We are having Wes the tree guy (Elite Rigging) take out the big Douglas-fir in our backyard this weekend. Today he and his assistant Casey are limbing:

Tomorrow they will bring the bucket truck and finish the job. I hate to take down a tree but sometimes it has to be done. This one has dead branches near the crown, we figure it is tree borers. And the limbs touch the roof of the cottage and have to be cut back every year. The spot between the fence and the cottage is really too small for the tree and it is crowding the pear tree next to it. The shade it provides is not very useful in the hot summer due to its location—the box elder to the right is much better for that. The debris (cones and needles and small branches) clogs up the rain gutters and litters the yard. And Pseudotsuga menziesii is not exactly native to our location. It’s hot and dry and the hardpan soil makes it tough for anything but juniper. We’ve two ponderosa pines and an incense-cedar and even those guys need help in the summer. We planted a deodar cedar, Italian cypress, and a blue spruce over the years and they seem better adapted to the local climate. We’ve had to remove two black walnuts and two honey locust trees from the property as well. Just the usual on-going yard maintenance.

I’ll post an “After the Fall” tomorrow!