AdagioM, WTG, thanks!

Here are some photos of today's tree removal -- or rather, of the trees that were removed.

A big pine which you can't really tell is there:


The same photo, but with visual aids. The small red circle at the bottom is the picnic table for size, the red circle is the tree that was removed. The other thing this photo doesn't show is all the dead spots in the tree. There are two other big pines just across the property line that I am considering writing a letter about to that property's owner (but that's another story)


This is a cedar on the other side of the house. When we moved here, there was a group of three cedars. One came down in a storm just over a year ago (narrowly missing our house). The remaining two trees were not very robust. Two weeks ago, the DOT took down the tree that was closest to the road, and today, my tree guys took down this one:


Now we have to figure out what to do about all the kudzu there. But at least now we can do that on our own timeline, without worrying that a tree is going to come through the roof!

It all looks lovely. I have thought about putting a deck on the back of the house, but I’m still planning to move out of here sooner, not later.

I will warn you... over the next ten years, the roots from that tree will rot and the ground around them may subside. If the deck is on pier blocks sitting on the ground, they might sink a bit. Just watch for that.

I had three huge 60 year old birch trees removed ten years ago. My front yard has become very lumpy was the roots have rotted away.

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I will warn you... over the next ten years, the roots from that tree will rot and the ground around them may subside. If the deck is on pier blocks sitting on the ground, they might sink a bit. Just watch for that.

Ooh. Good to know, thank you!!

I love this house and all the trees around it but if we ever move (which will hopefully not be anytime soon) I will be a little more careful about choosing a place that’s not so surrounded by trees!!

Trees are great. They are lovely, provide shade, make oxygen, give homes to birds and other critters, and fight global warming.

You just have to keep in mind that if you plant a small tree, in a couple decades it will be a BIG tree (unless you are into bonsai). There is a lot of tree that's underground, too. The roots can destroy sidewalks, driveways, patios, and even foundations. They just need to be placed thoughtfully.

And when you cut down a big tree, the memories will linger for another decade.


A previous owner of my house, likely the original owner in the 1950s, appeared to have gotten a live Christmas tree every year and in the spring planted it. There was one right outside the dining room window. There were always needles and branches on the roof and in the gutters. And it blocked a lot of light. I had it cut down about ten years ago, but the stump is still there. We now have a bird bath on the stump, so we always have birdies right outside the window. Several of the other trees were planted along the street and eventually grew up into the power lines. Not a well-thought out plan. Fortunately, the city and the power company cut them down and it didn't cost me anything (would have been expensive... around power and utility lines makes it a "hazardous removal").

Those were BIG trees, SK! Glad you are being proactive about keeping just the healthy ones.

We had a weeping birch removed from our front yard. It was a thing of beauty. We worked around it when adding an entry addition. Right after we finished construction, a recently released con got drunk, stole a pickup truck, and ended up running into our tree. OUCH! It lost bark 1/3 of the way around the trunk, and was failing over the next 3 years, so we had to take it out. Sorry to lose the dapply shade.

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Those were BIG trees, SK! Glad you are being proactive about keeping just the healthy ones

Yep! We have more than enough trees here, so that makes it easier to get rid of these big ones. If we had less shade here I might have been more reluctant. Although the experience of having a tree come down in a storm and miss our house just by sheer luck certainly raised my enthusiasm for tree removal!!

I can imagine you were sad to see your birch go, how awful that the reason was a drunk idiot!