House Hugger

Englemann Spruce 'hag' that lives in front of my house.

The birds suddenly flee from the Oak's glittering crown as she stirs from her verdant meadow. The commericiel shows closeups of the roots and trunk of our tree-ish star. She sneaks past other bushes and trees. She is easily recognizable by that glossy leafy coiffure that stands out from the other vegetation. Her crown bounces as she quickly skitters across a highway, not wanting to be spotted by drivers. The effect is almost sassy. Her destination is a house in the other meadow, the object of her curiosity. The gate slams behind her as she sneaks through it. She eavesdrops through the windows looking at all the environmentally friendly appliances as the announcer describes the eco-friendly home. Upon meeting her approval, the house gets a leafy hug. This secretive but lovely Oak does get spotted by a pair of farmers that call her a 'House Hugger'. I applaud GE for this adorable commercial.

My house isn't so lucky. It doesn't have a gorgeous Oak hugging it. At the top of this post is the house hugger in my front yard. She is a native Englemann Spruce about 150 years old. She is no beauty. In fact I would call her a hag. She fairly bristles at her midriff with dead sticks. I removed a good number of them already with a saw. It seems all the pretty trees on my 3/4 acre lot are behind the house fawning over the giant king Cottonwood in front of the river.

The small town of Windom where I live seems to be a haven for trees. There lifespans are unusually long. Last summer I counted the growth rings on a Cottonwood taken down by a rope tornado. on a limb that had been up high in her crown I counted 138 growth rings. An aborist had said the tree was 150 years old. This tree was half the size of the giant in my backyard. More on Cottonwood in a forthcoming blog entry.

I may not have a sassy lovely Oak on my property, but it is a haven for very old yet still healthy trees. My spruce still has a thick crown. Each Spring, her new growth is almost silver white in a stunning display. The wife of the man who built the house in 1968, say the grove long predates the house. That old Spruce hag looked the same in 1968.