Wow.,!
So a Crain above. Holding that tree top as the “guy” in the cherry picker cuts the top .!
Early 80s. , I was a rock / tree climber.
I would climb to the top of a tree like that.
Wrap a good chain around it, twice, good clevice .
Repel Down dropping limbs. Then , chunking the trunk.
On my way down,
Have it on the ground before noon.
$ 500 in hand at noon , early 80s
Looked for the noon saloon about that time .
Felt lucky to be alive. !
Still do !
So …
Worth every dollar .
That is not a " good … " job.
Just sayin…
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Yes, a lot more heavy equipment than the “good ole’ days”. They did their best to minimize landscape damage, but we had to dig up my bayberry hedge and my poor Erythronium got trampled right before bloom! Oh, well. They only have to do it the once. They had to cut out early today because the wind is picking up. Should be back tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates!
@mamuang Yes, very expensive! Each of these trees is like several good size trees in one, and we have a long, skinny lot with a retaining wall halfway down. In addition to the best price, they were the only company that didn’t think we needed to take the wall down to get the lift in the back. Made the choice pretty easy.
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I maybe? have a take on Orange Red!
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The aftermath. My yard looks so naked! I miss the trees already, but they did need to come down. I asked them to leave the wood chips and one of the stumps. I also have a lot of soil decompaction to do!
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Looks great! I can’t wait to see what all you do with the space 
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get some mushroom mycelium and inoculate those stumps. you’ll get mushrooms for many years and they will help it break down faster for you. wine cap mushrooms for the wood chips. 
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I had them set aside some smallish logs from the white oak for shiitakes, and I’ll probably do wine caps in the wood chips, too. We’d like that stump to last a while, so I’ll leave it un-inoculated for now.
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Replanted my bayberry hedge today. I was able to make creative use of suckers to fill in some gaps.
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Side project: I used a piece of the ash tree to make a handle for my froe. It only took me 7 years to get to it!
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Pawpaw seedlings came up well! Only one didn’t sprout. I excavated that last seed, and it sinks in water, so may still be viable. I put it back into cold stratification to see if that will wake it up.
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Started on my persimmon grafts. 6 down, 15 to go. Leaning then against my seedling light to keep them warmer than room temp.
I also took a piece of root that I needed to prune off (it wouldn’t fit in the pot this will live in) and planted it outside as a root cutting. We’ll see how it does!
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Here’s my cold hardy cactus bed, just starting to wake up. I just installed it last year, so it has a little filling out to do. I also need to add to my collection. I lost two last year because I was too itchy to get it planted, and put things in before it was warm enough for them to recover nicely.
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Grafts and seedlings out getting some sun.
And, I’m pretty darn sure this apricot took! Apples and one of the peaches are also confirmed takes. Still waiting on movement on the pears and the other two apricot varieties.
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Glad to see the progress. Everything is coming along great from the looks of it!
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Thanks! Most of it’s going well. I’ve had to regraft a few that clearly had failed, and this cool weather has slowed my seedlings way down, but overall things are on the right track.
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just got my prickly pear pads in the mail yesterday. Jay what do you use for soil for them? should i use sand and compost?
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was thinking sand, pelite and compost would be fine with pea gravel as a mulch.
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For outdoors in the East, you should really limit the organic matter. Ideally, you want at least a foot deep raised bed of equal proportions sharp sand, gravel, and a little less of native soil. Since I’ve read you have heavy clay, maybe substitute some bags of topsoil. Look in the masonry section of wherever you get building supplies, that’s the right kind of sand and gravel. Get some more gravel for top dressing, you can get the nice pea gravel if you want to get fancy, but ideally an inch or two of depth. In my experience, Eastern prickly pear doesn’t need the full deluxe treatment, but it never hurts. Especially since you are on the cold end of its tolerance, so it may need some extra help.
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