I’m not usually lost for words, but the other day a tornado arrived (yes, a real tornado) and I sat in the bay window, gawping silently. It was like watching two minutes of a particularly scary Hollywood film.
The huge horse chestnut tree opposite the window proved more flexible than expected, but its branches and limbs were bent near horizontal, streams of golden leaves shooting past. But it was mainly oaks that were hit near me. One of ours literally de-limbed, with just one limb of about 30cm diameter left on the tree, but rotated through 180°.
In a nearby field the path of destruction was even clearer. Numerous beautiful mature oaks suffered serious damage. Some remain untouched but many had limbs piled beneath them, or their entire crowns were wrecked.
I now realise how lucky we are not to experience such extreme weather on a regular basis – and I’ll certainly be bending the ear of BBC weatherman and Gardeners’ Question Time chairman, Peter Gibbs!
Seeing the damage to these fantastic oaks makes me want to weep. Most will be felled, and those that remain will look butchered. Perhaps the most worrying thing of all is that there are no middle-aged, up-and-coming replacements. It will be a very long time indeed before the field looks the same – perhaps it never will.
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How dreadful to hear of these devastatingly strong winds. I well remember driving through Bushy Park near Hampton Court on the morning after the great hurricane of October 1987. Mature trees had been felled like nine pins, and once impressive avenues of trees lining he road through the park were destroyed!
Good luck with your clear-up operation Pippa. Perhaps you’ll now have an opportunity for some new tree planting.
So sorry to hear of your tornado damage Pippa – it is so scary isn’t it and we are so helpless. We moved here the week of the hurricane in 1987 and were very lucky to escape with little damage but very frightening. This year so far it is my lovely Wisteria which has suffered. Here is hoping for all of us that these awful winds die down soon
Talking of extreme weather, will the weather forecast on site be returning to it’s original format soon?
hi i have 3 silver birch trees do i peel the bark myself or let nature take its course
I’m thankful I didn’t have a tornado, but my greenhouse was pushed back about 35cm by the wind. the whole thing just moved like a lightweight. It’s 10′x8′ and 8′ high with 94 panes of glass and a steel base, so it’s pretty heavy. 2 panes blew out but didn’t break. I was really lucky the damage was minimal, but now I’m trying to find a way to move it back without taking all the glass out. Any ideas welcome.
hey jude by the beatles my wife and i moved our shed from one side of garden to other side useing wodden rollers
The infuriating thing is that the ground is SO very wet that we cannot even get a tractor down to clear up the oaks without doing serious damage to our neighbour’s field…..but meanwhile yes, the clear up has begun on everything we can access!
Hi everyone. I have in the past year bid farewell to the last of my cats. I have had years of the cats fouling in my garden but now I have had enough. Can anyone please suggest a humane way of keeping my neighbours cats out of my garden before I fall out with them?
After pruning our Leylandii, we are no
longer able to transport the branches to the tip. If we buy a shredder, can we use the pieces as a mulch or add them to the compost bin?
Truly cool story u got here. It would be great to read something more concerning such theme. Thnx for giving that information.
Lucy THOMPSON