Dramatic changes

After midnight, the night of the ice storm, I looked up through the skylight expecting to see the branches of the tree swaying in the wind, and there was - nothing. It didn't make sense. "Rob, the tree's not there?!"  "It's in the ravine. It fell across the deck and took down the fence."

The next morning I surveyed the damage. It could have been worse. Thankfully we tended to the most precarious limbs last spring, so there was no tree-fall our house. I did want to remove more of the tree at the time, but the arborist said they could only trim 30% due to city by-laws. We love our Toronto trees and require permits and inspections in ravine backyards due to urban forest regulations. We'll even need to apply and pay a permit fee to have what's left of the tree removed. While I think this is a bit excessive, I do appreciate living in "the city that's in a park."

We're now sorting out details with the city, neighbour and insurance companies. 

This spring and summer I will be keeping an eye on my shade-loving natives, whose habitat has suddenly shifted. Shady corners still abound so there will be lots of transplanting this season.