Arborist Visit

7/12/2018

When we moved here, 32 years ago, we planted two Pin Oak trees.  As you can image, the trees have grown significantly since then.

Our first autumn here in 1986, our little Pin Oak in the front yard, blew down half a dozen or so of leaves. Coming from California, we happily picked up these leaves.

Okay, fast forward to 2018, that Pin Oak is now a big, big girl. And, the amount of leaves that fall to the ground now, requires a leaf blower and a number of recyclable bags.  In other words, she is no long quite as cute as she was 32 years ago.

Jeff examined the tree and found some bugs or pests on the trunk.  And, we have some dead branches as well.  Jeff didn't want to call a tree service company to merely cut off the dead branches. Because in doing so, that only removes part of the problem.

The arborist (I think that's spelled right), came out to the house to not only examine the ailing Pin Oak, but looked at all the trees, which included numerous Leland Cypresses in the backyard.  When we planted these Cypresses, their growth was slow but steady.  We planted the Cypresses in the first place to act as a barrier ("fence" if you will) from our neighbors.  When we lived in California, we had, as did most of our neighbors, a 6 foot cement wall fence, which was perfect.

Alas, living in an HOA we know would prohibit us from having this kind of fence - darn!  Basically, we were trying to obtain some level of privacy.  We have a very large kitchen window, as does the neighbor behind us.  When the trees were small, if I was at the window washing dishes, our neighbor would wave at us.  This was only a problem at night, because we had to turn on the kitchen lights to see.

Jeff really liked the arborist that came out. He has sent us several proposals of things he can do immediately, and other projects that can be done down the road.  One of his proposals, was to plant new Leland Cypresses in front of the old ones, and then remove the old ones, after the new ones grew up a bit. Or, because of my limited memory, put bigger trees in.  Jeff tells me all these things, and I try very hard to keep hold of the information, but even as early as last night, could only remember just a few things he said.

Of the Pin Oak in the front yard, a soil sample was taken, to see what the ground tells us. It would be catastrophic if the results come back telling us that the tree cannot be saved, and should or must come down. This is a really big tree and removing it would leave a big hole, not only in the ground, but in our hearts as well. We have a picture of Scott actually standing in the hole, shovel in hand.

Another thought.  Jeff picked up my car from the body shop yesterday, and the outside of the car looks brand new.  They do beautiful work.  But, and for Jeff and I, there seems to always be a but, Jeff noticed something wrong with the left mirror.  I think he said that the mirror would not let him know when there was a car in the next lane.  Back to the body shop it goes.  

Disclaimer: all my thoughts about the last few days are based solely on my memory, and we all know that's not good. This picture is not a picture of our tree now, but it's a good representation of what our tree looked like when it was healthier.

P