Husband and Wife Trees

In our side yard we have two mature pecan trees that provide nice a nice, shady spot over some St. Augustine grass that spreads over the ground like a comfortable quilt.  Sometimes on those perfect days in October or in Spring when the weather is so magnificent that you can't help but whistle, we'll go outside and picnic right underneath those trees.  The pecans they produce are small and hard to crack, but you will be rewarded if you persevere, because the small pecans inside are so rich and oily and delicious.  Tricia made a homemade pecan pie last night using some of them and the secret ingredient (Steen's syrup).  Blog post and Recipe HERE  So doggone good!

The trees were planted long ago by a previous owner of the homesite we acquired in 2001.  While our home was being built, we'd come and sit underneath these trees and dream about what the future would hold for our family.  One of the pecan trees has a large, protruding knot, and I remember lifting our kids up into the tree so that they would sit on the knot to look out over the landscape. Can you remember climbing a tree as a child and marveling at the way that the view from way up there gave you a whole new vantage point?

The trees look like twins, don't they?  I mean, they are the same size, and if you were to scoot them together, they would fit together perfectly and the result would be one perfect tree.  Can you see that? I did some reading and found that there is actually a name for this occurrence.  The trees are called Husband and Wife Trees.

Our Husband and Wife Trees

According to Wikipedia, Eric Sloane was an American landscape painter and writer of illustrative works about cultural history and folklore.  He wrote the following in his book, Once Upon a Time: The Way America Was:

Trees were even involved in early American marriages: it was a New England custom to plant two trees at the entrance of a new home, known as "husband and wife trees."  When land was cleared and surrounding forests in New England were almost denuded by the need of charcoal to feed iron furnaces, there were some places in Connecticut where only husband and wife trees remained on the landscape.  Those trees still mark the location of many old farmhouses.

I think that is very, very interesting.  I like things that stand the test of time - things intentionally done - projects embarked on with a purpose.  In researching more about the subject of Husband & Wife Trees, I stumbled across something that is written so beautifully, it flows like honey and I want to share it with you.  This comes from an Agrarian blog called Granny Miller in This Post:

Husband and Wife trees.  Old timers called them that and you hardly ever hear the term any more. It has gone out of fashion: like marrying for life and farming.  Of course the expression is a folk term and an analogy taken from the material and natural world that was used long ago to describe a married couple’s relationship.

A married man and woman are like two separate trees planted in different holes at the same time. They are a permanent fixture in the landscape and together they watch the years and the seasons pass.

The trees are the same size and one does not hinder the growth of the other.

Because the trees stand so close together they are not as subject to wind or ice damage as a single tree is. The two together are more likely to survive adversity.

The trees grow very close to one another, but they are truly separate and there is space enough between them for the wind and air to pass. Their roots are entangled from beneath and how they are joined is hidden from the world. The trees derive their sustenance from the same Source and one cannot be separated from the other without risking them both.

Another angle of our Husband & Wife Trees

What an absolutely profound sentiment!  Husband and Wife Trees.  Now there's a tradition we need to revive.  Speaking of that, The Plain Garden Planting Cycle Found HERE says that from mid-October through November is the very best season for planting trees and shrubs.  Time to get busy.  I always like the old quote, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The next best time is TODAY!"