by Hootoksi Tyabji, Shah Alam

When we bought No 10 Jln Istana, our house in Shah Alam, the garden was a mess but it had a beautiful mango tree standing tall in the back yard, quite close to the patio. 

It gave us lots of mangoes but they were invariably eaten by squirrels and birds and we never seemed to be able to harvest them in time as the tree was quite tall and the mangoes were impossible to reach! We did occasionally enjoy a few and they were sweet and flavuorful!

The tree had a beautiful canopy and we loved the way it framed our guest room window so you could enjoy it all day! When my parents moved in with us, that was their room and I know that the tree was a source of joy and companionship for them both.

I have no idea how old our Mango tree was but we have lived in this house for 20 years and I am sure it was planted by the previous owners who had this place for a good ten years or more before us. 

Over time  it grew at a terrific pace and was leaning out onto the neighbouring empty plot of land dropping most of its fruit there.  The roots of the tree began to force the patio tiles up and was destroying them, so we clearly had to do something!

Last year it was attacked by weaver ants, red and fierce who covered the trunk and were all around the base of the tree so we couldn’t get anywhere near it.

Every summer the tree bore big, beautiful looking mangoes but they were much too high to reach, so the squirrels and birds would feast on them!  Then some fruit would fall to the ground, but we found that many were infested with black worms, and quite rotten. Our tree was clearly diseased and in great distress. We tried all sorts of treatments but nothing worked

The experts we consulted suggested we cut it down but Rob and I were loath to do that though eventually and very reluctantly we decided we had no choice but to fell it. 

Our gardener Mustafa and his brother Fawad brought two of their cousins and within a matter of a few hours, our beautiful friend, almost 40 ft tall, was cut down. 

We decided to leave a three-foot stump in the ground and have given the tree a chance to grow again, perhaps?

The stump had a huge hole in the middle which was filled with water.  Mustafa pulled out a long black worm more than a foot long from inside it!

We removed the water and have covered the stump with burlap to keep it dry, but given that this is the rainy season, that is difficult to do!

We fervently hope that one day the trunk will sprout and our tree will get a new lease of life.

Mustafa then  trimmed the peripheral roots leaving the large central root ball intact, and replaced the cracked tiles. 

As we were clearing up, to our utter amazement and joy we found our faithful friend had left us a baby sapling which was growing just beside its mother, continuing her legacy, resilient and silent. 

We have found the perfect spot to plant it in our already crowded garden for her to flourish and grow.