The Tree

We've had this tree in our backyard that has been declining in health for the  past few years.  Bugs got it and it was gradually dying.  So we have a friend who is also a tree professional come look at it the other day.  

It was an ash tree and the dreaded emerald ash borer had gotten it.  It was not going to recover, his recommendation was that it come down.  So we asked if he could do it.  He could and today was the day.

The two man crew got here about 10:00 am and got their equipment out and began planning their approach.

It wasn't long before they got started.  Cutting this way and that way, then around to the other side for a bit more.

And then the tree started down, even though nobody yelled, "timber!"

In short order the tree was on the ground.  He had had me mark where the sprinkler heads were so he could make sure to miss them.  I had done that, figuring he would drop the tree in that general direction.  He had told me where he was going to put the tree and that's exactly where it landed.  I was impressed.

Then they got to work cutting all the limbs off, the "brush".  

As they cut the brush off they dragged it around to the front yard and then came back for more.

This was the most time consuming part of the operation.  Pretty soon they were down to the big limbs and trunk.  The tree was disappearing.

The stuff they took around front they ran through a chipper, grinding it into wood chips.  The kind that ends up in gardens and on nature trails.

On they worked, getting more and more cut down and gone. Pretty soon they had cut everything down to just a bunch of logs.

We had also talked them into removing a few limbs from a pine tree just outside the fence.  These few limbs were growing out over the fence and over garden space, causing shade where Brombeere didn't want shade. It was interfering with her gardening.  So down they came, down and into the chipper.

In about two hours the tree was gone, the brush was gone, and what logs we didn't want were hauled off.  The county keeps a place a few miles away where these kinds of logs, too big to grind, end up going.  I would guess the logs get split and sold off as fire wood for the various county parks around.  

We did keep a bunch of the mid-sized logs that we'll use for firewood once they dry and age a year or so.  They were good enough to cut them down to the right size and stack them for us. So, while I'm a little sad to see one less tree in our yard, it is nice to have that poor, ailing tree taken care of.  And Brombeere is delighted to have that much more sunshine reaching her garden.  And the logs will contribute to some nice evening fires over which we can roast hot dogs and marshmallows.  Good times!