November 23, 2016 – When we bought our home a big part of the allure was the yard and the huge hemlock trees that were about 150′ tall. Unfortunately they have been shedding increasingly frighteningly large branches that are rotten.
After having a stream of arborists through for quotes for limbing, in which each and every one said they were beyond limbing, we had a chat with a Tree Risk Assessor who surveyed them and declared one dying and a serious hazard, and the other one not far behind.
So today, six months later, the first of the two came down in an exercise in skill and care for the rest of our yard.
After limbing the first tree, the Kiwi up the tree injured himself when an eight foot section fell and swung around and slammed into his foot. Off he went to the hospital with what looked to be a fractured or broken bone in his foot. It looked like it was probably the second metatarsal.
Off he went to the hospital, sucked since it was his last day. Not a great way to finish up and head out before holidays and a logger competition abroad.
It took the crew almost six hours to get the first one down completely. Hard work when the tree is only 20-30 feet from a house and the owners want the rhododendrons below saved. No falling, it had to come down limb by limb followed by sections that were progressively smaller as they got closer to the bottom, given the girth of the tree.
And the guys were so kind, they happily and carefully sectioned off two slabs near the bottom so that we could turn them into something to remember them by. Each slab heavy enough that it took two of the crew to carry them around the yard to the front of the house. When they set them down one said, “We counted 90 rings.”
A Western hemlock can live up to 500 years in a forest, but the normal average lifespan is 80-100 years. But I still feel awful.
So now the first is gone and the second partially limbed; it comes down tomorrow.
Sad day given how much we love big trees. There is a great deal more sky up there now, but the coziness of the yard has changed so much.
6 comments
I didn’t realise how big those trees were! What do you want to do with the giant slabs that were cut?
I think make a couple of small tables