We used to have a beautiful American Linden Tree in front of our house. That is, it was in front of our house until this morning and it was beautiful until last summer. Even though we watered it regularly last year, it suffered from drought and heat stress as was evident by the fact that it dropped its leaves late in the summer rather than after they had turned golden in the autumn as it had in previous years. That worried me. Then, to my relief, this spring it set leaf buds. Unfortunately, it set them just in time for the buds to get frozen when we had snow in early May. That was it for our Linden tree. Though it tried to come back, it was mostly dead. The city came and cut it down this morning, since it was on the city’s easement. Now part of the front yard will receive much more summer sun than it has in years. I shall have to observe this area in the coming weeks to determine whether any of the perennials need to be moved to a cooler location. I was sad to see the tree go. I had been pruning it for the past 13 years and really liked its shape.

The Linden tree last summer, lush with leaves …

Its leaf buds, killed off by cold temperatures in May …

The tree did manage to produce a few little shoots on the trunk after May’s freeze, but they were not going to be enough to allow it to thrive.

And so it went …

I’m not used to seeing our house without the tree in front. This will take a little getting used to. Luckily, there are still a lot of tall trees around.

Have a great day!