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Plants and ethics - or, is my tree doomed?
Dec. 6th, 2012 10:30 pmThere’s this pretty hemlock tree outside the livingroom window, which R. planted there when we first moved in, with the intention of pruning it regularly to keep it small. I like the way the top of it looks, though, and objected to the pruning, so it’s grown. Plus the little filbert-sized cones of hemlock trees are so appealing, and it’s produced them plentifully, especially near the top. But it was planted much too close to the house for the size it’s become, and when we had that unseasonable snow in March, the poor tree half-toppled to the ground.
I’d brushed the snow off and propped up the tree as best I could, with a dolley and an old lawn mower, and it’s been living perfectly well like that for the past eight months, growing at a 45-degree angle to the ground and partly blocking the path to the back yard. My thought was to somehow brace it upright, perhaps by drilling some kind of deep holes into which to put thick metal stakes, although clearly this is not the kind of work I could carry out myself. I had to wait until I had a regular income again, though, before I could justify calling the tree-guy.
I called him today, and without looking at the tree he concluded that I’d lost it back in March, that nothing can be done for it. I insisted that I’m determined to try, and he delegated a guy to come talk with me about it tomorrow.
I think my real problem in communicating with the arborists is that they all seem to have this typical gardener-mentality of plants as instruments of our will, rather than as living creatures that should be given at least some minimal level of respect. If it’s not doing what we want of it, get rid of it and plant something more amenable. My perspective, though, is each plant is an individual, not interchangeable, and that I have some responsibility towards them. I don’t feel this way about every plant – I have no problem at all with digging up blackberries and thistles and dandelions – but a 15' tree is another matter. More like a non-communicative pet, I think. I know I’m in the minority, but I don’t think I’m just being silly.
I’d brushed the snow off and propped up the tree as best I could, with a dolley and an old lawn mower, and it’s been living perfectly well like that for the past eight months, growing at a 45-degree angle to the ground and partly blocking the path to the back yard. My thought was to somehow brace it upright, perhaps by drilling some kind of deep holes into which to put thick metal stakes, although clearly this is not the kind of work I could carry out myself. I had to wait until I had a regular income again, though, before I could justify calling the tree-guy.
I called him today, and without looking at the tree he concluded that I’d lost it back in March, that nothing can be done for it. I insisted that I’m determined to try, and he delegated a guy to come talk with me about it tomorrow.
I think my real problem in communicating with the arborists is that they all seem to have this typical gardener-mentality of plants as instruments of our will, rather than as living creatures that should be given at least some minimal level of respect. If it’s not doing what we want of it, get rid of it and plant something more amenable. My perspective, though, is each plant is an individual, not interchangeable, and that I have some responsibility towards them. I don’t feel this way about every plant – I have no problem at all with digging up blackberries and thistles and dandelions – but a 15' tree is another matter. More like a non-communicative pet, I think. I know I’m in the minority, but I don’t think I’m just being silly.