Added amenity value following windthrow

Without a shadow of a doubt, a large mature tree with a near perfect form is high in visual amenity value. Quintessential in every manner of the word, one cannot deny that sense of awe we get when gazing upon such an ideal tree. However, sometimes we can also come across trees with (potentially significant) damage that are also very interesting upon the eye, and perhaps even more visually attractive, though in a different sense, when compared to a tree of the same species that has more of an ‘expected’ (read: textbook) form.

Take, in this case, the example below. I stumbled upon this willow (Salix sp.) yesterday in an urban park, and I was actually rather captivated. Granted, for some it may just be an ugly tree that has lost two third of its crown following high winds, but for me it signals something far more interesting (and not really in a way that I can describe – it’s just so different). In fact, I would rank it as more valuable (in the amenity sense) than a willow without such architectural damage, and the loss of this tree, or just the windthrown parts, would be a huge shame.

So, in order for you to ascertain whether I do have a point, or am simply going mad, I have attached a few images below.

We can observe just how massive the damage is here, though in a funny sort of way it almost looks like this willow tree is playing an invisible piano.

A spider with a willow stem growing out of its back! Like something out of War of the World, or Jurassic Park. Or perhaps just a giant scorpion…!

Looking closer at how the limb on the right hand side of the above image failed. The resulting structure adopted is certainly interesting.

A load of sprouting from the base, as well as ivy starting to grow up from the base and onto one of the failed limbs, gives this willow further ‘texture’. I wonder how this will develop within the next ten years!