The old mulberry tree in my back yard finally gave up the ghost last Saturday

I had this mulberry tree that must have been planted back in the 60s when the house was built. For years it gave us gallons of berries every June, messy but worth it. Then about two months ago I noticed a big crack running up the main trunk, and some branches started dropping leaves way early. Last weekend a big gust of wind came through and snapped the whole thing right in half, took out a section of my fence and crushed a bird bath my grandma gave me. Had to spend Sunday with my chainsaw cutting it up and hauling pieces to the curb, which took about 6 hours total. The stump is still there, about three feet across, and I'm trying to decide if I should grind it out or just plant something new right next to it. Anyone else have an old tree just fall apart on them like that and what did you do with the stump?

2 comments

2 Comments

sandra_black21d ago

Did you check if that crack had any fungus or bugs living in it before it split? Wondering if there's something in the soil that might mess with whatever you plant next.

mia_anderson21d ago

My neighbor Carol once found a whole ant colony living in a crack in her garden wall (not the same kind of crack, but still). She thought it was just a harmless gap, turns out those ants had been tunneling for years. The soil around that spot was totally different, all loose and full of weird little eggs when she poked around. She ended up digging out a bucket of dirt and replacing it with fresh stuff from the nursery. So yeah, it might be worth a peek before you start planting.