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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,511
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Paging: Mominohio-Let's Talk Trees

I know you have trees you've already removed and planning for more. My question is are you working from a site plan? Clearing for paths to outbuildings, etc? What is going into your decisions, like safety? Utility lines, etc? Diseased trees?

 

I had an arborist visit the new property and viewing thru his eyes, a lot has to come down. He wanted to clear cut which the township frowned on but he's willing to work from a site plan. I just have to get a site plan together ....sigh!

 

Thoughts? Suggestions based on your experience?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,837
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Paging: Mominohio-Let's Talk Trees

Paging @Mominohio for snowpuppy.


The Bluebird Carries The Sky On His Back"
-Henry David Thoreau





Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,019
Registered: ‎08-08-2010

Re: Paging: Mominohio-Let's Talk Trees


@Snowpuppy wrote:

I know you have trees you've already removed and planning for more. My question is are you working from a site plan? Clearing for paths to outbuildings, etc? What is going into your decisions, like safety? Utility lines, etc? Diseased trees?

 

I had an arborist visit the new property and viewing thru his eyes, a lot has to come down. He wanted to clear cut which the township frowned on but he's willing to work from a site plan. I just have to get a site plan together ....sigh!

 

Thoughts? Suggestions based on your experience?


 

@NickNack 

 

Thanks for paging me

 

@Snowpuppy 

 

Sorry, I haven't been on here in several days I guess, and didn't see your post. 

 

We had a long line of pines in one line across the front of the properties and all along the driveway, all of them dead or near dead, and that is why they had to come out. They were glorious 30 years ago, provided wonderful shade, wind break, privacy, I just loved them, until they were 60 plus feet of dead. All good things must come to an end!

 

We have more to do, again, mostly because of excessive age/decline and dying. The next round are also close to the house, and if they would come down in a storm toward the house, could cause considerable damage. One is also entangled in the power lines that run from the road to the house, so not a good thing. The next three out of four that need to come down are maples, and I hate to loose them.

 

I love trees, I love shade, and I love trees close to the house for shade, but I'm no longer willing to have them so close that they pose danger in storms. We seem to be getting more and stronger storms and winds, and once they age, they just become too much of a liability. 

 

We live in a rural county and township that has virtually no zoning, and no permits needed for most things, so we are able to take down (or put up!) just about anything we want Wherever we want, so we don't have to answer to anyone how we clear things out. 

 

I loved all the trees when we moved here, it made a beautiful and secluded property and I"m not very happy with the wide open space around us now, but we still have woods along the entire back of the property that provide some backyard shade for the early part of the day, and aren't close enough to hit the house if they fall. 

 

My only suggestion would be to consider the buildings on a property or the ones that will be there, remove (or don't plant) close to the house, remember how big they will get over time, and the distance they can fall to hit a building. 

 

I'm getting to an age where cleaning up after particularly dirty trees is getting harder all the time too. Some pines become very 'dirty' as they age, and we still have a Weeping Willow near the pond that is getting old, and it drops so much stuff every year, all year, and that clean up is never ending. So I guess I'd recommend considering how much raking, cleaning up from storms, seasonal shedding etc. you want in your yard surrounding your house/buildings too. Something one doesn't necessarily consider when they are 20 something (at least we didn't !! LOL).

 

Also, hire people you feel comfortable with and are well insured and bonded (we made them provide us copies of their insurance and checked up on it.). 

 

Also, we thought we could clean up after the grinding of 40 stumps ourselves. We started the work and just couldn't handle it. It was worth three times the price to get it all done by the professionals. We had removed over 30 trees, one at a time ourselves, and we were really worn out after three years of constant trying to get it all done. So I don't know what we were thinking about having to clean up the stump grindings for 40 trees! 

 

If you are unsure of just how many you want to take out, start slow, and get used to it. Once gone, they are gone, and to replace them, will take many years of growth. You can always remove more, but you can't put them back when they are gone. Doing it in small steps might help you to 'see' exactly where you want to end up. 

 

Good luck with the work. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,511
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Paging: Mominohio-Let's Talk Trees

@Mominohio   Thank you so much for the experience!

 

We have few restrictions here on clearing property but I can understand them not wanting a clear cut.  

 

I have toyed with the idea of having a crew come out twice. They charge by the hour and have specialty equipment. They will grind stumps, leave mulch or haul it all away. The mulch product while environmentally friendly would be too much for my needs. 

 

I want to clear/maintain less than an acre. The arborist suggested what you did, think to the future about what could possibly fall on the house in the next 5 yrs. and remove it while he's there.

 

Again, thanks for your experience!