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.