Not in my backyard.

This is a story of two trees behind my house. The tree on the left is a giant sequoia, which grows in my yard. The tree on the right is a maple that is taller than the sequoia, which grown in my neighbor's yard. I have a love/hate relationship with them both.
I love both trees because they provide privacy and shade, and absorb a lot of noise. I love waking up in the morning to the sound of hundreds of birds chattering in the maple.
I hate the sequoia because it drops barbed sticks which get caught in the dogs' fur. Nothing will grow under it. I hate the maple because it drops millions of helicopters in the spring and millions of leaves in the fall, so there are relatively few days when we can leave the pool uncovered. It blocks all of our afternoon sun.

Albany has an ordinance that prohibits removing tees greater than six inches in diameter, unless they are dead or pose some sort of hazard. I began the process of getting a permit to have the sequoia removed a few years ago, which meant a visit from the city's arborist. He said my tree is healthy and not harmful and I was out of luck.
My neighbor had better luck when she applied to be able to remove hers. Her tree is closer to the house, and has lost some pretty large and destructive limbs in windstorms recently. The city agreed that the tree poses a danger and gave her a permit. The tree removal guy showed up this morning to take it out.

Removing the tree requires use of a large truck with a bucket on it. The truck needed to be driven into the neighbors back yard, so our fences had to be removed. He got that truck back there twice, and he only crashed into our gutter once.

Once they got back there, up went the bucket man, who put on quite a show for us. He started with a small chainsaw on a stick, and sawed off the small branches. Then, his assistant on the ground handed his a small chainsaw, which he used, often one-handed, to cut the smaller limbs into three or four foot sections, which just dropped to the ground.

Finally, he got the big saw, and cut the main limbs, which were 18" to 24" in diameter, into 12" chunks, and directed them to the ground. I think he got two limbs done today. There was a mis-communication with the power company- they need to shut off our power for the next few limbs. Pacific Power is required to give us 48 hours notice before they turn off our lights, so the whole operation has been "paused" until that happens.

I kinda like the tree more now- no leaves, helicopters or limbs poised to fall in my backyard, but still some shade and a feeling of privacy. I am going to really enjoy the next two days.


afterbefore