The bottom of our garden has always been very shady. In fact the whole garden was dark until around 1pm every day, hidden in the shade of a large, but still young Sycamore.
I’ve been wanting to remove it for several months, but Eli was keen not to have it out before our Summer party thinking it would leave the garden as a mess. In retrospect we needn’t have worried.
The tree came out yesterday, along with a Laburnum and a Hawthorn that were crowded in next to it and growing into each other.
You can leave roots to rot, but that can spread fungus. We wanted an apple tree here so paid a little extra for grinding out tree roots of each one.
We kept the Hawthorn and Sycamore for firewood. Laburnum is poisonous and the wood doesnt burn well so that got taken away by the tree surgeon.
When we moved in
I’m delighted with the result! Suddenly the garden appears so much brighter and larger. Not only that, but the garden feels more balanced now. The tree dominated the garden so much that the eye always led to that. Without it there the other plants already show up much better.
See the difference before and after…
After removing some of the excessive growth, plus the 3 large trees
Once the Sycamore came out I counted the rings and it is 18 years old. So very very young. That means by the time the last owners bought the house it was only 3, and just a sappling a few feet high.
We already know the last owners were not gardeners so the age tells me that it was almost certianly an unplanned tree.
Now it is gone I can finally start to plant something better in that space. Perhaps an apple tree, or more elegant tree that won’t grow too high or wide. Any ideas?
