Last winter the old pear tree that was in the yard got hit badly by that one shot snowstorm, and it was just about finished off. This spring while we were doing clean up, my husband said he wanted to take it down, it was hollow inside anyway. He offered to leave it stand about 7 feet up, so I could use it for a clothesline pole. My husband's grandfather had planted it about 100 years ago, when he and his wife moved into the house here. It was a poor quality pear, good for eating but didn't keep well, ripening from the inside out. Clapp's Family Favorite, yessah.
For years it was the happy feeding ground for porcupines (who preferred the branches to the fruit), and squirrels (who preferred the fruit), and anything else that could climb. But it aged, and developed a hollow core, and my husband has been threatening to cut it down for several years. But then this happened, after we lopped the top off.
Being hollow has piqued the interest of birds:
I love that. And the history of the tree.
ReplyDeletewe hesitated for several years over the tree, since it was still putting out fruit but getting rattier and rattier.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those old old species, and required either a Seckel pear or a Barlett to cross pollinate.
We have the other pear tree, but it's in worse shape than this one. So that comes down next fall.
I was surprised to see the attention that hole got, but I guess the chickadees were just the right size for it. I'd love to look down in, but it's best to leave it where it is, and just wonder.