Hummingbird by Hart Curt
Most years, in spring, grackles come along and nest in a group of eastern red cedars on the fence-line of my property. I feel mean saying this, but over the Thanksgiving break I’ll be outside helping to fell those eastern red cedar trees. You might well be wondering why.
Eastern Red Cedars
Eastern red cedars, Juniperus virginiana, are native to Kansas and the only native evergreen tree you’ll find here. They produce small green berries which are eaten by birds, though in my garden they all appear to be berry-less males. None of these are reasons to chop down my trees; they’re a pretty good tree for a nature garden.
Eastern red cedars also produce a wood which is comparatively rot-proof and good for outdoor applications such as fence posts. The wood burns well too but is not safe to burn indoors because the high resin content is a risk for chimney fires.
Not Every Tree is a Blessing
One thing I love about my garden is the wealth of trees, but even when it comes to native plants you can have too much of a good thing. I live on a suburban lot – it’s a reasonable size, there’s space for trees, but it’s not large. In truth it has too many trees.
When I bought my house the garden came with 18 potentially tall trees, some of which were still small, and 3 of which were the dreaded sweetgum. On the advice of an arborist I had one large oak and the 3 sweetgums removed – there just wasn’t going to be space for all the trees. Right now I still have 12 good-sized trees – 5 of these are the eastern red cedars.
Shade Isn’t Better Than Sun
With all of these trees, my backyard is marvelously shaded, but there’s little space to plant anything apart from shade-loving plants and shrubs. So, the eastern red cedars, which are too close together, and no longer doing the job they were planted for, are going.
With the opened up space I’m going to plant native shrubs and flowers which will attract hummingbirds for me to enjoy from my rocking chair. The grackles’ loss is my gain; both grackles and eastern red cedars are prospering alongside humans, while the red-throated hummingbird is declining. I’m really looking forward to seeing some of these little guys.
How do you feel about removing trees? Are you planning any changes to your garden?
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I love Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and much of my garden is planted for them. It’s sad to see trees go away, but like you said, too much of a good thing is not helpful. I can’t wait to hear about your native garden for hummingbirds.