Timberrrrrrrrr!

When we purchased our riverfront home there were two large trees blocking our money shot! We could not imagine why the previous owners had not done anything about the trees, especially since the trees were dead. Needless to say removing the trees was one of the first things on our to do list. Within a few days of moving in (October 1st) my husband had called the power company about the trees. He informed them that the trees were a hazard of falling down, especially during a freezing rain storm. They put in an order to come look at the trees and said that they would be there in a few weeks. A week or two later a man came to look at the trees. He agreed that they were dead and would be a hazard as they could fall over and tear the lines down. He said that they would schedule an appointment to come out and cut the trees down a few feet from the ground. The stumps would remain for us to remove ourselves. Basically, they would cut down the part that would damage the lines, but the rest was up to us.* Within a few weeks the crew came and cut the trees down and hauled away all of the debris. Though they left stumps, we did convince them to cut them lower than they were required to do or would have done. My husband is a great negotiator! Here you can see what a difference it made with the first tree down:

You wouldn't believe the amount of light that came flooding into our living room as soon as the first tree was down. As they went for the second one, our neighbors approached the house. They were upset that we hadn't talked to them before having the trees removed. We thought that the trees were on our property (they were!) and that it would not be any of their concern. In hindsight, we wish that we would have informed them in advance, just to be neighborly and keep things polite! We found out afterward that the barges coming up and down the river now shone their lights into their front windows and their dog was up barking most of the night.

They cleaned up all but a few chunks of the trunk, which we ended up hauling to my in-laws to be cut up and used in their wood burning furnace. So much better!

A few weeks later we had to hire somebody to come out and grind both stumps down so that we could plant grass seed. The grinding of the stumps, $75 each, was the only part of the project that we had to pay for. It was well worth the investment considering how much it brightened up the inside of the house and also opened up the view of the river. We would definitely gain that back if we ever decided to sell our house.
Here it is since we planted grass seed this spring, almost can't tell that there was ever anything there!

We still have some work to do in the front yard, including ripping out this large bush and a tree which has come up in the middle of it. I just have to keep reminding myself that we are going to be living here for a very long time, so I have lots of time to plan and save to do things the way I want them.


I am joining Debbie from Debbiedoos Before and After Party
http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/2010/08/harvest-romance-and-another-lamp-redo.html
and Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick

* I cannot guarantee that the power company would provide this same service in any or all situations. It depends on the health of the trees themselves, proximity to power lines and the work load of the tree removal company among other things. At the very least it is worth a try to see if they can be of any help in removing branches that are closest to power lines so that you can take down the rest of the tree without damaging their property.