Looking forward to trees blossoming

In the spring of 1980, my wife and I were on our hands and knees with shovels, bare root stock digging holes for shrubbery and trees. Today those same trees and shrubs are coming to the end of their lifetime.
We have watched and enjoyed them from the time that they were mere root stock. That was almost four decades ago. The silver maple in the northeast corner of our yard appears to be splitting down the centre of the “y” that were the two main branches.
The trunk now measures almost a meter in diameter. The tree will produce a lot of firewood.
In the fall long after all the other trees had shed their leaves, its golden leaves would fill almost 20 garbage bags. Around the trunk of the tree we planted over a dozen cotoneasters.
We have enjoyed the cotoneaster grow and turn their dark green leaves to a bright red at Thanksgiving before falling to the ground.
The shrubs only grew to about a meter in height and regularly sprouted new shoots and old were pruned away.
The tree root system has almost completely snuffed those plants of life. We removed the remaining shrubs on Sunday morning.
The once vibrant shrubs that were planted around the maple sapling were just a shadow of themselves.
When the groundhogs moved into the neighborhood, they found a home in the roots of that maple. I believe a neighbor trapped them out of existence.
From before dawn until after sunset, the branches of that maple have been filled with song birds.
Two years ago, a long bolt was drilled through the tree to try and hold off the split. Today, the bolts and washers have been pulled into the tree.
We hope that we can get another two years from this giant tree.
We lost two spruce trees in the other corner from the spruce budworm. They died in less than a month and the surviving tree now needs to be repaired.
It is now time to begin replanting the shrubbery and trees in the yard. In such a short time, we have removed five trees and lots of shrubbery.
We wonder: “Do we replant using the plans of the landscaped architect who did the original plans or do we find new shrubbery that meets today’s climate and winter conditions?”
It would be wonderful to have “Ask this Old House” come by and visit and help us along with our landscaping plans. But that is only a dream.
A lilac bush that produces the most amazing smells filling the neighborhood is also in need of replacement. It was at the house before we even considered purchasing the home. It too needs to start again as do the flowering crabs.
We will enjoy each shrub and tree as it blossoms this summer and make decisions about the future look of the yard in the next 10 months. Even that will pass quickly.