Farewell dear tree!!!

The tree service was here for three hours this afternoon working on limbing the tree. They will be back tomorrow to finish that part. Then I have to talk them into topping if for us. After that DH, a BIL and neighbor will have to finish cutting it down. Its a service contacted with the power company and they are doing this due to the proximity of this tree to the power lines. Otherwise it could have been a $2000 to do this is we had to contract it out!! The service identified it as an American Elm instead of what we thought it was a Siberian Elm. Cause of decline-dutch elm disease!! They estimated the height at 65 feet tall!!! I'll post a couple of pics for a before and after. This tree is unfortunately in our front yard and will be a HUGH LOSS to our landscape
Oh well we got to enjoy it for 19 yrs!!U

It will take you a while to get used to your new view I'm sure.

That's such a shame to lose a beautiful old tree.
Dutch Elm Disease certainly seems rampant. A whole swath of trees were cut down in Ontario last year I think because they wanted to stop the spread of the disease.

Oh how sad. Elms are one of my favorite trees. I grew up on an elm lined street and spent many days in the yard under the elms as a child. Then Dutch Elm disease went through and took all of the tree in one year. It was never the same again. Sorry you lost your grand old Elm.

Trees are special.

We know all too well what the loss of a large and old tree can do for asthetics and morale. A little more than a year ago, our 70 something willow tree located smack dab in the middle of our back yard had to be removed. It had a girth over 12 feet. The back yard now looks naked without it.

Well, it did partially crash down and crushed my van, but that could be repaired. The tree wasn't as lucky. Neither was the family of racoons the lived among its many large hollow sections. There were at least 7 of them in that tree. None were hurt, AFAIK, and we insisted that the (very expensive) tree service procede slowly in the areas known to house the animals so they wouldn't hurt any if they were still hiding. Luckily, none were found within.

Elms, while a wonderful looking tree, grow like weeds. D.E. disease wiped out about 25% of all large trees here a few decades ago, and everyone was warned against planting any more. They were outlawed as a species for parkways in many towns. A new disease-resistant elm species has been developed nearby at the Morton Arboretum, and is now available for sale nationwide, for those who still want an Elm.

This really is a sad loss.

Well the tree guys just pulled in the driveway!!!
I took a class last night on the hot new shrubs in zones 4-8. I have to be careful on replacement because of the power lines but I now have some ideas!!
I'll post some pcitures after they leave!

Here is the "mess" we have to clean up before we take the rest of the tree down!!





There the bigger "logs" are located is actually part of the perennial bed that I had under this tree!! I sure hope the plants are ok!!

Wow. Instant desolation. I can see why that tree was important.

My grandpa took out all the trees in his yard. There is nothing left but a few shrubs. I know how you feel. That must have been a beautiful tree. Do you have any pics of before?