Tree Following with Lucy: A New Year Dawns

Collage of photographs of the ash tree at the side of our garden in 2014
With a dramatic start and a stately tree in the middle, who could have foretold 2014's dramatic ending? 
Who said trees are boring? When I started Lucy's meme last year, I did wonder how I could say something different about my ash tree every month. However, seasonal changes, plus dramatic bookends to 2014's posts, meant my anticipated struggle never materialised.

Mr and Mrs pigeon have moved to another tree along the hedgerow at the side of the house to continue their canoodling and my tree's stump currently forms the favoured spot for a song thrush to sing the day's darkness. It's a pleasure to hear its bubbling calls and whistles ringing out at the end of the day.

Thanks to those of you who commented last month with some reassurance the stump will most probably regenerate. Until that happens or the rot visibly sets in, I'll be calling time on my tree following posts. I feel I've invested too much in this particular tree to follow another one for 2015.

In the meantime, I have a shady-no-more-border project to plan and plant up :)

Have a look at Loose and Leafy to see how the other Tree Followers are faring this month.

Comments

  1. Well hopefully it will regenerate :)

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  2. I really enjoyed following your tree through the seasons, and you couldn't have imagined a more sensational ending. Fingers crossed for a regeneration!

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    1. Thanks CJ - a regeneration could be like Dr Who & equally dramatic!

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  3. A cliffhanger. Will the tree stump make it or will it not? Now we are all curious to know.

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    1. Hi Erika - ash trees don't usually come into leaf until around May, so there's a few months to go...

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  4. Keeping good thoughts for the stump to come back.

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  5. As somebody else with an ash almost on my doorstep I've enjoyed your ash's adventures over the last few months. I suppose like me you have been worrying about ash dieback and did not anticipate other devastating possibilities. I trust that you will see signs of green come spring. Do keep us posted and in the meantime have fun planting that border VP.

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    1. Hi Anna, yes I have been worrying and have even reported the ash at the side of our front garden as a possible victim. It was a marginal case, but as it was healthy last year, I think it was a false alarm.

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  6. Oh. Anna's just introduced a concern. Since the tree now has a gaping wound, is it more susceptible to ash diseases? Or since it is, in a sense an ex-tree - so safer?

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    1. Hi Lucy - I don't know, as I'm not sure how the disease is spread. Needless to say I will be keeping an eye on it, despite not blogging about it so much in 2015.

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  7. No wonder you feel you need a break, that was an emotional journey you took with your tree last year! Look forward to reading about the shady border...

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