Such a great tree (as was the palo verde) and a sad loss. I am so glad you're not looking at fence repair and damage to the street-side plants too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We had nightmares about the tree coming down on the twos days before the tree service was able to come!

      Delete
  8. Those baileyanas grow so fast here--seedling at the neighbor's across the road 3 years ago must be 20' already and in full flower this morning--should go get a photo Sorry you lost yours--strong winds an issue with them, for sure. The neighbor's seedling was a replacement for the previous one knocked over by a Santa Ana Wind event.

    Take your time deciding on something new, and have fun choosing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 20 ft after 3 years, that's even faster than here. It's a beautiful tree, even when not in bloom, but I'll be looking for a slower growing tree in hopes it will put down a more solid root system.

      Delete
  9. Not the Acacia! Really saddened to see this one go. Approximately how old was this specimen? Ours will hit 1 year this coming spring and we love the tree dearly. We've planted many acacias, olives and bays over the last three years in our western exposed backyard. After these recent wind storms I am now second guessing the decision to plant so many evergreens.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If your trees made it through the wind storms unscathed, you're in a good place. If anything, the high winds toughed up your trees :-)

      Delete

Post a Comment