Tree Removal (Round #2) Aftermath
This summer’s June 29 derecho did a real number on our house, landscape, and lawn. Our house is back to normal, thank goodness, but our yard is still a mess. We’ve been waiting on a tree service to remove two trees that could cause future damage before we begin to repair our lawn. Last week they came back to remove a giant poplar and a huge sycamore. I hated to remove these tree but don’t care to have house damage in the future, so they had to go.
These guys have nerves of steel. I can’t imagine going up this high and then being calm enough to operate a chain saw.
Removing these trees provided quite a few chips that I can use next year. I marked the picture below showing the sycamore that was removed. Both trees are pretty messy and I won’t miss cleaning up after them.
With the poplar gone, along with the four trees that fell on our property from the neighbor’s yard June 29, the view has totally changed. I used to hardly be able to see my neighbor’s house.
The stump of the poplar is huge. After school one afternoon I put on my garden clogs to snap a few pictures. If this stump were any wider, I would have started to go into a split position to straddle it.
From the poplar stump, you can see that we now have a road in our yard.
I took the next series of pictures early one morning from the kitchen window before I left for work.
Some of the ruts are quite deep.
It’s hard to believe that two months ago this area was covered in lush, healthy grass.
When it gets cooler and the ground isn’t so hard, we’ll have to work on repairing the fence. I’d like to continue it up the hill. It used to stop where you see the poplar stump, that section was crushed in the storm.
Our plan is to fill in the ruts with topsoil and then have Southern Landscape help us to replant the grass. The soil will need to be loosened and they have equipment that can do this quickly. It would be nice if we could repair the damage on our own, but the project is too big for us to tackle.
I’ll also have some landscaping to do but that will probably have to wait until 2013. On a positive note, it’s always fun to have a new project to plan!
Paula, I feel your pain, our farm road was completely changed following Irene and the loss of trees (the neighbors doing a major logging project months prior to Irene sure didn’t help either!) However, our immediate yard didn’t suffer so I can imagine that this will really take some time getting used to for the two of you. But I know that you and Mr. Sweet Pea will have that yard back in shape in no time 🙂
What an interesting series of pictures. I love how you gave some perspective on that stump.
I know you’ve put a lot of time and effort into your landscaping Paula, this must be overwhelming to look at. I think you are right in getting a landscape company in there to do the big stuff, then you can work your magic on the details.
I’d be most upset about all of that beautiful grass. But you are right…it can be redone! As I type this, we have piles of stumps and wood in our yard.
Did you get to save any of the wood for firewood? I bet you’re glad the trees aren’t a threat anymore, at least.
I love you attitude about the ruts. You’re right. Grass can be replanted and landscapes can be redone. I know it will look fantastic again.
That stump is HUGE!
We have some trees that need to come down as well….my backyard used to be so lush but as the trees have gotten larger the sun just doesn’t get through to the grass and some of the yard is now just mud. A part of me hates to even think about getting rid of them….I have a swing between two of them that is so shady but the yard is a mess otherwise so I think next spring they will have to go. Great pictures and thanks for sharing your plans.
Oh, Paula, you do a great job of looking at the bright side of things! I’d be heartbroken to lose two more trees. . . but you’re right: more damage would be terrible! So you’re wise to go ahead and remove these now, then repair your lawn all at once. It makes me sad to see those pictures of your yard, because you had worked so hard to make the grass lush and beautiful! But I’m glad that you and Mr. SP weren’t hurt and that you’re able to make things even better than before. Your property is so lovely!
SO, so crazy!
So sad that you had so much damage and that those trees had to go to avoid damage in the future 🙁 But on the bright side, what a lovely view you have from your kitchen. I envy all that lush green!
You have a beautiful lawn area! It’s sad that you had to have the trees removed, but it’s probably a good thing that you did. Like you said, the trees could have caused damage to the house in the future, so having them removed was the safest bet. I’m sure the wood is being put to good use, and I’m glad you were able to get some wood chips to use. Thanks for sharing!