Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Chopping down the cherry tree

Apparently Moscow had a terrible wind storm yesterday which knocked over some 2000 trees.  We had a bad windstorm the other day and today Tanya got worried about the big cherry tree in our front yard.  It is over 20 years old and about 4 meters taller than the power lines passing in front of our place.  The problem with the tree is how it grew.  It is like three huge trees in one, coming together in an upside down tripod about 1 meter from the ground.  That is the weak spot. 

A very strong wind could rip one or more of the three "branches" off, splitting the trunk where they come together.  It could damage our house and the power lines. The electric company had been by earlier this spring and told us to trim the tree away from the power line. So Tanya called our neighbour Valeria and he came over this afternoon to knock the top off the tree.

I never before saw anyone climb a tree wearing cheap slip-on rubber sandals but up to the top he went with a pruning saw and proceeded to dismember the tree limb by limb.  Of course, Tanya hollered every time one dropped on her flower beds but she was worried about Valerie up so high and limbing the tree so close to the power lines.  I told him I didn't want to have to find Natasha a new husband.

Once he got most of the high limbs off and away from the power line, he called it quits.  We'll take the rest of the tree down in the winter.  when Tanya's flowers are safe.

More wood to dry for shashlik.  And in another 20 years we can cut down the weeping birch Tanya planted beside it this spring.

5 comments:

  1. A few years back we had 9 trees removed from front of the property. A crew of five guys came with a grinder truck and dump truck. They had them all down and the stumps ground in less than 4 hours!

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  2. I'm glad I ate as much of those cherries while I could!

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  3. I was all for calling the electricity company to come with a cherry picker and safely remove the tree. There is a certain fatalism about Ukrainian and Russian men that says, It isn't my time to die.

    I already miss the shade and will miss the blossoms in spring. The rotten cherries all over the ground, not so much.

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  4. Yeah; trees and power lines do not mix terribly well. I have a couple of Manchurian Elms at the back of our yard. Major nuisance they are.

    And yes, I cut some, and the city electrical service does the rest.

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  5. Manchurian or Siberian Elms are a weed. PFRA sure tripped up recommending them for shelter belts. They are shallow creeping rooted and suck all the moisture from within 50 feet of each side.
    In yards they dump seed pods everywhere which all seem to grow. We had them in our yard on Sunset in Regina and I hated them.

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