A Tree Is a Place: Saving a Family’s Heritage Cherry Tree

We recently had the pleasure of working on a family’s very senior heritage Cherry Tree. It was obvious the tree had provided years of pleasure and laughter as a Swing-Set, Jungle-Gym, and Tree-Fort. How many children and grandchildren over the years must have climbed into its lofty branches to hide treasures and make plans for adventures? As the story goes, the kids are mostly all grown now, and the tree now hosts grandchildren. And up until quite recently, it was still in active service!

However, recently, age had begun to have its effect on the old family tree (see included photo). When we arrived on the property that day, everyone in the family was out to watch as we tried to put the tree back together again. You could tell how strong the attachment to the tree was for the whole family. Before we left the site, we had taken some weight from one side of the tree, cinched it together and braced it with three 30-inch ready rods through the trunk. Although the tree was now “safer”, it was still not safe enough to climb, and we had to explain to the grandkids that the old tree was a “grandma” and couldn’t be a Jungle-Gym any longer. We explained that she was a bit fragile and delicate now and that we would need to be gentle with her from now on… But that she still had many years of sweet cherries to give us.