Dead Tree Standing...

 

This splendid tree is probably the oldest oak at La Chaise.....and there is quite some competition for that title.  It stands at the far end of the lawn, dominates the view of the valley below.   We have grown used to its presence, take it for granted - it has always been there, and always will. 

But two weeks ago a Queen Asian hornet decided her offspring should nest at La Chaise - two nests were found on a Friday afternoon, one hanging free from a tree on the path to the fields, the other in a hollow in this great tree.   In an exchange for an immediate cash payment our local pest controller said he would come on Monday. We spent a cautious few days, not venturing far from the house and terrace.

Julian the Brave, as we named him, dealt quickly with the hanging nest without an audience, naturally....then he located the second nest some two thirds up the trunk of the oak.  His double ladder unfolded, armed only with an aerosol - I foget whether he was wearing any face covering - he went up and emptied the aerosol into the nest.    

'Your tree has a hollow.' he said, 'sadly I came probably too late to get the Queen ...' He took the three different colour notes and left us.

Later that evening I was studying the tree with some concentration.   I was convinced that two of its smaller top branches were probably dead and would need to be cut off.   For this an elageur grimpeur - aka a climbing tree pruning specialist - will be necessary.

As fate would have it a few days later I was followed by a large black jeep style car which had emerged from a 'gypsy' collection of houses. The car followed me right down the drive, stopped right behind me as I got out, prepared to be cross.  'I work as a tree cutter,' the young man said hurriedly, 'I wondered if you have any work...?

So naturally I took him to visit the oak.   He patted and prodded its bark, stuck a knife into cracks, got down on his knees to examine the roots. The looked up at me:   'the news is not good - it is probably hollow all the way up, the sap for the leaves rising just inside the bark'.....,

Decision postponed until more expert advice has been received.