After a wet Summer & Fall of 2020, seeing the environment dry is remarkably different. Perhaps the dry Spring and Summer for 2021 relates to how nice and green the Black Locust trees have been. Although not a pro about tree life, my (Bill’s) impression is that locust trees locally have have looking very yellow or brown-leafed earlier in seasons past.
About a month ago, it was hot enough to enjoy standing out in the open during the beginning of a cooling summer rain. The rain and wind levels increased prompting a hop to shelter under the front porch. Sadly, I (Bill) watched one of our grand old hickory trees fall when a wind twisted it just enough to snap it at its already somewhat compromised trunk base. A hole all the way through the trunk from previous splitting had not been enough until this storm to take it down. In only one year, we had already seen and heard numerous bird species using this hickory as a food, shelter and nesting location. After quickly clearing most of the leaf debris and then cutting away most of the branches, we left about 15 feet (5 meters) of the base of the trunk to remain in place on the ground. Now horizontal after the storm, it still is not fully flat on the ground. A gap under part of it allows us to see underneath and through to the other side of the trunk.
