The day before yesterday, we had two sickly apple trees and one dead pear tree in our yard cut down and sawed into firewood. We had lived with those trees for 16 years and had watched as fungi and mistletoe sapped their strength. All three trees were probably about 50 years old. I blame frequent summertime drought, combined with recent mild, damp winters, for their demise.
In October, the biggest of our four apple trees fell — or more precisely, its two main limbs broke off — for no other reason than that the tree was near death. There was rain the day the first limb crashed down, but no wind. A few days later the second big limb dropped. I had just returned from my trip to North Carolina. We basically did nothing about the broken-down tree as we waited for the gardening service we have hired for the past few years to send out a hedge-trimming crew for their annual visit.
The man who runs the business said they would be glad to cut up the dead wood for us as well as trim the hedges, and the five-man crew did the whole job in one eight-hour day. It would have taken us weeks to do that much work — I'm not sure we would ever have got it done. The remaining two apple trees in the back yard seem healthy — with no mushrooms growing on or around their trunks, and no mistletoe growing on them.
The job went pretty fast because the laurel hedge didn't grow much this year. That's because of the severe drought conditions we experienced from June until October. The little pear tree on the northeast corner of our property had suddenly died more than a year ago. The little apple tree by the back gate was so sickly that we put it out of its misery. And of course there was no way to save the biggest apple tree. Sic transit gloria mundi...
Good to hire those jobs out. That's such a great hedge, too, and you keep it looking nice.
ReplyDeleteIn my photos in this post, the sides, but not the top, of the hedge have been trimmed. As I said, the hedge didn't grow much this because we got so little rain.
DeleteThe crew was quite efficient. I like your Latin quote, "Sic transit gloria mundi" for the season. I also like the yellows in the last photo.
ReplyDeleteI like the yellows in that photo too, but I do wish they would come and haul that yellow trailer away. I also hope they will fill in the deep and wide ruts out back too. Meanwhile, the gardenig/landscaping crew did a great job. In the 3rd photo, the man is trimming and shaping the laurier sauce bush (bay leaf bush). We use bay leaves almost daily inour cooking.
DeleteIt is always good to find a company who shows up, does a good and efficient job and cleans up after themselves. Then, to continue hiring them so they know you appreciate their work! You guys know how to get work done right!
ReplyDeleteWe were lucky to find this business when we did. The crew was working on our neighbor's hedges one day. Walt went to talk to them about doing ours. The previous owner, who was excellent and easy to work with, got in touch with us right away. Then he retired and the younger man who now owns or at least runs the business is at least as good as his predecessor. We have been lucky.
DeleteI feel there is more than luck involved, Ken. When a customer treats the business and its workers fairly, then hires them repeatedly, that business should respond in kind with timely responses and follow through. From your blogging it seems that has been the case! On my end, the difficult part is going through many unprofessional agents to find one that shows up and them follows through! I'm in the process now in finding a good company to cut down some branches over my home fire hazard).
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