From his living room, Jacques looks twice a year at the beautiful flower buds of his magnolia tree. As soon as it is in bloom, the tree always attracts a lot of attention and various local residents even drop by with a pair of scissors for a few branches for the home: solicited but also unsolicited.
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How Jacques van Doezum will miss his magnolia tree. In a month’s time, he and his wife will move to a newly built house in another town. “We try to take some cuttings as a reminder and plant a new tree there. Hopefully the buyer of our house in Zoetermeer will leave the tree standing.”
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A magnolia has something magical about it
According to Jacques, his amazingly beautiful magnolia is almost literally on the border of the Palenstein district with the Oude Dorp, at the bottom of the dike of the wetering on the historic Zegwaardeneweg. “We moved here about twenty years ago. The tree was already there then. We could never have imagined that a tree could have such an influence on the neighborhood and the residents,” says Jacques. “There is something magical about a magnolia.”
With his last strength
Jacques met an old and terminally ill neighbor who hardly ate or drank anymore. “His last wish was to see the magnolia tree in bloom one more time in his life. Every day he tried with his last strength to make the short, but for him very intensive, walk towards our backyard. His wish came true: he was able to see the magnolia in all its glory once more. After his death, his wife regularly visited the tree in memory of her husband.”
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Wait for dusk to come
Hikers do not always realize that you have a good view of the green park behind his house from Jacques’ living room. “We regularly see people walking through the grass next to our house to get a closer look at the magnolia tree. Sometimes they call to ask if they can cut some branches for home. We often think that’s fine. But some wait out the twilight and pass by in the semi-darkness with a pair of scissors. I don’t say anything about it, but actually I think it’s rude to cut a tree without being asked.”
Nice to leave alone
Jacques has one of the largest magnolia trees in Zoetermeer in his garden. What is his secret, we wonder. “The gardener recommends doing as little as possible to it,” he explains. “Sometimes the grass here is mowed by the municipality and then the magnolia branches sometimes get in the way. I then prune it short, but otherwise I leave the tree alone.” With melancholy Jacques will look back on his idyllic home and the magnolia tree. “We will soon no longer have this view, but hopefully we can grow a magnolia as beautiful as here.”