Original Post March 11, 2011
One of the things that we fell in love with when we purchased our home was the backyard. Having a decent size backyard was a priority when looking at homes. If a house did not have enough room for Oliver to run it was off the list. Actually, if it did not have a fence it too was off the list because we had promised our boy a yard. I know this may sound extreme to some but we had prioritized our needs and this was something we would not budge on.
So with that in mind we found a place that had a nice yard with plenty of trees that was full of squirrels to keep Oliver busy. I am sure it will not come as a shock that Oliver loves to chase the horrid trespassers out of his yard and we love to watch him stalk them getting ever so close before they scurry up the closest tree.
Once we moved in it was then time to do the much needed yard work. While I m not a huge fan of yard work I realize it comes with having a yard and was more than prepared to do it. I knew I would have to cut, rake and yes, even weed. What I did not know is that all trees are not created equal. Okay, I m not stupid, I know there are different kinds of trees, with different kinds of leaves, but what I didn’t know is that our lovely backyard was full of a particular tree called sweet gum trees. Now I m not sure if you have ever heard of this particular tree but there is nothing sweet about it. As a matter of fact the opposite seems to be true. You see, on these dreaded trees are balls which are about the size of a golf ball. They are very hard and have spikes coming from every direction and can totally ruin a person’s day. If you step on them it is very good possibility you will twist your ankle. There is no going barefoot in the summer, the lawnmower hates them and the leaf mulcher will not touch them. In other words, the only thing they are good for is to irritate the people responsible for cleaning them up which, in our case, will most likely be me since my hubby is away so much.
The other issue came to light when we started watching Oliver run through the yard. He would take off after the squirrels only to start limping as his paws indivertibly came down upon one of the spiky gumballs. It was mostly for this reason we decided to have the three trees removed. Unfortunately upon further inspection we did not have three gumball trees, we had seven. That’s right seven of our nine trees in our backyard are gumball trees.
I called in several tree guys and we went with the guy who said all of the right things as well as gave us the lowest price. I was confident in my choice until they actually showed up. My main concern is that there were only two of them. Our trees are not little they re full grown and extremely tall, some reaching as high as sixty feet.
I had serious doubts that two men and a truck, pickup truck that is, would be able to do a job of this size. After standing round for quite some time just staring at the trees it seemed it was finally time to get to work. They had a bit of trouble backing the trailer into the driveway but after about seven attempts finally got it into position. They then put a net in place over top of the trailer to prevent any mulch from escaping.
The helper, I will call him the helper, had a bit of an issue with his pants. It seemed as though they were a bit too big as he had to keep pulling them up. The other guy, or I should say the boss man, did not have that issue as he wore tight white pants. I know this for a fact as I was pretty amazed that he wore white pants knowing he was going to be climbing trees all day. All I will say is he must use some really good detergent. So, after pulling up his pants yet again, the helper carried the boss man’s red tree climbing harness to the backyard and made sure it was good to go. I couldn’t help but think how if I was going to be climbing a tree and depending on this little red belt to keep me safe that I would probably want to inspect it myself. I think I would feel the same way about a parachute, that is if I were crazy enough to jump out of a plane, which I m not. After the boss man donned the red belt, which fit nicely against his bottom, not that I was looking mind you, I found out why he wore white. The red and white looked very nice together all snug and tight. Not that I was looking…
After getting all suited up and reedy to climb the first tree, boss man took out a round tin and shoved most of the contents into each side of his mouth. I guess since he was going to be up there a while he wanted to make sure he did not run out. I did not think there was a chance of him running out because his cheeks were puffed out like a hamster and his bottom lip stuck out like Bubba in the movie Forest Gump. It was at this point he started climbing the tree and I kid you not with his cheeks puffed and his lip jutted he looked just like a monkey. Right then and there any previous thoughts I may have had about the man with his tight pants and snug buns left. Gone, never to return!
Watching him climb that tree and begin taking down limbs I realized boss man was in the wrong tree. He had scurried up one of the two trees that we were keeping. I hurried out to let him know the error of his ways. As it turned out he knew it was not to be cut down and was just pruning it for me. That was mighty nice of him. Having gotten a late start they were only able to take down two full trees the first day. While I was a bit apprehensive at first both trees came down without issue and so far no damage has been done. I was very impressed by the fact that before they left they cleaned up all the debris from the trees they had cut.
They did not come back yesterday because it was raining. I expect them to return this morning and continue removing the rest of the trees. I can only assume they will need several more days to complete the process but, then again, they seem to work well as a team so they could surprise me yet again.
I guess when you think about it if two people can do the work of several then more power to them. I would rather them take their time, be safe and do a good job, than to be in and out in a single day. Besides, the sooner they are finished the sooner I will have to go out into the yard and pick up all of the gumballs that fell during the removal. With that in mind I think they can take all the time they want, the trees will still be there when they return, unfortunately so will the gumballs…
One of the things that we fell in love with when we purchased our home was the backyard. Having a decent size backyard was a priority when looking at homes. If a house did not have enough room for Oliver to run it was off the list. Actually, if it did not have a fence it too was off the list because we had promised our boy a yard. I know this may sound extreme to some but we had prioritized our needs and this was something we would not budge on.
So with that in mind we found a place that had a nice yard with plenty of trees that was full of squirrels to keep Oliver busy. I am sure it will not come as a shock that Oliver loves to chase the horrid trespassers out of his yard and we love to watch him stalk them getting ever so close before they scurry up the closest tree.
Once we moved in it was then time to do the much needed yard work. While I m not a huge fan of yard work I realize it comes with having a yard and was more than prepared to do it. I knew I would have to cut, rake and yes, even weed. What I did not know is that all trees are not created equal. Okay, I m not stupid, I know there are different kinds of trees, with different kinds of leaves, but what I didn’t know is that our lovely backyard was full of a particular tree called sweet gum trees. Now I m not sure if you have ever heard of this particular tree but there is nothing sweet about it. As a matter of fact the opposite seems to be true. You see, on these dreaded trees are balls which are about the size of a golf ball. They are very hard and have spikes coming from every direction and can totally ruin a person’s day. If you step on them it is very good possibility you will twist your ankle. There is no going barefoot in the summer, the lawnmower hates them and the leaf mulcher will not touch them. In other words, the only thing they are good for is to irritate the people responsible for cleaning them up which, in our case, will most likely be me since my hubby is away so much.
The other issue came to light when we started watching Oliver run through the yard. He would take off after the squirrels only to start limping as his paws indivertibly came down upon one of the spiky gumballs. It was mostly for this reason we decided to have the three trees removed. Unfortunately upon further inspection we did not have three gumball trees, we had seven. That’s right seven of our nine trees in our backyard are gumball trees.
I called in several tree guys and we went with the guy who said all of the right things as well as gave us the lowest price. I was confident in my choice until they actually showed up. My main concern is that there were only two of them. Our trees are not little they re full grown and extremely tall, some reaching as high as sixty feet.
I had serious doubts that two men and a truck, pickup truck that is, would be able to do a job of this size. After standing round for quite some time just staring at the trees it seemed it was finally time to get to work. They had a bit of trouble backing the trailer into the driveway but after about seven attempts finally got it into position. They then put a net in place over top of the trailer to prevent any mulch from escaping.
The helper, I will call him the helper, had a bit of an issue with his pants. It seemed as though they were a bit too big as he had to keep pulling them up. The other guy, or I should say the boss man, did not have that issue as he wore tight white pants. I know this for a fact as I was pretty amazed that he wore white pants knowing he was going to be climbing trees all day. All I will say is he must use some really good detergent. So, after pulling up his pants yet again, the helper carried the boss man’s red tree climbing harness to the backyard and made sure it was good to go. I couldn’t help but think how if I was going to be climbing a tree and depending on this little red belt to keep me safe that I would probably want to inspect it myself. I think I would feel the same way about a parachute, that is if I were crazy enough to jump out of a plane, which I m not. After the boss man donned the red belt, which fit nicely against his bottom, not that I was looking mind you, I found out why he wore white. The red and white looked very nice together all snug and tight. Not that I was looking…
After getting all suited up and reedy to climb the first tree, boss man took out a round tin and shoved most of the contents into each side of his mouth. I guess since he was going to be up there a while he wanted to make sure he did not run out. I did not think there was a chance of him running out because his cheeks were puffed out like a hamster and his bottom lip stuck out like Bubba in the movie Forest Gump. It was at this point he started climbing the tree and I kid you not with his cheeks puffed and his lip jutted he looked just like a monkey. Right then and there any previous thoughts I may have had about the man with his tight pants and snug buns left. Gone, never to return!
Watching him climb that tree and begin taking down limbs I realized boss man was in the wrong tree. He had scurried up one of the two trees that we were keeping. I hurried out to let him know the error of his ways. As it turned out he knew it was not to be cut down and was just pruning it for me. That was mighty nice of him. Having gotten a late start they were only able to take down two full trees the first day. While I was a bit apprehensive at first both trees came down without issue and so far no damage has been done. I was very impressed by the fact that before they left they cleaned up all the debris from the trees they had cut.
They did not come back yesterday because it was raining. I expect them to return this morning and continue removing the rest of the trees. I can only assume they will need several more days to complete the process but, then again, they seem to work well as a team so they could surprise me yet again.
I guess when you think about it if two people can do the work of several then more power to them. I would rather them take their time, be safe and do a good job, than to be in and out in a single day. Besides, the sooner they are finished the sooner I will have to go out into the yard and pick up all of the gumballs that fell during the removal. With that in mind I think they can take all the time they want, the trees will still be there when they return, unfortunately so will the gumballs…
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