Dead Tree must Stay

Posted by Phillip Richards Jun 12, 2007

The tall tree beside the river seemed suddenly to turn red and brown. Within a week the leaves dropped and the tree was dead. Over the next month limbs fell dry and weak until only, known gaunt spikes pierce the canopy. Around it are many other trees including, just back from the bank a few large old mangos, all in good condition.

So, it is a mystery why the great tree died. Dead, though it left us a problem - what to do about it?

Our concern was that it should topple into the river and by doing so block the river, create a dam for the weed (water hyacinth) to stick to and make canoeing difficult. Because there have been no substantial storms to create enough run in the river to flush away water weeds, the river has been filling with the encroaching weeds, we thought that one more problem – a large fallen tree – might create a serious coke point.

So the tree expert came. We shuddered at what it might cost to have the tree removed.

He did not take it down though. He suggested that it should stay where it was, that it was part of nature’s cycle and that the birds would be grateful for the perching sites. Lizards would hunt the insects that burrowed beneath its bark and carpet pythons too would predate there.

As more branches fall, hollows will open up for nesting sites for birds and possums. “But,” I said, “what if it falls into the river?”

It is part of nature; the tree in the river will create new aquatic habitats, protecting helping feed fish.

Organic gardening is moving beyond simply growing flowers and vegetable sin a more eco-friendly fashion to considering the totality of the ecology contained within the gardener’s purview.