When we first purchased this land in 1994, Jane walked here with us. She was a person of both tremendous intelligence and experience. This cherry tree impressed her as the largest that she had ever seen. Recently a sizeable branch fell blocking our driveway as the tree was now mostly dead. A consequence of advancing years is that I now worry about nearly everything. Had I been there when the branch fell it would have likely killed me. As a result, I became fearful every time I passed under the tree.
This tree is just a stone wall away from our lane on two sides. It stands in the corner of a field that belongs to our neighbor. The daughter of the owners was quick to see that the tree needed to come down and gave us permission to get that done. Today was the day.
Harrington's Tree Removal had helped us in the past. Yesterday they were cutting down trees across the road from us. With their equipment already here, today was our turn. They started cutting at the top and are now working on the trunk. Highly skilled, they quickly and safely cut away the tree.
This large section of trunk is being directed to the ground by the two men at the other end of the rope. Their skill at placing the cut sections neatly on the ground amazed me.
This fresh brush pile includes pieces from our tree and the pine trees that were across the road. Filling in this corner of our gravel bank with brush will soften the past scars from mining gravel.
This section was left standing for several reasons. Two centuries of fence wire wrapped around the tree trunk had left their mark. Moisture moved up the trunk by the life forces of the tree had dissolved the metal leaving unnatural deposits in the wood. In addition to causing the tree to grow in an unusual manner and die, contacting old barbed wire with a saw chain would have destroyed it. Thirty-five years were given as the time required for this stately trunk to safely decay. The brush will be removed allowing the stone wall and the tree trunk to create an impressive picture. Nothing here will fall on my head but the tree branch hanging over the driveway in the background will get our attention on another day.
1 comment:
It's so tough to lose a tree...even when it's time. We lost two cherry trees during the early years of living at this place. They were planted a little more recently than yours, though, and were way too close to the house. Still, it's always tough to see them go.
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