20 | June | 2016 | betsybeadhead

I love finding trees that grow around obstacles.

The ones that I find the most are hackberry trees. They are considered “junk” trees – large weeds, a nuisance. Normally they are scraggly bushes, but when you cut them, they sprout out even more branches, like a hydra. Your choice then is to let it grow as is, or to dig it up.

Here is one I found at a Persian restaurant off White Bridge Road in Nashville. The restaurant (Hot Kabobs) is not there anymore, but I bet this tree is. Look how it has grown around the chain link fence.

Here is one at the Mercy Convent in Donelson. There is a back part of the property, next to a farm. This is not part of the normal area for retreats, but I was on a wander. There was a metal wire that was used to show where the property line is, and this tree has grown around it.

Soon it will have totally wrapped around it.

This tree has been through a lot. It is part of a pair in front of a house.

They are a short walk from my house.

Here are two pics taken early in June 2016. They are full and vibrant.

The electric company was going to come by soon and trim them – I’d seen the marks they put on the trees. Some get trimmed, some get cut down entirely. They trim every four years and do it based on the rate of growth for that species. If the limbs will be in the lines, they have to cut them away because they will tear down the power lines during a storm – or become energized. A worker told me that trees have a lot of water in them, and can transmit the electricity. Touch the tree, and you are touching a power line if the tree has its branches touching the lines.

Here are the “after” pictures, taken 6-20-16