Yesterday, two weeks behind schedule in my #walk1000mile challenge I reached 300 miles. Many of my recent walks have been around my garden. Over the Easter weekend the leaves on ‘My Oak Tree’ have exploded into life. Truly amazing!
I bought my 200 mile treat on my last excursion before we were requested to stay at home as much as possible.

The bird bath has been a delight, my garden birds love it. I put it quite close to my house and patio wondering if that would put them off visiting. It didn’t.

The first visitor was a Wren followed by: magpies, a blackbird, a robin, a collared dove, a blackbird & a sparrow sharing the space, 2 Goldfinches and a fleeting visit by a blue tit.
Sometimes they came for a drink but quite often they came to splash around in the bath. The birds are such a delight.

Now I wonder what should I choose for my 300 mile treat…

As the weather is warming up maybe something to do with ‘fine dining’ on my patio; I have a couple of ideas in mind

Chad Sugg

This oak tree, planted with soil from Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, commemorates the bicentenary of the constitution of the United States of America. It stand in acknowledgement that the ideals of liberty  and justice embodied in the constitution trace their lineage through institutions of English law to the Magna Carta, sealed at Runnymede on June 15th, 1215. Planted December 2, 1987 by John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary of the Army of the United States of America.

Chuang Tzu

From Little Acorns

I often take photographs of what I refer to as ‘My Oak Tree’.  Of course the old oak tree isn’t mine, it is part of nature.  The tree isn’t even in my garden; it is in the garden beyond the bridle path that runs behind my house.  I am very fond of the tree and it provides beauty and interest throughout each of the seasons of the year.  It is now so large that its branches completely span the bridle path and reach into the back corner of my garden.

A recent comment on my blog mentioned that it was a shame about the ivy growing on the trunk because it would kill the tree.  I used to think that too but, since I first thought that several years ago, the tree has grown around 10 feet (3.048 meters) and I noticed many trees in Shropshire sharing their space with ivy so I have dismissed the idea.

After the recent blog comment I decided to check the facts. I found that ivy is not a parasite and it does not kill the tree. The aerial roots are not penetrative and the ivy’s roots are firmly in the ground beneath the tree.  The relationship between tree and ivy is symbiotic.  The ivy attracts wildlife so the oak tree is always full of life. Visitors to my tree include blue tits, great tits, coal tits, wrens, sparrows, blackbirds, pigeons, insects and, on one memorable occasion, a poplar hawk-moth descended and settled on me just above my waist.  This was quite alarming because poplar hawk-moths are quite large (wingspan 65-90 mm).  Luckily it didn’t flap around like moths normally do; it just glided in and came to rest gently.  It was coaxed off me and went to settle inside the kitchen for a short time before going back to its natural habitat outside.

I have both memories and photos of beautiful sunsets through the branches of the tree and of sitting in the garden watching the sun go down.  Of hearing the leaves rustle in the wind watching the seasons go by.  Of the rebirth of the leaves and buds in spring, the green of summer, the autumnal hues followed by the winter view.  The weather in autumn determines how quickly the dead leaves fall from the tree; in some years the winter view is bare branches or, in others, there is a golden glow throughout winter due to the leaves not falling from the branches.

I have always had a fondness for trees because of many childhood walks where my dad encouraged me to identify different trees by their bark and leaves. I have got a bit rusty on tree identification since then but I still enjoy woodland walks and immersing myself in the beauty of magnificent trees and the wildlife they attract.

15th April 2012

Sadly they did come back for the remaining branch and now we are left with almost no tree at all… Something will have to be done to that part of the garden to regain some privacy!

Unusually I wasn’t looking forward to coming home this evening and when I arrived my worst fears were realised… I wonder if the tree surgeons will be back tomorrow they seem to have missed a branch!! The birds that usually flit and fly around the tree seemed rather confused and were flying around at low level in among the greenery in my garden. I hope I didn’t disturb them too much when I was out taking a few photographs.

There is a small positive note in that I will now be able to see stunning sunsets as I sit at my computer which in recent years had been concealed by branches and foliage. Exchanging one beauty for another…

Here are some before and after shots. The beautiful Oak Tree in the early morning sunshine before it had the first of its branches removed followed by some photographs taken this evening. The weather has changed to suit the occasion. I dread to think what what sight I will come home to after day two of the branch trimming operation…

When I looked out of my living room window on Saturday morning I was saddened to see a large broken branch lying on top of the fence underneath ‘My Oak Tree‘. Then on Sunday morning I awoke to the sound of a chainsaw…  Tree doctors had been called in to remove the damaged limb. This was quite some operation as the branch was also lying in among the other branches of the tree. The branch had to be brought safely to the ground avoiding the nearby bridle path. The removal and tidy up operation took over 5 hours.

Around mid day the procedure was interrupted by a sudden violent downpour of rain. At this time I was sitting in my living room, and as the rain stopped I was taken by surprise when I noticed a low flying plane through my window. From the angle where I was sitting it looked like it was about to land in my back garden…  I then remembered that one of the local pubs was hosting their annual ‘Help for Heroes‘ charity event and that the plane was doing a fly past.