TREE TRIMMING

Gregg took all of these photos. He was very interested in the process. His first photo will give you an idea how high our fir tree has grown. Look for the young man standing on a branch. Our fir tree was about 10 foot high when we moved in, and then its root system hit the water table and it was Jack in the Beanstalk time. For the last 30 years plus, we have watched it grow and grow and grow. That young man, all of them, are very fit! They also have a good head for heights, and we are very grateful to them.

This all came about when a young man knocked on the door early this afternoon. Gregg talked to him for a while, and later a small group of young men, who have been very busy in our neighborhood, turned up with the equipment. All very hard working, very professional. They did a great job and cleaned every scrap up at the end. We talked to them last year when they were looking for work, but it was lower down on our priority list back then as it was manageable. Gregg and our son did some of the trimming in the lower branches. We bought a trimmer on a pole for the thinner ones.

Our trees will need to be taken down eventually, especially this fir tree that is reaching up to the sky. This is the one that showered us with a thousand pinecones in the winter. I love that tree, I love all our trees, but we are concerned that this one's roots are going to get into the foundation of the house and that would be dreadful. They are already growing out of the soil and along the ground. On reflection it was planted too close to the house, but when we moved in it was quite small.

Years ago (30+) before we moved in, one of our backyard trees fell onto our house. This information came from one of our neighbors when I mentioned how big the trees were getting, voicing some concern. One in particular was a favorite. Its branches used to overlap half our deck. It gave the feeling of being in a forest and the birds loved those lower branches. They always paid us back by putting on quite a show. I would sit underneath and watch them hop from branch to branch, squirrels too.

Sadly, the tree was dying and for safety reasons, not only for us but for our neighbors, we had it cut down. I still miss that tree and the refuge it gave to the birds! The tree that fell on the house was a dead one also. You can see the post I did about it at this link.

Today these young men are trimming the branches away from the house, and several others were only inches away. We had a small one resting on our bathroom window, and the other in the front, its branches were getting too close to our bedroom window. They took care of the fir tree first, getting rid of a lot of the lower branches. Then we have a crepe myrtle just behind the house. A job well done but, the writing is on the wall, and next year, maybe sooner I don't know, we will have to get them taken down.

Good news for these young men, our neighbors came home when they were cleaning up. They need a couple of trees taken down in their back yard, and gave them the job after Gregg recommended them. They could see the great job. 

As for those dogwood trees we wanted to plant in their place, we had to put those plans aside as we also had to have the deck replaced, again for safety reasons. Priorities! It's still a plan. You'll read about what we were planning in the link above that takes you to my other post about that first tree take-down.

Perhaps you have seen my dream cottages on my odds and bods posts? If I had my way, we would live in the middle of a forest, but that would be another story. Never going to happen but it's fun to conjure up the whimsical side of my personality at times.

I guess you can call me a tree hugger. This quote says it all.

"Alone with myself

The trees bend to caress me

The shade hugs my heart."

~Candy Polgar~

Thanks for looking and 

I wish you all a continued good week.