A Bad Week For Trees

After much back and forth about the fate of the birch trees in the back, Peter spoke at length to Matt Foti, the tree guy, and it was decided the birches had to go. And the hemlocks that were next to them. Matt felt that trying to move the trees to another permanent spot, or worse to a temporary home and then back, would be a costly disaster; he didn't think the trees would survive the trauma and we'd end up having to get new ones anyway. And it makes sense to drop the grade everywhere and not leave a big mound just for the trees which could be compromised anyway after living through all the construction. I told Lee the decision over the phone, and by the time I got to the house, Sal and his big-clawed digger were making mincemeat of the birch trees. While it made me sad to see them go; it was also fascinating to watch Sal work the claw as if it were his own hand. He is very agile with it. I think he could probaly pick up a cheerio.

Peter, Lee and I walked around the rest of the property trying to make some more landscape decisions. We decided the Yew trees, which are pretty sick, and the Hawthorne might have to go on the side of the house. We talked about how to redo the old brick walkways andthe birdbath area which will no longer have a birdbath. I thought nothing was actually resolved

I went inside to check on the plastering and blueboarding which is going very well. The 1st floor is just about done and we finally decided on the size of the now-interior kitchen window so Katelyn framed it out so the plasterers could do their magic.

Then as I was leaving, actually in the car, Sal and Lee were standing at the top of the driveway and Lee yelled over to me - Yew trees, yes or no. Apparently the tree cutters were on their way over. So I said yes.

Peter and I went looking at furniture, and later when I phoned Lee, he said the trees were gone. He said you could barely notice except it was much lighter in the yard. The truth is, there is still plenty of privacy and it's not so noticeable that the yews (and a Hawthorne) are gone. But over by the tennis court, it really looks pretty barren where the birch trees and hemlocks are no longer. It'll be good to get that graded, build the shed and get some new trees in there - maybe by the end of the week...?