A sad demise

Some of the most cherished plants in our garden were a group of Silver Birches, 12 years old and 4-5 metres tall. Sadly, they didn't survive last year's severe lack of water and failed to produce any new leaves last Spring. We left them in the ground in the hope that the bare branches would provide a tiny amount of shade and shelter for the plants beneath, and we didn't know what to replace them with anyway.

Today I leaned on them and they fell out of the ground. No, I'm not really that heavy, and I did have to do a little levering back and forth, but it was amazing how with a little momentum the roots just snapped off and it was easy to lift the tree out of the garden. Still, all is not lost as I cut all the branches off and most of them will be fed through the mulcher and end their days blissfully in the compost heap. Now I'll be able to work in that garden without fear of having my eye poked out by a dead twig.

They were lovely trees and we miss them. Perhaps I could replace them with some of R's 145 Canadian Maples? Unfortunately, the power lines are too close. I think it may have to be a variety of shrubs which will also help shield the rest of the garden from the west winds.