top of page

hello there

Writer's pictureKiersten

The Rest of the Front Yard Tree Gets Cut Down

Remember when the birch tree near our house took a hit in a storm last summer and left us with this one sad leaning section? Zach finally had enough of it and decided to take matters into his own hands and cut it down.

large front yard birch tree leaning away from house

Taking down big trees like this is such a shame, especially because of the shade it gave our front yard. And having all of these mature trees was another big part of what drew us to this neighborhood. But you know we'll be replacing it and then some. It's a perfect spot so we not only wanted to cut it down, but grind the stump down in hopes of being able to use this spot to plant again. To save money, Zach decided to cut it down himself. We all know he just wanted an excuse to bust out his chainsaw...

echo chainsaw sitting on grass

...and his new lumberjack hat! ;)

zach cutting into tree with chainsaw

Cutting Down the Tree

Zach's classic tree trimming/parenting move: put the kids at the end of the rope to help pull the tree the direction we want it to fall. Hank looks thrilled here. Let's just say this is a better idea than it is a tool in the process, especially for a big leaning the other way tree.

kids holding ends of rope attached to tree

He cut a wedge or two out of the tree on the side we wanted it to fall before cutting through the tree. For the record, the tree fell the direction of the wedge... which wasn't exactly where we wanted it to fall. ;) Do what we say, not what we do. Good news is it still cleared the house and the neighbor's plants.

zach holding a tree wedge

Once down, he got to work cutting off the branches into keeper sections for firewood and twig groups for composting.

zach cutting pieces of fallen tree with chainsaw

Teacher on the weekdays. Lumberjack on the weekends.

zach in lumberjack hat holding chainsaw

After everything was cleaned up. we were left with a stump and a big wide open space out front.

dog on leash in front yard with empty tree space

Grinding Down the Tree Stump

We missed all the action on this, but we hired a tree service to come and grind out and down the existing stump.

stump grinder equipment along road

Zach moved all the plants and rocks in that part of the plant bed so they didn't get damaged in the process and so we'd have a clean slate to work with when we go to replant.

man spreading mulch in plant bed along house

Under all that new tree mulch, we've got about an 18" hole where the tree stump was to work with.

empty plant bed with mulch

Now the real fun begins... deciding what kind of tree to put out here in this primo location!

plant bed with only mulch in it

 

Need a tree fix? Here's what we used:


DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase through one of the product links, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

75 views

Related Posts

See All

Opmerkingen


1A562915-EDF5-42A2-AABF-8DCD8DC8E59E_edited.jpg

we're kiersten and zach

We're Zach and Kiersten. Thanks for following along as we worked to make the very 2000s home we bought in 2020 more “us.” For three years we've shared everything from quick fixes to more permanent changes, along with projects you can do in your own home. Zach shared all his lawn and garden advice as he started over on the new yard, too. 

​

We've officially stopped blogging, which you can read all about in our last post. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

blog categories

top tags

bottom of page