The Peach Tree
In Memorium
The tilting tree on the left of this picture was moved to this spot from its original home in Wenham, Massachusetts, back in 1984. It performed its peach-making duties faithfully (if un-spectacularly) until 1992. That was the year of Hurricane Bob.
The weight of its unripe peaches and the force of a day-long hurricane gale tipped the tree right over, leaving most of its roots up in the air for a day. When the storm passed, we pushed the tree upright again and filled in the hole with the leaves and dirt that had been strewn all over the yard.
The following year, and every year thereafter until September 2002, we had more peaches than we could eat or give away. The shock of being upended must have worked some magic!
After Hurricane Bob, the peach tree had a tilt that worsened each year until we had to cut off one of its three main limbs to keep it from tipping over again... I loved the tilt. It added a nice angle to frame plants beneath and around it. The tree's canopy provided filtered shade to the plants beneath, and it was one of my favorite spots in the garden with ferns, hosta, and daylilies providing a cool spot in the garden during a hot summer.
Some years ago we noticed an ugly scar on its main trunk. A couple seasons later, the scar was bigger and was oozing some goo, and we noticed that other limbs were beginning to scar as well. It was diagnosed as necteria cankers, whose only cure was to be cut away entirely. That we couldn't do--it would have been the equivalent of cutting down the tree. We kept putting off the inevitable hatchet-job. "Wait till next year" we'd say (like Red Sox fans always do).*
But in 2002, the drought did in the peach tree. Weakened in its main trunk, top-heavy with hard little fruits, and desperate for moisture, it could not withstand a strong prevailing wind. It snapped off one night while we slept. My morning walk to see what was new in the garden showed the hard little peaches scattered all over the back embankement and broken limbs digging into my new 'shade' garden...
A borrowed chain saw made short work of the tree and its trunk, and my view from the deck is now dramatically different. But like a 'phantom limb' I see it still, our valiant peach tree.
Rest in peace...
*NOTE: "Next year" finally came for the Red Sox in 2004 when they FINALLY won the World Series!
GO SOX!!!