Forty-five years ago when we purchased our 7.9 acres out in the country the acreage consisted of a cultivated field. We had the challenge of turning it into a hobby farm. So the first thing on the agenda was to plant a windbreak that would protect our house. A house that was yet a dream but hopefully would become a reality in a few years.

So I contacted the Soil Conservation folks in the county and they went to work designing the perfect windbreak. Once they were completed they sat down with us and shared their windbreak plans.

Most of the tree varieties had a life expectancy of forty-five years. Well forty-five years ago that sounded like a reasonable lifetime to us so we agreed to plant the windbreak the following spring. I didn’t realize how quickly forty-five years was going to fly by! 🙂

So now most of the trees in our windbreak are in the twilight of their life expectancy.

The main trunk of the Honeysuckle Trees have long since died. All that remains are a cluster of small trunks that grew up from the tree’s root system. They surround the dead, dry original Honeysuckle trunk.

The leaves cluster near the top of the sucker shoots producing a tree that is top heavy causing the tree to bend over almost touching the ground. It is an ugly site!

The American Plums that over the years have produced many juicy and delicious fruit are either dead or half dead with the remaining branches still struggling to produce fruit each summer.

The silver leafed Russian Olive Trees surprised us when they matured and began producing pollen that several of our family members were allergic to. That led to a lot of wheezing during the spring of the year and several family members developed a dislike for the tree.

Maybe that’s why the Russian Olive Trees have almost all died. The few that are hanging on are filled with many dead and leafless branches mixed in with a few healthy ones.

Years ago scientists ran experiments to determine if plants have emotions. There was some evidence to support that hypothesis.

Do you suppose our allergic family members in their misery caused the emotional sensitive trees to become depressed and die? Perhaps for the rest of the summer I will walk among them and speak positive tree thoughts to them.

During this Pandemic time any positive thoughts would be helpful. 🙂

We must not forget the Siberian Elm. Of all the windbreak trees this one is the biggest pest. In the spring it produces millions, maybe even billions, of tiny, round seeds that blow from the tree on windy days. That means in Minnesota seeds are flying almost every day.

Baby trees pop up everywhere. In the cracks in the patio. In the garden and flower beds. But most disturbing of all is when the seeds blow into my two acres of CRP.  Since the switch grass is so tall they are almost trees before they are discovered.

Trees are not allowed in CRP so you know who must grab the Swedish Saw and every summer cut down the illegal tree squatters. It is not my favorite job. 🙁

The Green Ash Tree is the longest living tree in the windbreak. I have very few complaints about this beautiful tree and it should hang around another twenty years or so. Unless……have you heard of the Emerald Ash Borer?

This nasty little insect has invaded Minnesota and if it gets to western Minnesota my Green Ash Trees may have a shortened life expectancy. 🙁

So all in all our wonderful windbreak has an aging problem. That becomes evident every time the wind blows and I’ve already mentioned that in Minnesota the wind loves to blow.

This summer has been an especially windy summer.

Thirty to forty mile per hour winds blowing for six to eight hours nonstop causes me to sink into a depressed state. From past experiences I know what the next day will consist of.

Kathie and I will walk around our windbreak picking up little branches, medium sized branches and huge branches. Walking through the windbreak on a windy day should require wearing a football helmet and perhaps even shoulder pads!

The one good thing about piles and piles of dead branches is it offers opportunities for many bonfires and what goes hand and hand with bonfires? S’mores! This could be the summer of record weight gain. How sweet it is! 🙂

I’ve come to realize our windbreak is in the ‘nursing home’ time of its life. The trees creak in the wind like nursing home members creak in their joints. Nursing homes are where people come to spend their last years and our windbreak trees are certainly demonstrating they are approaching their last years. Occupants in nursing homes have trouble with their limbs and trees have troubles with their limbs in the worst way, they fall off!

Nursing homes train young people to become CNA’s (Certified Nursing Assistants). I might have to check with the soil conservation guys and see if they have a similar program for windbreaks entering the nursing home stage of their lives.

I’m retired now so I would have time to take such a course and learn how to assist our forty-five year old windbreak into adjusting to nursing home life.

Something to ponder.

Meanwhile the wind was blowing today so you guessed it. I’m going out and get a little exercise while I pick up some branches. 🙂

Until next time.