08/31/2026
This year has been a very expensive year for us with tree maintenance. A lot of the water oaks on property are past their lifespan. This particular one down by our lake front was hit by lightning about seven years ago. We actually watched it burn for days. I assumed it would die instantly, but it lasted all of these years continuously building new bark around the damage. Not four days after my tree guys finished another project on property, this one toppled over to the ground. It landed on a palm. Both trees had to be removed this week. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on trees in less than a year. We’ve taken out dangerous ones that could potentially land on our assets. We’ve trimmed and hurricaned trees and we’ve groomed our palms. The freeze killed a lot of our trees. Back in October, there was a severe flooding event in Mount Dora that also gullied an area by the Live Oak in the last two pictures. We have worked extensively to keep this from washing away the roots of that tree. Three or four times this year we’ve bought sod for that area to help develop a root system at the surface to protect the root system of the tree far below. It dropped the earth roughly five feet! I always wanted a little stream bed in this area and nature is creating one on its own. It’s heading straight down to the left side of our boathouse. I might have to hard scape to get this job right.
