Our Silver Lime

In our front garden this beautiful Silver Linden shows off. The flood disaster of 1953 caused many trees on the island to ‘drowned’, but the salt water did not reach Zonnemaire, which is why this is a tree that you will not encounter very often in the area in terms of age. The tree is between 125 and 185 years old and has a size of almost 4 meters!

Traditionally, justice was done under lime trees (just like under oaks) and the community gathered to judge and congregate. It was a tree that provided (spiritual) protection. With this in mind, lime trees were often planted in farmyards at the front of the house or in the middle of the yard; as protection. And if they were on the south side, they also provide physical protection from the sun.

Our tree is diagonally in front of the house and we certainly benefit from its shade in the summer. So it looks like the tree was planted there for a reason. The Hofstede is about 180 years old and this seems to correspond to the age of the tree … although this can of course only really be found out if the annual rings are counted. And we don’t intend to!

The tree will remain standing for a very long time if it is up to us. For example, we recently had a tree doctor take a look at her and although she has had some rigorous pruning in the past, everything seems to be all right. The only thing we will do in terms of maintenance is make sure that her branches don’t sweep roof tiles off the roof in a big storm. Some pruning work will therefore take place in the autumn, but that’s it.

We often post information about the rooms, breakfast or dinner, but these kinds of things are also part of our company. What does it look like on the inside and outside. How can we ensure that our place can continue to exist for a long time and how do we take good care of ourselves, our guests and our environment :).

And let’s face it, I (Wyona) am a bit of a geek at times with this stuff. I like to research the history of a particular place; how things used to be and what meaning was given to things.