The tree cutter is coming today. We have quite a few river birch trees in our yard. We’ve had one that died and had to be cut. It wasn’t close to the house so Chad and Vince cut it. Probably in December, Vince noticed that one that’s close to the house has rotted at the bottom. About half the base of the tree is rotten. Vince called our professional tree cutter, Josh, and when he came out, we had been having snow a couple of times a week and the ground was really wet. Josh said there was no way he could get his equipment back to that tree until the ground was dry. He told Vince it should be ok until the tree gets leaves.
The tree is very tall and is maybe 15 feet from our house, maybe 15 feet from the back of the solar panels and maybe 15 feet from our fence. We’ve had so many storms and so much wind and I have been praying and crossing my fingers that the tree doesn’t fall before Josh gets here.
It’s now getting leaves, which Josh said he wanted to get it cut before it has leaves. Vince called him and told him it’s getting leaves so he’s coming today. He’s so busy and I hate calling him again but I also don’t want it to fall on the solar panels or the house.
I will be very nervous until that tree is on the ground and didn’t hit anything. Josh is good . . I’m not worried but I’ll still be happy when it’s down.
It always makes me sad to lose a tree. This is a picture taken 5 or 6 years ago and it’s the tree hanging over the left end of the solar panels. The tree really didn’t block the sun from the panels but you can see that if it falls that way, it’s going to damage the solar panels and if it falls towards the house, it’s going to cause some problems. The fence wasn’t up in this picture.
Right at the other corner of the house there are two callery pears there. One of them was way too close to the deck so we were going to have Josh cut it when we first bought the house. We were going to have him trim up the other one, which is farther from the house. He got the first one cut but when he started trimming the second one, he noticed it was hollow so it needed to come down. He did a good job so I’m not worried. How many times do I have to say that before I believe it? 
I wish we never had to cut trees but . . sometimes it happens.
The only good thing about losing this river birch is that when we put up the clothesline, the tree shaded just a part of the line but as it’s grown, it shades almost half of the clothesline. The clothes still dry but I’d rather not have birds in the tree sitting over my clean clothes.
Of course, I’ll report back once the tree is safely down . . like anyone besides me is sitting on pins and needles waiting for it to happen.
Gail says
One of the happiest days of my life was when we had 3 river birches removed from our backyard. I was so tired of constantly picking up small twigs and limbs that fell off daily, don’t miss them at all. We have many other trees and the backyard is loving the extra sun.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I agree. I wouldn’t mind getting rid of all of them but they’re really the only trees we have. I think we’ve already had four of them cut and the stumps ground down but there are probably 8 left. I understand about the sun. I’m constantly having to move things around to get more sun but the house has so many windows and the afternoon sun is brutal, I wish we had more (better) shade trees.
Dot says
River birches also have shallow roots that like to travel. I had one (planted by the previous owners of my house) that was next to a brick wall around my patio. The roots were growing under the wall, threatening to topple it. And other roots were headed toward the house foundation. My tree man said that they should always be planted far from structures.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I think all trees should be farther away from the house. Roots near foundations are never good.