A little risque trivia in the yard

As preparations began to come together for the big July 4th birthday party and decorations were scattered around the yard festively, a story surfaced in my mind as the wooden firecrackers were leaned against one of the many large cedar trees.

Not too long ago, we had located and hired an incredibly talented Arkansas tree trimmer that spent nearly a month with us cleaning up this messy unmaintained property that I had purchased.

A perfectionist tree trimmer, he explained when his job was finished the hardwoods would be trimmed at certain levels, pines another level, and cedars yet another. He said, we would be able to look out over the acreage and tell what was what just by the height and trim patterns that he provided. Additionally, he not only trimmed but took out a myriad of dead trees and cut out all the dead weight and limbs everywhere that weren’t useful for anything but stymieing good growth!

Toward the end of the job, one afternoon he found me and asked me to go with him to see something in the yard. Of course, expecting possibly the worst regarding the trees, I obliged and walked with him. He had trimmed away so much of the lower growth and hanging loose dangerous branches on all the trees that it was relatively easy to now see any problems. He said, “Look at that tree, do you know what that is?” “Well, it’s a cedar, isn’t it?”

He said, “Just look at it.” “OK, so it’s a cedar with a broken trunk sticking out of it. You are going to cut that out, or should we get the stump grinder to get rid of it?” He said, “NO….you can’t touch that, that’s a MARRIAGE TREE!” Well of course it is, WHAT? And, he proceeded to tell me…

When trees are growing sometimes nature brings them together, whether by the wind blowing branches constantly making them touch or by simply growing larger, touching and actually grafting together into one tree. Most commonly they are the same species of trees however nature sometimes messes up and puts two different trees together to form a grafted union…although that’s not very common.

In my case, the trees are both cedar trees. He said if you take away or cut out the smaller cedar tree from the larger “adult” tree, the chances would be monumental that it would die…you would more than likely lose them both! Really??

Yes, it’s like losing your best friend of your entire life and you can’t get over it, taking the depression to your grave. Oh dear, that’s actually sad.

Walking around to inspect the miracle of the marriage tree and ponder the wonder of nature, I noticed another tree trying to get into the action! “What’s this…do we have a ‘Menage a Trois’ going on here?” A third cedar tree had, over time, extended a branch that was now growing and grafting into the adult tree!

Slightly embarrassed at the crazy thought, his answer was… “well, …hmmmm, maybe that’s what you’d call it!” I honestly thought he was kidding me, however, he convinced me to go and google “marriage tree”. And, it really is a truly named marvel of science.

When you think about trees and the “family tree”, it’s very much like the “marriage tree”, but more by design than the fluke of nature. Two people come together and begin to blend their lives just like two trees being planted close together. As the years roll by the trees very likely grow closer and closer. The roots become tangled over time and the branches intertwine and possibly graph together. As a marriage matures through the years, the kids and grandkids come into the world and the “family tree” continues to grow and spread out.

Each branch on the family tree represents the next born, next spouse or family unit. And, in the family tree, should a divorce happen the family tree sometimes begins to tear apart. In the marriage tree, once it loses its partner, it potentially dies.

I’m betting the majority of you have never heard the term “marriage tree”, which by the way can also be referred to as “husband and wife” trees. Additionally, it’s apparently rare for cedar trees to conjoin as mine have done. Generally, it’s more common to have a maple, beech or willow grow together. Wonder how many years these two cedars…oops, sorry…these three cedars have been trying to get together? Betcha as slow as cedars grow, this particular development has been going on at least 75 to 100 years.

The next time you play a trivia game, the question might be “What is the name of a conjoined tree?” Answer: Marriage tree. AND, the risqué question would be “How many trees come together to become a ‘Menage a Trois’ marriage tree phenomenon?