Farewell to Chubby

While trying to find something to do last Sunday, I finally decided to remove my chubby Pillsbury Dough boy conifer. When we bought our property five years ago, there in our front yard was a sheered conifer. Now don't get me wrong, if sheering is your thing, so be it. But it definitely is not my first choice. Personally, I don't like things sheered. I like plants in their natural form. I have inherited sheered plantings and it goes against everything I know to sheer them into a conformed shape so that they will fit their location.

When I first moved in, I tried shaping Chubby. And I tried to convince myself that I would learn to like the look. Right? Wrong! I finally stopped sheering the second year in our house, because I hated the look. Each year, I watched Chubby start to develop new branches and he even started growing a new top to replace the one that had been chopped for years. Each year I watched Chubby expand and grow wider till he finally encroached the driveway and sidewalk. Each year I watched, knowing that his fate for finally looking good again would be his death. So, I debated. Do I let him encroach and eventually limb him up? No, I like conifers with branches to the ground. Besides, every conifer that we owned that had its lower limbs removed, eventually lost more because of the lack of lower support. So, I did the deed. I got my big loppers and started to whack. When I opened the tree up, I found that the dense center was nothing more than a mass of old dead growth and only the tips had any green. It made my choice a little easier.

When I finished, I took a moment to mourn the loss. I even felt bad when I overheard two neighbors passing by, share their disgust in the loss of a perfectly good tree. They can not feel as bad as me. I hate removing established plants. Chubby would have looked great planted in another area of my yard where it could have been given more room to grow. While this is a farewell tribute to Chubby, it is also to remind me and others that it takes thought when planting a tree. What starts out small will someday grow large. So take time to select a plant that is appropriate for a space. Look for smaller or slower growing specimens so you won't have to sign execution papers for an overgrown misplaced shrub or tree. Farewell Chubby. At least you got to look like your old self again, if even for a short while.