A big source of discussion around here this year has been the rows of poplar trees that line our driveway. They are big and shaggy but have been a really nice feature of the property. They give the driveway a stately feel.
They also do some first class rustling. We have three ash trees at the end of the drive that provide excellent shade for the screen porch. We have two fine locust trees for visual interest and dappled shade by the steps. And a few years ago Steve planted three good maples at strategic points around the house for fall color. But none of them rustle like the poplars.
And when the starlings come, now and then, by the hundreds if not the thousands, there is no place for them to all roost or lift off from en masse except those poplars.
Steve has been talking for at least three years about cutting them all down. I was not on board for several years. And this year word got out and one by one people have expressed their dismay. His brother in the Cities thinks he’s gone nuts.
My parents think it’s downright cruel, especially given my cancer, to decimate the landscape that way, to chop down those magnificent trees! My step-daughter wants to know if it could wait two more years, until after her wedding (she is not yet engaged). No one, not a single person has voted on the side of chopping them down and hauling them away.
But given the time (for me this has been under discussion for years), I’ve come around to the idea. Although I love the poplars, whatever comes next will also be very nice. The poplars interfere with Steve’s vision of the place, which is prairie with oak savannah here and there. He says he has some larger oaks he can put in clusters off the drive.
This might be the year they come down. Or maybe only some of them will come down. I asked Steve to start at the end of the drive and move toward the house– in case the starlings decide to come next summer.
poplars line the drive, quaking
sentinels condemned to die
but why? but why?
for lack of vision
is the only reply
I recall planting the poplars with Steve back in 1988 or ’89. He ordered them from a place in Nebraska or Kansas. A box showed up with 20 or so sticks that were about 15″ long and no wider then one’s index finger. No root mass or tiny branches. Just a plain stick. We put them in the ground and Steve watered as needed. Can’t believe how big they are now!
It’s time to cut them down. Really aren’t part of a prairie grass landscape.
haha, Marilyn, thank you for this. I have been at the back end of a fight to save trees several times now. At work we had to take down a truly giant, majestic oak. It was diseased and we feared it would fall on the building in a strong storm. We got THREE expert opinions. We took it down, burned the wood in the fireplace over two seasons and still have large slabs we hope to use for a coffee table. But what surprised everyone, I think, was that once the oak was gone, the two gigantic, glorious MAPLES stepped in and are now having their day! Poplars are soft, fast-growing trees and these are at the end of their lives. They served their purpose when the land was reclaimed ag land without much shape or character. But they are going to fall down if not taken down…