Hillside Status
Apr. 19th, 2010 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
helwenI skipped a day because of the weather -- ground would have been too soggy to walk on without disturbing some sensitive plants more than necessary. But yesterday L and I went up and it wasn't too bad at all, and trimmed more branches. L noted a birch that's leaning precariously, which will need to come down.
Then I wanted to check out the grove, to see how things had fared over the winter. The grove is in the middle of a former Christmas tree lot, which is heavily crowded overgrown. They're too tall for commercial purposes, but one brother cuts one down each year for the holidays, and sometimes we find a likely one for other relatives. This usually involves cutting down the tree and then taking the top off. So, we walked over to the grove and there was a topped tree in the space, which we'll need to cut up and remove. Cutting this tree down did reveal some trees that need to be taken down, as they're dead or nearly so, a useful thing.
Then... There were a couple of trees last year that had been leaning against a third one. There's a lot of ledge on the hill, so the firs can only get so tall before they fall over. But we weren't quite sure how to handle taking them down safely. A few discussions ensued, but other things were a priority at the farm. Well, the rather windy winter and spring has taken care of this dilemma for us, knocking all three down into the middle of the grove. We don't know exactly when, except that it was after the holiday tree was cut down, because its top branches were underneath the trio. It quite changes the feel of the space, and I expect to be quite busy helping to clean things up and re-set the space. I'm rather thankful that nature took care of them, and that no one was there to be injured by them, human or wild creature. I'm also glad they weren't leaning toward the birch, which has some lovely red trillium blooming at its base.
So, today being a nice sunny day, I'll be up there again at some point, to do some more care for the land up there. It's a long, slow process, but we're working on bringing back some diversity to the area, bit by bit.
Then I wanted to check out the grove, to see how things had fared over the winter. The grove is in the middle of a former Christmas tree lot, which is heavily crowded overgrown. They're too tall for commercial purposes, but one brother cuts one down each year for the holidays, and sometimes we find a likely one for other relatives. This usually involves cutting down the tree and then taking the top off. So, we walked over to the grove and there was a topped tree in the space, which we'll need to cut up and remove. Cutting this tree down did reveal some trees that need to be taken down, as they're dead or nearly so, a useful thing.
Then... There were a couple of trees last year that had been leaning against a third one. There's a lot of ledge on the hill, so the firs can only get so tall before they fall over. But we weren't quite sure how to handle taking them down safely. A few discussions ensued, but other things were a priority at the farm. Well, the rather windy winter and spring has taken care of this dilemma for us, knocking all three down into the middle of the grove. We don't know exactly when, except that it was after the holiday tree was cut down, because its top branches were underneath the trio. It quite changes the feel of the space, and I expect to be quite busy helping to clean things up and re-set the space. I'm rather thankful that nature took care of them, and that no one was there to be injured by them, human or wild creature. I'm also glad they weren't leaning toward the birch, which has some lovely red trillium blooming at its base.
So, today being a nice sunny day, I'll be up there again at some point, to do some more care for the land up there. It's a long, slow process, but we're working on bringing back some diversity to the area, bit by bit.
