Project: Removal of Fir TreeLast Updated: 12/30/06
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| In the summer of 1997 we had three out of five
huge fir trees removed from our backyard. Their shade and needles
prevented anything else from growing in the backyard, and since we
wanted grass and flowers, the firs had to go. In the years since
the first three firs were removed, one of the remaining two has become
very unhappy and has been leaking a lot of sap. I had two
arborists come take a look at it this spring. The first said that
it had incurred wind damage and needed to be removed immediately, for
over $900. The second arborist said it was a fungal disease and
that the tree would need to be removed sooner or later but couldn't
really estimate when the tree would definitely need to come out. I
tended to believe him (he just seemed more honest, plus he was cheaper)
but still decided that it was one of those "better safe than
sorry" situations, and had the tree removed April 1st.
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| Here is the "before" photo. On the left is my deck. |  |
| This is a view of the tree from the deck. |  |
| So here we go again: a guy climbed up the tree, removing branches as he climbed. When he got to the top, he started cutting the trunk off in long sections. |  |
| Trunk cutting. The guy who climbed the tree reminded me of my friend Jon Waite (a.k.a. Coulson from AC), who lives in Texas. |  |
| Here are Alex (on the right) and Jacob (who lives next door) watching the goings-on. I thought this was a funny photo. The sawdust was raining down on their heads. |  |
| And now the tree is gone. |  |
| The new view from the deck. |  |
| Now I've put a planter on the stump. The shrub in the middle is a Mandevilla 'Splendens' and there's purple trailing Lobelia around the edges which will grow up and over the sides of the whiskey barrel. |  |