On Saturday, August 24, 2019, the largest tree in our yard, a Black Locust tree that might have been as old as our Eisenhower-era home, changed its stance from vertical to horizontal. Enjoy the ride – and click any pic to imbiggen it!
Friday, August 23, 2019. Last known living photograph of the deceased.
The intrepid team of After Hours Tree Service spent some time wandering the back yard, deciding where they wanted to lay the tree down. And darned if they didn’t put it EXACTLY where they planned to. They made it look easy. Chainsaw out a wedge facing in the direction of the fall, then go around and make a deep cut right behind that, and let gravity take over. The tree cracked twice, loudly – and the cliches are correct! It sounded like gunshot. I don’t have words to describe the sound of it slamming onto the lawn.
After The Fall: Comes the Chipping. Much less exciting and glamorous than the CRACK CRACK THUMP part. The guys cut small branches off the felled tree and fed them into an industrial chipper, which shot the chips into the back of that white truck.
The chipper was super-impressive… until it jammed. They had secret meetings, poked it a lot, drove off, came back, and then it was working again!
Cutting branches loose from a tree this large reminds me of sharks feeding off a dead whale. Sorry, I watch a lot of documentaries.
And when they went to cut the main trunk in half, BOING! The tree had other plans. I had no idea it was a spring-loaded tree, but that was fun to watch. We’d requested that a few feet of stump be left intact, for future creative purposes. Incidentally, directly under that felled trunk are a bunch of hens and chicks plants. About half survived, and the other half were turned into Has-Been Hens and Chick-en McNothings.
Yep, that’s a rotten spot in the stump’s center. No worries, we have a cunning plan. It involves expanding foam. 😀 But first we’re going to let the stump dry out and settle. The roots are still trying to ‘feed the tree’. This may take a while. Stay tuned.
The view from my Girl Cave was a BIT different that day.
Chives watched everything from a safe spot with a great view. As you can tell by his body language, he was quite distraught. (He didn’t even flinch when the tree cracked and slammed onto the ground! That boy is fearless!)
Lori Alden Holuta lives between the cornfields of Mid-Michigan, where she grows vegetables and herbs when she’s not writing, editing, or playing games with a cat named Chives.
The tree shed a LOT – the deck had issues with the spaces between the boards constantly clogging up with leaves and debris. The house gutters needed cleaning way to often, too. And yes, there was the worry that a storm could drop that tree on the house. Right now, we do miss the shade! But, the plan is to plant a smaller tree near the deck to replace it. Perhaps a fruit tree. Will see what the landlord comes up with. Odd side note: I’m near-blinded in the kitchen, not used to so much sunlight streaming in the window.
2 Comments
Tanarian Davies
So, you were afraid the tree was going to take matters into its own leaves and go the other way if left to itself? Are you going to miss the shade?
Lori Alden Holuta
The tree shed a LOT – the deck had issues with the spaces between the boards constantly clogging up with leaves and debris. The house gutters needed cleaning way to often, too. And yes, there was the worry that a storm could drop that tree on the house. Right now, we do miss the shade! But, the plan is to plant a smaller tree near the deck to replace it. Perhaps a fruit tree. Will see what the landlord comes up with. Odd side note: I’m near-blinded in the kitchen, not used to so much sunlight streaming in the window.