Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Worst Mistakes?, 1 by HollyAnnS

HollyAnnS wrote:
I think most of the worst mistakes are Tree or Invasive Plant issues, unless you have a pond and that is a whole other can of worms.
Here is my worst problem. It is a very ugly clump White Birch. Now I just love White Birches clumping or otherwise. Quite a few years ago on a trip up north to N.Y. state for a visit we picked up a small WB. When I say picked up what I really mean is dug up! We were headed home Ric, me and Jamie who was maybe 12 at the time. We were towing the boat and stopped along side the highway (well off the road) Ric and Jamie jumped over the guardrail and down over the embankment with shovel in hand. After some hard and fast digging they climbed back up the embankment over the guardrail with shovel and tree. Tucked both into the boat and away back down the road we went. We were both thrilled with our new tree and planted it in a place of prominence in the corner of the front yard. Sure that it would look beautiful for years to come. Close to the huge juniper hedge where we thought the white bark would look nice against the silver green color of the juniper and the hedgerow behind that. All went well for a few years and then as the tree got taller the trunks started to bow. First we noticed that the heavy snow or ice would pull them down far enough that they would ice to the top of the cars parked out front. But as soon as they were free up they would pop. Now after more years the 2 front trunks are permanently pulled down. I hate the way this tree looks, it's right in front of the house and Ric says I can't cut it down because he and Jamie dug it up together, and it has sentimental attachments. I have suggested cutting off the 2 front trunks and seeing what would happen, Ric's not sure he's ready to do that. Here is the picture it's a little hard to pick out what is what. There is an old hedge row of trees in the background then there is a small dirt road. The juniper hedge is on this side of the dirt road, you can't really see the road in the picture as it's between the hedgerow and the junipers. The electric lines look very misleading in the picture, but they are along side the dirt road and directly over the juniper hedge. Then you have a 10ft space between the junipers and the WB. You can see how it splits like a V with 2 branches overhanging the parking area out front.