Last weekend, we had this wild windstorm that knocked down a massive branch on this massive tree in our backyard. Chris and I were working from home and the kids were at daycare, and neither Chris nor I heard it come down. But when I walked out of my office downstairs, I saw the branch in the backyard.
We knew it was a matter of time before this branch was going to fall because lightning had hit it a few years back and it had this split in it. Luckily, it missed our shed, and even luckier, it didn’t fall when the kids were outside playing.
But this tree provided a ton of shade in the backyard. It was about 50 years old and freaking tall. The guy we called out to look at it said unfortunately the whole tree needed to come down since the other branches were overhanging two other houses.
So Chris and I talked and we decided that since they were all coming out to take down the tree, we should just bite the bullet and have them take down the 50-year-old pine in the front yard that we had been debating about for years.
The tree has been dying for some time and the guy agreed eventually it would be dead and we’d have to take it down anyway. It’s huge, and the grass below it was dead, so it made it difficult to even really be in the front yard.
The big bushes on either side of our house were also giant and scraggly, despite the hours of work I put into the bush on the right. The guy said many times, people let these bushes get really tall and then they cut them and start over.
They also cut a bushy tree on the side of the house that provided all the coverage to our bathroom. I didn’t want that one cut but Chris said it was the same bush as out front, and that it was getting overgrown.
I’m not going to lie, I had a hard time with all these trees being cut. But even the guy told us he hates cutting down trees that don’t need it, but in this case, he thought these should come down.
Unfortunately, they also needed to take the ash tree down in the backyard that was next to the other tree as well due to infection. It hasn’t hit it yet, but it will and it will save a trip out. So we lost both trees in the backyard and now there’s a huge space in the yard where the sun beams in that’s hard to get used to.
All in all, we cut six trees down. I have to admit, even though I’m still getting used to it, I know it will be a good thing in the long run. Really, our front yard was looking overgrown and now suddenly you can see the whole house (which badly needs to be power washed). Hopefully, in a year or two, we can get some new trees planted.
