One Gone Gum Tree

One Gone Gum Tree

I spent my “garden time” yesterday (Nov. 22) cutting down a big gum tree that is inside my garden. I started the garden in the corner of the yard years ago and it grew around the tree as the years went on. The tree had two trunks. Last year I cut the smaller trunk, which was balanced to fall the way I wanted. This year I decided to do the big one. If it fell naturally (the way it is balanced), it would crush my neighbor’s garden shed. If it fell half way between the way it wanted and the way I wanted, it would be on top of my house. Neither option seemed very good.

I decided to get a little extra insurance by tying the tree to another tree before I cut it. I put my ladder against the tree and tied a very heavy duty rope around the trunk as high as I could. I then tied it to the other tree. Next I took a notch in the direction I wanted the tree to fall. I made a very deep slanting cut to drop the tree. On the last cut, I left a “hinge” of wood to keep the tree from kicking back. Unfortunately the tree just stood straight up and didn’t fall either way. I pushed it to no avail. I was afraid to cut anymore.

The rope was my salvation. It was tied high enough to get good leverage on the trunk. I pulled the rope and the tree fell. A limb on a mulberry tree caught the gum tree. This morning I used a pruning hook to take the limb off and let the gum tree fall. I cut the trunk of the gum tree up for firewood. Splitting gum logs is very difficult; but I have a special technique that works well on hard to split wood. Next year, when I split those logs, I will share that with you.

I also mulched the raised bed with about 6 inches of unmulched leaves from the side of the road. I hope they will help the ph drop as they rot. I picked up some more leaves today. I may have enough compost after all.


David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.