You don’t miss it until it’s gone.
Today our honey locust tree in our front yard came down. It had been struggling, but I didn’t know much about trees until I took a TreeKeeper course with a non-profit organization called Openlands early this year.
Founded in 1963, Openlands protects the natural and open spaces of northeastern Illinois and the surrounding region to ensure cleaner air and water, protect natural habitats and wildlife, and help balance and enrich our lives.
As soon as I recognized it’s deteriorating health and poor positioning with electric wires, I put in 311 requests, consulted the Morton Arboretum plant clinic, called ComEd, but unfortunately despite having multiple records of tree trimming and/or removal requests, I did not get the help I needed until it was too late. We were incredibly fortunate for no casualties from the falling tree. It was probably around 72-78 years old based on the number of rings visible within it’s core trunk.
This tree came with the house when it was last purchased around 2006. It made the house feel like a home. It offered shade, security, and it had nice fall colors, too. Unfortunately, not all trees are good for our urban canopy and while it is native to Chicago, it’s never good to plant rows of honey locust trees on a parkway or in one place. Diversity is very important between tree species and planting trees in the right place is also key for its longevity. While initially this tree never showed 2-3″ spikes in the years we’ve known our tree, concerning thorns emerged during the past year or so ago. There was also signs or ‘flowers of decay’ also known as fungi growth. Healthy honey locust trees are planted in the city without the thorns, but when stressed due to disease, it can resurface its native thorns. The southside and especially underserved neighborhoods tend to have the most honey locust populations, but they are easily one of the top ten tree species in all of Chicago.