Kind of like life itself, I guess. Will have a snort of rum and have to move on.

"Soupçon. Silky Cauliflower Soup with a dollop of Peter Rabbit's Soup. Lots of Chelsea lore, historical and anecdotal, kept the conversation buzzing," we captioned this delicious image from our June 2008 post "A rose is a rose is a napkin."

There was till just this afta a magical "outdoor room" just outside our kitchen window, a Silver Maple Court sheltered by the embrace of cascading weeping boughs that made a shimmering, light-and-shadowing place apart from the brutally sun-baked lawn. Then came well-meaning tree surgeons who reduced our outdoor room to a vast, undefined space with unwanted views of the neighbors' unkempt windows and walls. Just a bare trunk with an umbrella of leafy boughs far above. As we twittered in mental anguish this afternoon:

My precious "outdoor room," The Maple Court shaped by grand old silver maple shading our terrace, has been destroyed by overpruning. Tears.

Twitter gal pal Angela Lash comforted us with sweet sympathy:

I'm so sorry to hear that, Sissy. Those are my favorite kinds of rooms. :(

And we in reply:

I am bereft. Canopy will fill in in time, but lower branches that created the intimacy of my precious garden room won't grow back … Kind of like life itself, I guess. Will have a snort of rum and have to move on.

 

We had a marital spat with the Tuckster over it, he said and she said, but in the end we kissed and made up, sharing the sorrow of our heartfelt loss. Now talking remediation. Multi-stemmed River Birches for starters? They're fast growers and were a favorite of our landscape architectural hero Frederick Law Olmsted's.

Update: Dan sends sweet words of comfort:

Awww, don't worry, tree happy!! ; ) There are no wood chips in heaven!

Comments

[retriever]

Oh dear, I can relate. In summer, when one is outside to catch any breeze, one doesn't want to be staring at all the neighbors. I'm a fan of birches, love the shimmer and the rustle of the leaves. Wonder if you will notice a big difference in temperature? We lost an ugly old swamp maple at the back of the house a few years ago, and the house has been way hotter since.

[goomp]

Life moves on. The mini tornado that struck York Harbor last month increased our views of the river. Adding both wanted and unwanted. Change is constant. Some for the better and some undesirable.

[Stoutcat]

Such a shame! We have a similar bower in back of our house shading a beautiful area that we are slowly working into an outdoor room under the leaves and branches of a grand maple tree. We love to go out in the evening (properly bug-sprayed, of course) and watch the fireflies.

Glad the he said and she said was short; hope the kissing and making up part was longer and much more fun!

And speaking of Chelsea history, anecdotal or otherwise, I have an opportunity to (possibly) purchase an original Hugh Robertson Chelsea Pottery plate--with a gorgeous carp border rather than rabbits. Hoping the bidding won't go too high, but Agent Mom is at the auction even as I type this. Fingers crossed!

[CGHill]

I am told by the Heavy Pruning Community that I don't do enough of it. What a surprise.

(Actually, I've spent $350 this year, although part of that was to get a too-tall yaupon holly off the roof, and the rest was to divert some dying elm branches away from a neighbor's power line. Yes, we still have overhead wiring here.)

Still, I have twelve trees on the lot, and I think I have room for one more.

[Miss Kelly]

So sad to hear! Always disturbing when our flora is radically pruned!

Birches are pretty and grow quickly, but they are relatively weak trees prone to damage in heavy storms (esp. snow storms). How about a Japanese Stewartia? Gorgeous multi-colored bark, camellia-like flowers in June, likes full sun or part shade. You can get a multi-stemmed tree for creating your outdoor living room. Kousa dogwood has lovely "architecture," but is more common. Other more multi-stemmed flowering tree possibilities: saucer magnolia, Star magnolia,Persian parrotia, Japanese snowbell. Multi-season interest that way too.

Consider shrubs too, some species of viburnums have heavenly sweet-scented flowers in spring (Vburnam Carlesi or Burkwoodi), as well as berries and fall color. Virburnums grow pretty quickly, they're hardy sorts too. Corliss Brothers in Ipswich has great selection and quality for trees and shrubs. Many possibilities!!