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Beyond words

Jacqueline29Jacqueline29 Posts: 387
in Plants
I am absolutely devastated, with the high winds that we had on Monday. We lost a beautiful white lilac tree that had only just blossomed, we have had it for years. The garden is a big part of my life, my well being and mental health. You work hard and within a matter of minutes nature can take it away from you. 

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  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,164
    Try pushing it back upright quickly and staking it.  It will then have a chance to recover.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • harmonyharmony Posts: 370
    Oh my goodness !!! I feel so sorry for you I know exactly  how you feel, if you do as Obelixx say's i hope it works it is worth a try. I will say what a charming area that is quite beautiful and I love your praying cherub. X
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,249
    What a shame. If it's not snapped it may be worth staking. Or it may reshoot from the base if it needs to be cut down. Or... perhaps it's an opportunity to plant something new.
  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 614
    Your garden looks like a secluded Eden, a little paradise. I competely understand the shock of this development - although it only intrudes on the beauty of your garden, it is a temporary state.

    Depending on the situation, I wonder if cutting back some or many of the branches might help, to reduce the mass pushing on the root system and also reduce the demands on the root system. Lilacs are pretty resilient. Cutting back is not ideal in terms of the shape, but this would be mostly in the short term, longer term it can work.

    Should none of this work, take some time to grieve and process the loss. Nature and gardens are also a process of continuous renewal; I remember reading about the effect of the great storm of '87 on parks and gardens; many mature and much-loved trees were lost, yet many gardeners also spoke of the renewal that followed the same as day follows night.
  • B3B3 Posts: 25,283
    My dad had two apple trees blown over in 1987 storm. He just stood them up again and replaced the soil. They were fine. A few years ago I did the same with a white buddleia. That was fine too. You may well be lucky. Trim it down a bit and put it back. Lilacs are pretty tenacious. It took an awful lot of effort from me to get rid of a white one in the wrong place.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • LynLyn Posts: 22,005
    Such a shame, I’ve lost plants like that to the wind. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 4,861
    My standard rose was at that angle at one time, we straitened it up, put in stronger stakes, and it went on to flower and has ever since. So don't give up on it.🙂
  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    Nature gives and nature takes.
  • dave125dave125 Posts: 178
    edited May 2021
    I feel your pain and hate to lose anything I've spent so long nurturing and loving. I started to look upon it as an opportunity giving me space to enjoy a new project. 
    Luv Dave
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,793
    We lost a wonderful old apple tree in 2013.  We were really upset, but saw it as an opportunity to plant something new.  We planted a Walnut tree, and now love sitting under it's shade in Summer (we couldn't do that with the apple tree).

    Don't despair.  Start thinking straight away of what exciting new thing you can plant.  Once you get absorbed in that, and see it growing, you'll forget this sad day.
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