One of the most enlightening blogs I've ever read was Don Engebretson at The Renegade Gardener. For the first time in my life I wasn't embarrassed about being a tree killer. Some trees are just meant to be killed.
Our property really is lovely, unfortunately the two previous owners were neither gardeners nor knew a single thing about landscaping. The last owner actually created several huge landscape faux-pas that would cost six figures to fix the way they should have been done.
I don't know who did the original foundation plantings but a Hemlock (Tsuga) was planted about 3 feet (1 meter) from the foundation of the house. Yup, that was smart. Plant a fast growing tree right next to the house and the big front window and see what happens.
Not only did the tree require constant haircuts just so we could see out the window, but it had the worst case of wooly adelgid you could imagine. Don't tell me about sprays, I have an entire property line of infected Hemlocks and would rather save the money for tree removal.
My husband Don took the above shot while I was unaware. I see he captured my best side.
Four hours later, thanks to Don's amazing talent with a Husqvarna chain saw, we can finally see out of our whole living room window. Now if only I could convince him to take those yews down a foot too.
Of course I realize trees aren't dumb. There are just dumb choices of trees planted in dumb locations all too often by dumb people. If you don't know what I mean, I could show you many more dumb examples.
Our property really is lovely, unfortunately the two previous owners were neither gardeners nor knew a single thing about landscaping. The last owner actually created several huge landscape faux-pas that would cost six figures to fix the way they should have been done.
I don't know who did the original foundation plantings but a Hemlock (Tsuga) was planted about 3 feet (1 meter) from the foundation of the house. Yup, that was smart. Plant a fast growing tree right next to the house and the big front window and see what happens.
Not only did the tree require constant haircuts just so we could see out the window, but it had the worst case of wooly adelgid you could imagine. Don't tell me about sprays, I have an entire property line of infected Hemlocks and would rather save the money for tree removal.
My husband Don took the above shot while I was unaware. I see he captured my best side.
Four hours later, thanks to Don's amazing talent with a Husqvarna chain saw, we can finally see out of our whole living room window. Now if only I could convince him to take those yews down a foot too.
Of course I realize trees aren't dumb. There are just dumb choices of trees planted in dumb locations all too often by dumb people. If you don't know what I mean, I could show you many more dumb examples.