The Big Tree

Today I am changing pace a bit from animal kritters to the plant world. Back in 1968, when we purchased our farm, there were very few trees near our house. There were several large willows, one scotch pine, one box elder, a small apple orchard, and one young American elm tree, perhaps 15 feet tall at the time.

As the years went by, we added many evergreens for a windbreak to protect against the cold winter winds. But since then, that little Amercan Elm has grown to tremendous proportions and towers 75 feetabove all our other trees. This tree is among the very few that survived through the Dutch Elm Disease epidemic that caused a destruction of the tree throughout most of North America.

They are tall growing, deciduous trees that can reach a height up to 100 feet with a spread of 70 feet. The limbs grow off the trunk of the tree in tall arches to form a vase-like crown with many branches. They are tall trees with long root systems that expand past the drip line. Elm trees are among the most deeply rooted treesanchored by their expansive root system.

A few weeks ago, Wisconsin suffered through the highest sustained hurricane-like winds in decades, giving our huge tree a tremendous test of wills. There was a major problem -- even though the Elms root system was firmly anchored, the ground itself was so saturated with water from the heavy rains that the soil was more muck than anything. As the winds roared, we could see the Elm was in trouble, strugg ...

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