View Full Version : my fallen tree - $1000 later
One of the reasons we bought this house is because of the beautiful spruce tree that stood at the side of the front yard and commanded awe. It was about 60 ft tall and at least 50 years old. I liked to just sit under it sometimes. It fell silently during the horrible blizzard last week and when we saw it hours later laying across the yard, our hearts were broken. Strangely, the night before it fell, a woman we had never seen before came to the door and asked if she could gather some cones from beneath it. We joke that she must have put a hex on it since no other tree in our area fell. Anyway, we asked the tree guy to let us have the mulch from it so now the beautiful tree is just a memory, we are $1000 poorer and we have a mountain of mulch six feet high. The only thing that feels OK about all this is that it had the grace not to fall on a person, house or car.
Sigh. Sad isn't it. I have a number of really nice oaks. But we had a couple of years of drought, followed by a couple of years of gypsy moth infestation and so many of them are dead or dying. We had a huge oak not too far from the house that we had to cut down because of severe leaning. It really makes me sad to see it in pieces.
Teacher Terry
3-19-19, 6:11pm
Wouldn’t your house insurance pay for the tree? I hate to lose trees.
dado potato
3-19-19, 6:57pm
Aw, pinkytoe,
It's gotta hurt to lose a tree like your spruce, a tree that has filled up your your senses, one of treasured memories. I am sure that if the mighty oak in my front yard were to fall, I would have to do the work of grieving: two steps forward, one step back, and onward.
Have you thought about something perennial to incorporate the mulch into? How does Wisteria fare in your climate zone?
Oh no, I feel terrible for you! I have favorite trees, as well. On another thread some place I lamented about a Pacific Madrone in my hometown that was cut down, reason unknown. Still grieve for it.
So, I get it...so sorry about your spruce.
iris lilies
3-19-19, 7:41pm
Some trees are nice. I am sorry one of the nice ones is gone.
Teacher Terry
3-19-19, 8:23pm
I do hate my neighbors pine tree because they lose all their cones, etc in our yard. They did cut the back yard one down because I asked them to trim the branches that hang over our fence. The one in the front yard looses its leaves and they end up in our front yard and the tree is huge.
Insurance only covers damage and since the tree was nice enough not to fall on anything, nope. I am eyeballing my neighbors pines though as they will surely go down in the next big one and fall on my house.
rosarugosa
3-20-19, 5:57am
I'm sorry, Pinkytoe. I'm a tree lover too, and there is no substitute for a large, mature tree.
That is such a tragedy, pinkytoe!! And irreplaceable (at least in our lifetimes, unfortunately). Can you plant something smaller, but dramatic, in the same spot, like a crepe myrtle or dogwood or Japanese maple that will help replace some of the beauty of that corner?
I'm sorry to hear about your tree. Nice trees add to a home's comfort and I've not understood people with treeless yards.
Last spring a big wind toppled my back neighbors giant Blue Spruce into my yard. It unfortunately fell into the power pole and snapped it and crunched the wooden fence. It was an ordeal. I was told that Blue Spruce have a shallow root system and are prone to blow downs. In the forests they have some wind protection from other trees that buffer the wind, but in the city where they stand alone they are prone to blow downs when they get big.
iris lilies
3-20-19, 10:01am
I wish our community garden Blue Spruce would blow down. It is growing into the fence and it shades garden beds. It just doesn’t belong.
But the previous community garden leader, the Garden Diva, fancied the community garden her personal park and she planted inappropriate things and now we are living with them. This Blue Spruce has enough fans ( those who don’t have to garden near or around it) that it is a Sacred Thing. You know how the tree people are. Eyeroll.
catherine
3-20-19, 10:07am
I wish our community garden Blue Spruce would blow down. It is growing into the fence and it shades garden beds. It just doesn’t belong.
But the previous community garden leader, the Garden Diva, fancied the community garden her personal park and she planted inappropriate things and now we are living with them. This Blue Spruce has enough fans ( those who don’t have to garden near or around it) that it is a Sacred Thing. You know how the tree people are. Eyeroll.
Hey there's room for every"body"--flowers, vegetables and trees, if done right. I could never live without trees on my property, but I also have a lot of sunny spaces to grow things.
The Emerald Ash Borer is a horrible event in my neighborhood because as people cut the trees down, our lovely, mature tree-lined street is turning the neighborhood into something that looks like a Monopoly board with houses just plunked on a 1/4 acre of turf. It's a nightmare.
I wish our community garden Blue Spruce would blow down. It is growing into the fence and it shades garden beds. It just doesn’t belong.
But the previous community garden leader, the Garden Diva, fancied the community garden her personal park and she planted inappropriate things and now we are living with them. This Blue Spruce has enough fans ( those who don’t have to garden near or around it) that it is a Sacred Thing. You know how the tree people are. Eyeroll.
In think it's not uncommon when people plant things to not anticipate how big they might get. I've had to remove three old trees in my yard that were interfering with structures. One was a huge spruce with roots that were turning my concrete driveway into rubble. I've seen or done similar things planting perennials that get overgrown in a few years. There's just a time when they need to go or be cut back. I think maybe spruces can be pruned of their lower branches.
The up upside is that picking and planting new trees is sort of rewarding. They are fun to watch grow and even though they might not grow fast enough, they will be a legacy for the next property owner.
iris lilies
3-20-19, 12:55pm
In think it's not uncommon when people plant things to not anticipate how big they might get. I've had to remove three old trees in my yard that were interfering with structures. One was a huge spruce with roots that were turning my concrete driveway into rubble. I've seen or done similar things planting perennials that get overgrown in a few years. There's just a time when they need to go or be cut back. I think maybe spruces can be pruned of their lower branches.
The up upside is that picking and planting new trees is sort of rewarding. They are fun to watch grow and even though they might not grow fast enough, they will be a legacy for the next property owner.
yes, a legacy of annoyance.
Haha, y’all know I cant resist yanking your chains about the sacred trees.
So sorry for your loss. I was raised by a grove of trees and I love them. I'd suggest a fast-growing white pine, but they can be pretty fragile in ice. I love evergreens, so I'd probably replace it with one. They offer to birds, what deciduous trees cannot, so I like to have them around. Plus, if you want privacy all year round, they're good too. Would you be interested in growing seed from the one that fell, and planting a new one from that? Yeah....it won't be as tall as the one that fell, but it would be a child of that tree. Good luck with whatever you choose. And the mulch will be wonderful to use too.
I am finding this a very challenging place to garden but won't give up yet. The spruce stood in a large, semi-circle stone enclosure so I can put a good tree in the middle and native plants around it...someday. I think I used up my budget for anything new until I save up more. I have to have trees and green though to feel normal, so...the obstacle is the way.
The Emerald Ash Borer is a horrible event in my neighborhood because as people cut the trees down, our lovely, mature tree-lined street is turning the neighborhood into something that looks like a Monopoly board with houses just plunked on a 1/4 acre of turf. It's a nightmare.
EAB took six of the seven trees on the boulevard of our block -- all removed in one day. Taken at the proper angle to focus on the older houses on the block, the neighborhood would have looked much like it did in the early 20th century, when it was converted farms and fallow ground. Should have taken such a picture but I was still in shock from losing all that shade in one day. :(
iris lilies
3-20-19, 4:52pm
Our ash trees, planted carefully 30 yearsars ago for being respectable slow growing shade trees with no known diseases are now both gone. One was in poor health and old, the other not yet attacked by the ash borer, but we took them down before they got really dangerous.
It can cost more to fell a diseased tree than a healthy one because the diseased tree has rot and it is more dangerous for the climbers to take them down.
i am glad my father is not alive to see all of this destruction with the ash trees. Those were his favorite and he planted them everywhere.
yes, a legacy of annoyance.
Haha, y’all know I cant resist yanking your chains about the sacred trees.
My hometown gets 12 inches of precipitation a year on the average. Where I live now we get 14" average, but last year it was less than 10". I have an appreciation for most things that are green, non-invasive, and don't require extra water. Not having to replant every year or few is a bonus.
Yeah, the ash borer is taking so many of them in our 35 acres. It's weird how birds can't seem to eat them all before they do so much damage. I have 5-6 in our immediate yard right around the house that have succumbed to it. And we have tons of ash seedlings growing in the field. They would have made a lovely forest. I've tried to warn them, but to no avail.....they keep growing. Maybe something native will kill off the EAB. I sure hope it's soon. :(
Maybe something native will kill off the EAB. I sure hope it's soon. :(
The "Polar Vortex" here this winter (overnight lows in the -20s and -30s F) killed off a bunch of them. But not enough to eradicate the pest.
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