In our Backyards

Silver Maple

Early spring is such an obvious time to look for rebirth and the greening of a new year and I am finding it in the most unusual place- my dying Silver maple.  As the crocus pop up around its roots, grass all around still brown except for the tufts of wild onions, there is much activity in its bare branches.  Over the past year I have spied close to 30 species of birds digging around its half dead branches and perching on its highest outposts.  The trunk is hollow and bright sky can be seen up through the largest limbs.  Yes, it is dying but with a bit of annual pruning, and advice from arborists, it stays sound and strong even as it declines.

There is nothing I love more than being surprised by the familiar world around me and that has happened recently with this maple.  A branch had fallen after a windy night.  When I picked it up to marvel at the complexity and colors of the various lichen on its surface, the bark broke away and revealed wood that was already nearly soil. Soft and fragrant, the branch held centipedes, a small snail and some pill bugs. This tree is turning to soil twenty feet up in the sky-no wonder the birds peck and dig in it!

In forest ecology a tree like mine is called a snag. I had thought that a snag was just a dead tree but the arborist who checked it for me last year used that word casually as she reassured me that it didn’t seem likely to fall down or die anytime soon.  It turns out a snag is any standing dead or dying tree. Besides the insect meals buried in the wood, the hollowed out branches are important nesting sites for a number of our birds.  Over the years I have also seen raccoons, opossums, squirrels, rats and various snakes using the trunk and branches as shelter.

I understand that not everyone would want to manage a dying tree on their property; we don’t have much actual land around our houses and of course we prefer to have healthy living trees and other plants. I have 38 living trees, one dying- this maple- and one dead one. The main worry and nuisance is falling branches. But in the right spot, not overhanging the house or places where people sit, it can be a great addition with all the creatures that are attracted to it.

The early weeks of spring require a bit of patience.  When I look back at the photos of my garden from the last five Marches, I see snow covering blooming daffodils, spotty bits of color here and there, a few delicate groupings of blossoming shrubs- it really requires an optimist’s eye to feel that spring is really here in March.  There is so very little green at first.  But the green will come, and the many blossoms- it is unstoppable really- and even our declining Silver maple will burst forth with leaf- covered branches. And in the meantime, the drama and intrigue of all the life that calls that tree home will take the edge off my impatience.