At the end of last week the tree surgeons came and removed the diseased ash tree from the back garden. They also trimmed back the lime trees and the ash at the front. It’s always great entertainment for the neighbours however it is extremely disruptive and somewhat destructive of the area around the trees.
They use a mobile hoist to get them as far up the tree as possible but in the end they had to climb the last few metres to get to the top. This is very much a top down exercise.
Over two days they worked away, slowly, carefully removing the highest branches – at times they were literally out on a limb. In most cases they lowered the larger branches on ropes but at times they were just dropping slices of tree. The ground shuddered on occasion as the heavy pieces pounded into the ground.
They cleared up as much as possible but inevitably there’s a lot of tidying up to be done particularly around the base of the tree where there are large logs that need to be moved. There is also a huge pile of wood chippings that I’ve started to spread on the path that runs between the trees. The chippings are already decomposing and as I dig into the pile there is steam rising from it.
As the hoist was manoeuvred around it must have broken the wire that runs round the lawn to guide Piglet. I spent some time finding the broken cable and once found it didn’t take long to repair because I bought connectors for this very purpose.
That’s left quite a gap. Are the roots going to be ground out?
Indeed it has left a space on the ground and in the sky. I expect to get a lot more morning sunshine at the back door this summer. I need to split and move the heavy rounds away from the stump and then get a guy in to ground out the base. If it’s anything like the sycamore trees they only grind down so far. There will still be plenty of lateral roots running hither and thither getting in the way of any planting I want to do..
Strangely the planning consent hasn’t insisted on a replacement tree.