In our period of drought, I've been so careful with plants and grass, and pretty much anything garden-based. So you can imagine how disappointed I was to find my crabapple tree the victim of a frustrated walker.

Our miniature crabapple greets guests at the end of the driveway, and its compact stature, lovely pink flowers and fuzzy green leaves are a favorite of friends, family and passersby. And though it has struggled, like so many other plants, with the lack of rain, it's a fighter and looks like it's going to remain a strong, viable plant in the spring.

But look at the poor, broken branch dangling like the red-headed step-child ... the rotten apple forgotten at the bottom of the barrel ... the Death of Superman. Such a shame.

But just as DC Comics used The Death and Return of Superman as the catalyst for their crossover event in 1993, Mother Nature uses pruning—even crude approaches like breaking off a branch with your hands—as a point for re-growth. My crabapple will survive, and from its broken branch new growth will emerge. I would just prefer that my plants not face the trauma of broken branches in a drought, when it's not pruning season.

This experience has me wondering: when you're out walking your dogs, or jogging, or pulling your children in the wagon, do you take an extra step around tree or shrub bushes, or do you plow through the middle of the walkway giving no heed to what you're mowing down?

• Do you alter your path for aesthetics, or chart your own course by broken branch?