Road-Kill, an unfortunate Taxus... (Warning - Embedded Pics)

Black

After a pretty hard day I had lay back on a bench waiting for people to get outside and eat their sandwiches they had prepared home to work. I tend to enjoy observing people and trying to read their stories.

As my wait I noticed a segment in the yew hedge (what a waist of a beautiful plant I find) that was pretty much dominating the area. Someone had most possibly dropped their bike or something on it at some time in at least one growth season back and since then it has been left to suffocate in the depths under the other yews.
I couldn’t really determine the reason of its poor condition as I thought they were pretty, if not very tolerant to shade.

Again theoretically speaking I presume the dogs people take out for walks found this to be the only place they can comfortable plant their selves into the wall to relieve themselves. Thus the tree carried scares and a great amount of dying wood. It was expectable dirt and covered up… all the branches (dead or alive) were hanging with a weak attitude that I am used to with seeing in a yew.

I could not go beyond theory, but I ended up getting on my knees trying to manage the yew to stand upright to how it seems to have been originally intended I tried to remove the broken old branches that fell at some time and gathered enough to wrap it… then went back to try to enjoy it again from the bench I had sat on. Here I noticed how it was half to at times one third of the rest of the trees around it in girth.
How the city could be correctly proud of the vigour and general health of the remaining yews, and how this one so very contrasted the rest having more “yellow” on it than green.

Again theoretically I thought that this tree has been slowly dying for some time. It so easily moving in its soil as I up righted it was clue enough as to its neighbours not budging a single degree!



I was already pretty much in pain of having witnessed so many x-mass trees wasted and thrown to the streets now their purpose was served… and more importantly how they were crushed into the garbage truck. Sort of reminds me of the trucks they used to walk the Jews into where the pipe of the engine was connected to the container they had been loaded: thus a death ride…
(Yes I have relocated a few discarded trees still with pots or balls to wild areas hoping they can have now at least a chance to live)
And I couldn’t take the tree off my mind the whole day long (It was at noon time mind you)

Then at about 4:30 in the morning; risking getting arrested I just got on my bike went there and picked up the tree (was TOO easy for a tree that I believe must have been there for least 20 years). At home I had prepared a bucket with peat and compost and a bag to wrap all around for its humidity… I placed it in the bucket, wrapped the bag, put this in my backpack and just raced on home after giving a break where there was decent lighting to check if the tree had any damage from the collecting.

There was a lot of damage, but not exactly from my pulling. Now with the tree in my hand I can clearer see the reason its trunk was so narrower, as two thirds of the tree is dead wood and the rest of the flesh has wrapped most of it. Spending bout half an hour like this I went on home where I was stopped by two police officers and the female one asked me if it was not a very odd hour to be up moving a Christmas tree (It does look like a Christmas tree I guess to some) And I tried to explain to them about my worry for the tree and so forth slowly trying to expose more of the tree than it’s apex.

__________________
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,... "

Christopher Reeve
25 September 1952-10 October 2004

Advertisement

Black

As I pulled more of the bag that was meant for keeping humidity down; the male officer just stopped me (he was the one that got off the patrol car to check me out) and I guess through seeing that it was simply a dry bush to be, he just said all “is fine” and got onto his car… he didn’t even let me finish about how heroically I was replanting the tree’s to places/friends gardens where they may stand a chance! He just got on his car and rode off leaving me struggling to cover up the tread trying to fit things in.
(My therapist told me earlier today that I can’t save every tree… I said that I knew… but … I still did what I did)

At home I nursed it for some good amount of time; cleaned it out and planted it in a black growing pot with some fresh soil that I presume drains well enough for it’s comfort., and left it to mist for a few hours.
It may not seem like an improvement, but there is a serious diffrentce.

These are a few photos of it where you can possibly appreciate that it looks as if life is in there still… Not happy with how every branch weeps and hope to help get its health back
I’ll try to provide photos of developments on it possibly tomorrow or the day next. I was an exciting night I hope it will enjoy spending the night in this new home.







In the end;
I am sure there must be some of you that shall argue if I did the right thing.
I can understand and would agree… but the manner I have seen hedges repaired here (dig out make compost f it plant new one and hope for it to do better) sort of motivated me to do what I chose to do.

I don’t know if I can say that I saved the tree; nor can I argue that the tree is happy that I did this… that’s something only time shall possibly tell. In the end I had arguably no right to do what I did, but I really don’t believe that the tree would be able to take another few months of urine diet before it gets (from months to a year after it’s death. Bureaucracy is VERY slow here) replaced as it is shred to be compost. Just hope it was the right thing to do.



Black

__________________
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,... "

Christopher Reeve
25 September 1952-10 October 2004

candywhitevdub

wow looks like you got quite a beast there. ive been VERY tempted to grab a small tree thats around me but its at a 24 hr. mcdonalds and i dont feel like them calling the cops or something.

FOX7591

u should be a writer...

__________________
...FOX7591...

kingkong

Black...you are special! Keep up the good fight and enjoyed your written work.

rockm

For bonsai purposes, this tree is not that great. That swelling where all the branches originate will continue to swell unless you undertake considerable thinning and dramatic carving. The trunk is pretty uninteresting and unremarkable. It wasn't worth stealing.

Although your heart is the in the right place, your actions are not. Stealing is stealing, even if there is a beauracracy to deal with. Following your heart sometimes leads to some very bad decisions.

Here in the U.S. stealing landscape material has become a growing nuisance crime, as home site developers rip out plants from municipal and even private sites with no permission to replant those trees on new home sites. Police here are aware of such thefts and will arrest people for it.

Such actions are costly for those who plant the trees to begin with. The trees--even if they're mistreated or you think they're in trouble--were paid for by someone. Here in the US landscaping on municipal sites is paid for by taxpayers. The replacement costs for stolen plants from those locations are bourne by taxpayers. It's not up to you to decide what's best for someone else's property.

kingkong

I was ready to cry over this rescue of the little xmas tree left to die. Now the rockman is hunting you down to put you in irons Black for your efforts.
Run Black...run!

rockm

I'm not hunting anyone down. Merely pointing out if you're gonna steal something, might as well be something worth stealing. This tree is not worth the trouble, nor is it worth the crying. It's junk, to put it bluntly, sorry.

Emotions are great, except when they cloud your judgement and make you do silly things--like telling yourself a plant is in dire need of being stolen to "save" it. The tree, despite its appearance, hardly looks like it's going to die immediately. The shari on the trunk even tells me that the tree is reasonably healthy, as it is closing a pretty bad wound. I'd wager digging it up has put it in more danger of dying than leaving it be.

I doubt this tree was "rescued" from anything. That thought is a romantic delusion that enabled someone to take something that wasn't theirs. Rationalization of dishonest behavoir can lead down some extremely rocky roads...

AndyWilson

Although i am sympathetic i belive the 'line' is drawn for a reason and personally wont cross it!