Across the street. This grand old Silver Maple has been around for at least a hundred years. It was already higher than the house when my neighbors moved in 30+ years ago. Unfortunately, some of the branches have been dying and a couple of months ago a large branch came down in a storm, just missing the house. It would've caused major damage. Since there are more dead and dying branches over the house and the street, they made the heartbreaking decision to take down the tree. Here's the tree on Friday:



The crew getting to work on Saturday:





Some aerial ballet:



Getting to the end:



The last trunk:



Making sure the trunk falls in the right place:



The look on my neighbor's face tells it all:



But a little beauty shows up tho in the patterns on the trunk. The crew was cutting the trunk in thin slices for some possible furniture use.



And after the stump grinding and cleanup. The neighbors are already saying how much brighter it is inside. Of course, they're not looking forward to their AC bills now...



Thx for looking in...

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A little break from the grief...






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that's a pretty house – where is this?

We have a favorite maple next to our house that is in decline. We keep hoping it will perk up and have tried some things, but once these big trees start to slip the momentum is very hard to overcome.

The worst is that it will take so many years for something to grow as a replacement. Are they planning on planting anything new?

We lost 9 of the 16 big plane trees on our block as a result of Hurricane Sandy. More were lost in the immediate vicinity. They'd been planted all around the periphery of the large housing complex across the street from us, and many on or near the eastern side of the complex and along the flood route did not recover from the salt water inundation. There were a lot of them in the park along the East River as well and I have noticed quite a few stumps in those areas. It took the trees on our block until July the following summer to even begin to bud. At least one of the 9 that were eventually cut down didn't need to be, IMHO. Last fall, they finally planted small white oak in the locations where 6 of the plane trees had been cut down. Two of those are already looking pathetic, possibly because no one waters them. I get a little depressed every time I look at photos of my block pre-Sandy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2016 09:48AM by ka jowct.

That's a lot of fire wood!

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- Jack D.




New tasteless sig coming soon!

Are they planning on planting anything new?

Probably not anytime soon. He'll want to repair his lawn first!

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Jack D.
That's a lot of fire wood!

That and the crew saved a few branches for my wife who wants to cut them into discs to use as stepping "stones" for the gardens and other areas. Guess who will be moving that lumber, tho...

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where is this?

Metropolitan Detroit area.

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I have two silver maples within fifty feet of my house, and they are as big as that one. And I have had to have big limbs cut off—the one that didn't just fall by themselves. They are both in decline and I keep hoping, as they are on the riverbank, that they will fall in that direction if they go.

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And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
Western Massachusetts

It is always sad when a big old tree has to come down, but it really does look better without that one there.

Silver Maples are kind of known as a weed tree around here, but I did plant a few in a wet area in our pasture, as they are supposed to like getting a lot of water.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

I know the feeling, having lost more than our share of epic neighborhood trees over the last ten years.

But if people want to enjoy trees, go out and plant one now for future generations. The karma will come back to you in the great unknown.

I hope they plant another one right next to it.

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Nice pics, but sorry about it being a sad situation. I hate to see those big trees knocked down, whatever the reason.

At least the tree crew seems competent. There are plenty of crews out there that may have dropped that sucker right on the house.

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Mr. Lahey: A lot of people, don’t know how to drink. They drink against the grain of the liquor. And when you drink against the grain of the liquor? You lose.

Randy: What the @#$%& are you talking about?

We had to cut down a big red oak that tall but just 32" dbh,iirc trunk size. Also a blue spruce that I planted as a seedling when I was 4 or 5.
I miss the shade of the oak in the Summer but not necessarily the leaves in the Fall.



There's a bit of firewood there.

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your neighbor should contact a luthier and see if they'd like some maple.

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"Success isn't about how much money you make. It is about the difference you make in people's lives."--Michelle Obama

Unfortunately silver maple is not that good of a tree. They were usually planted because they grow fast, but the wood tends to be brittle and limbs breaking off are common. Some of its wood can be suitable for furniture, but usually it gets pulped for paper.

Thanks JoeH for that info.

I think one reason for the sadness is that our neighborhood is old and we have so many large trees. It's like an arboretum and on some of the streets you think you are driving thru a tunnel. There have been out-of-town visitors that have never been to MI and are astounded by the size and number of trees.
Yes, they can be a problem at times but of course, you shouldn't build houses here then! But they provide shade in the Summer, and the deciduous trees show Fall color, then drop the leaves to let the limited sunlight shine thru in the Winter. Homes and food for the critters. Unfortunately, there was a nest (Flickers, we think) that was destroyed-it had two eggs.
If any of you have never been to the eastern US it may be worth the trip some day just to see it. This part of North America was once completely covered with trees. Most were cut down for farmland but it is interesting to see when land is left unused how quickly it reverts to forest. A friend of mine who moved out of our city neighborhood back in the 60s moved to a subdivision 25 miles away that was built on old farmland. Today that sub looks like my neighborhood...

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2016 05:22PM by DP.

Great pics!

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

I was driving some guests from Colorado around out town a couple of years ago and they were amazed at the number of different kinds of trees we have (near Louisville, KY). It is nice to have the variety (and does help when the species specific critters arrive).

Dutch Elm arrived when we lived in Illinois and dad had to pay to take down four or five large elms. He was then transferred to Wisconsin where the bug arrived shortly after he did and he got to take down three more. Really bad timing. Moline had a large concentration of elms which overshadowed the streets in their prime. It was a very different town when they all came down.

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DP
I think one reason for the sadness is that our neighborhood is old and we have so many large trees. It's like an arboretum and on some of the streets you think you are driving thru a tunnel. There have been out-of-town visitors that have never been to MI and are astounded by the size and number of trees.

As a fellow Michigander - I remember my early visits to NYC in the late 80's. I had been to Manhattan a few times but it really didn't hit me until I stayed with a friend in Brooklyn. THERE WS NO REAL TREES OR GRASS.

The only trees were little twig types stuck in grates along the sidewalk. It was the middle of summer but it was so "cold and hard". My neighborhood has two divided park like streets (think like middle of 8 Mile or Telegraph with more Trees) so it seemed especially weird not seeing "real trees" or grass for over a week.

My neighborhood looks like this (about a mile or so away from my house - same street): Oakman Blvd



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2016 01:56AM by ArtP.

The American Elm we lost in the back yard is being turned into outdoor benches, and the hollow stump is being turned into a 'fairy house'. I've already cut doors and windows with the chain saw, and emptied out the carpenter and debris from the center with a shovel, and burned out the loose material with a torch. The next step is to pour concrete for a 'floor' and make a roof on a hinge with a 'chimney'. We've already had squirrels and birds checking it out.

I moved the big logs by simply screwing a lag bolt into the center of each side, putting a rope around the bolts, and my son an I rolled it along like a lawn roller. Physics is awesome !

Quote
cbelt3
The American Elm we lost in the back yard is being turned into outdoor benches, and the hollow stump is being turned into a 'fairy house'. I've already cut doors and windows with the chain saw, and emptied out the carpenter and debris from the center with a shovel, and burned out the loose material with a torch. The next step is to pour concrete for a 'floor' and make a roof on a hinge with a 'chimney'. We've already had squirrels and birds checking it out.

I moved the big logs by simply screwing a lag bolt into the center of each side, putting a rope around the bolts, and my son an I rolled it along like a lawn roller. Physics is awesome !

How did you ID the carpenter ??

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DP
This part of North America was once completely covered with trees. Most were cut down for farmland...

Not just farmland. It has been said that Chicago was built from the forests of Michigan.

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