two fell swoops

Even though we cringe just as much as the next person when we hear the term “Treetown”, we still think there’s a place for the recognition of outstanding trees. So, for the first post in what we hope will be a regular series here at TwoFellSwoops, I thought we should feature the tree that Andrea once made me go drive a few blocks out of our way to see. I was glad she did.

location: Crest Street, Eberwhite area suburbs west of downtown
species: American Elm
trunk: 166 inches
wingspan: about 50 steps

About 12 feet up its trunk, this tree splits into 15 enormous branches, each one the size of a typical tree you’d find lining a suburban street. That’s 15 trees in one. The outermost branches stretch halfway across the yards of the houses across the 4-car-wide street.

While we were taking pictures of this tree and stretching string around it to measure, and feeling slightly awkward about doing so, a neighbor pulled up at the curb of the house next door. (No one was home at the house closest.) The neighbor was quite friendly and put us at ease by yelling across to us, “It’s hard to photograph that tree, isn’t it?” We agreed that we needed a wide-angle or fisheye lense to get it all in one shot. He shared a few things with us before he went on his way inside….

This tree is one of few remaining American Elm trees in the city. (Dutch Elm Disease first arrived in Detroit in 1950 and a couple decades later had wiped out 80% of Michigan’s elms.) Two more of the remaining few stand right next to this one:

These three elms are on the property between the sidewalk and road owned by the City. (What’s that area called again?) Apparently, the City knows about these trees and has sent someone out to do some sort of antibiotic treatment and pruning.

The places where the branches have been pruned tend to “weep” and cause the grass underneath to yellow and die, as seen in the picture to the left.

Maybe the trees have their own sort of phantom limb syndrome. Or maybe they remember what it was like when whole streets were lined with elm:

Or maybe trees can’t remember shit.

Anyway, we want to know where your favorite Ann Arbor trees are, so we can take pictures of them before the weather turns and write posts about them. Please enter your tips in the comments of this post or email trees@twofellswooops.com.