Hackberry Hell

Southern Hackberry trees are a pain. The preferred common name is probably "Sugarberry", but I think most folks around here call Celtis laevigata "Hackberry". The leaves are not particularly pretty in the fall. The lumber is not commercially valuable. It is used as firewood more than anything, but occasionally some of it ends up in cheap furniture. 

Worst, perhaps is its companion species. Wherever you find Hackberry trees around these parts you will  also find Asian wooly hackberry aphids (Shivaphis Celti). Those creepy little aphids first invaded the US in 1996. Nowadays they have colonized most of the southeast as well as California. Their special talent is exuding something called "honeydew". Right? Well, sooty fungus really likes "honeydew". So every plant, porch railing, piece of yard furniture, cars, roofs, etc. under hackberries is coated with yucky black goo in the fall. Ugh! My friend Dr. Vincent Mendes has suggested I order lots of ladybugs early in the fall to release beneath the Hackberry trees in hopes they will feast of the aphids and thus reduce the "honeydew" yield. I may give it a try this year.

On the positive side "Sugarberry" is drought tolerant and a decent shade tree in urban areas. And its root system helps to stabilize riverbanks and hill sides to reduce erosion. They even say plant hobbyists can use it in bonsai. Of course the prolific dark purple ripe berries are loved by lots of birds whose digestive processes help condition the seed to sprout once the bird, ahem, distributes them about. And the berries are edible for humans. Native Americans have used them in many recipes for food and in medicines to produce abortions, regulate periods, and treat venereal disease.

One other thing: some say Hackberry trees are prone to weak branching and thus breaking limbs.

We had three "Southern Hackberries" (Sugarberries) in our yard -- till about 1:30 this morning. During that storm last night lightning or wind or some combination took down about half of our largest Sugarberry right outside the second floor bedroom where we were sleeping. Maloney's Tree Service will take down the rest next week.

We hear strange noises in our old house often. I guess last night we passed it off as that Whippet automobile salesman we suspect haunts our hallways in the night. I went right on back to sleep. I woke again at five or so and noticed some noise and lights outside. Rising I discovered our power was out, and peeping out the front balcony door saw power trucks and workers busily repairing power lines. Good they are on it. Back to bed. We did not know about the downed tree till the owners of the house next door called to let us know about nine that our tree was filling our shared driveway!

Our scofflaw Sugarberry tree paid no attention whatever to my clear signage.

We were sleeping soundly with our noggins right at that upstairs window closest to the tree.

As you see there was no getting through our driveway till the tree surgeons could do their work.

The view from our front porch. 

About half the tree fell pulling a foot or more of the trunk out of the ground on that side.

From our side yard the B&B was almost obscured.

This is the view from our bed.

The damage, thank goodness, was limited to the gutter and power entrance cable to the house next door. 

The Sugarberry took one large limb of the old Magnolia. 
That magnolia is in a photo of our house from 1918.

Maloney's Tree Service was on the scene in about an hour to begin the cleanup.

Georgia Power restored service to the B&B next door by mid-afternoon.

So we are out a bunch of money for tree service, plus, the electrical surges fried our Keurig machine, so we had no coffee for a while this morning! I had to walk all the way over to Dunkin on Shorter Avenue to remedy that intolerable situation.