August 6, 2009

The Big Trees

We have two glorious old oak trees next to our house.

We loved these trees from the moment we 1st saw them.The one on the left has a circumference of 11'6". The one on the right, 10'4". The are an extremely attractive feature of the property.

View from the north.  They really add a lot to the property.But they are old, and that is a concern.

One of the items on our "or else" list, was to remove the branches and limbs that overhang the house. These two old trees are the culprits. We called in a tree service, and you can see the dramatic difference the trimming made.

The branch overhang is actually worse than it looks here.Before trimming.

Big difference!!!And after.

I suppose it doesn't look so bad from the front of the house.

Street view before.Before trimming.

Street view after.And after

I have mixed feelings about all of this. One the one hand, it seems a shame not to let these old trees spread their glorious boughs to their fullest, natural extent. On the other hand, there was a horrific storm about a month ago which caused a lot of roof damage in the area. I stood outside that night, watching the wind blow and bend the limbs of these very trees, praying that none of the dead or weak branches would come crashing down on our house.

Well, the deed is done now. It will satisfy our insurance company and give me some peace of mind the next time a bad storm kicks up. I will certainly miss the shade at certain times of the day, but we now have a wonderful supply of hardwood firewood. As Ma Ingalls used to say,
There's no great loss without some small gain.
(From Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.)

The Big Trees copyright August 2009 by 


9 comments:

Life Looms Large said...

It is always hard for me to trim or cut trees on our property....but sometimes it has to happen. Our oaks aren't even very old or big and they often drop branches.....so I think you made a good call!!

Branches and roofs are not a good combo!

Sue

Theresa said...

A wise move really and I know it's hard. We had two very old Sugar Maples in MA and one really needed to be trimmed both for safety and to extend it's life as much as possible. You might contact a certified arborist for suggestions on keeping them healthy as long as possible and we planted another two trees near the oldies to plan for when they would eventually have to be removed

bspinner said...

Sometimes it's a good idea to give your trees a trim. In this case with them being so close to your house and their branches hanging over your roof it was for the best.

Renee Nefe said...

that's so funny that you look at this as a gain of firewood cuz I do the exact same thing. In fact I'm eyeing a shooter that got away from us as firewood now!

Woolly Bits said...

I suppose sometimes the idealistic views aren't the most practical - I would defend our trees viciously against anybody - but not for the price of suffering serious damage to the house or even people in it! of course old trees are nice, but if they are dangerous - there isn't really a choice, is there? what I hate though are people, who buy a property - and the first thing they do is to remove every tree and shrub from their property, just because they can:(( unfortunately very common over here:(

Julie said...

I think they look pretty good after the triming. I think you will notice next spring that they will seem fuller.

Sharon said...

I totally support your decision. I worked with a guy who had a tree crash through their living room in a horrific storm, but missed his infant son's room. I am not a gambler. They look fine now and you have peace of mind.

Leigh said...

We had a terrible storm on Wednesday with lots of limbs blown down around town. I was very glad our trees were already trimmed. I still miss the shade in the early afternoon, but like Theresa says, I'm planning to plant more shade trees soon.

Essiac said...

I had many Oak trees around my home as these are beneficial to reduce temperature and noise by up to 50 percent but some time it might be create problem to damage so after reading your post I am planning to trim and cut old and Unnecessary limbs from them.Thanks