Living in Dryden

Losing trees in preparation

I'm starting a multi-year project this spring, changing the current mix of shade trees and ornamental plants on my property and increasing the number of edible or otherwise useful plants. I'm planning to use techniques from permaculture, developing a system of plants here that will hopefully require fewer inputs - like fertilizer, pesticides, weeding, and water - while producing useful and even tasty results.

Unfortunately, getting to that means some fairly big changes. Today I had seven trees removed from the yard. Well, felled, actually. I kept all of the trees' contents, which are, when you think about it, largely the soil I have here taken up and combined with air to create a new form. The tops of the trees were mulched, giving me a huge pile of mulch to use in the garden, and I'll be using the trunks in a number of projects I'll be describing here eventually.

Branches coming down.

Logs remaining in the backyard.

I had a hard time finding tree care places that would come and give me an estimate, playing a few rounds of phone tag. Unfortunately the work needed to be done fairly soon, as other projects depended on both removing the trees and having the materials created by the trees available. Cascadilla Tree Care had trimmed the trees here well a few years ago, and did all this work this morning, pretty much perfect timing for the next few projects I'll be getting underway. I've posted a gallery of photos from this morning's work.

I find the new appearance of my yard pretty shocking. I liked those trees, and it'll be years before I establish the new character of the place. Still, it's a first step on what will be a long road.