The Next Step - Border Trees

 

The next step in our tree journey is the property line trees.  These are all very one sided and misshapen.  There are a few dead Ash, a one sided Red Oak, one Hemlock and a handful of aging Maples.  The first two are well on our side of the line, but there are four large and dangerous Maple trees that are either on or beyond the property line.  The neighbors agree that they need to come out so we can continue revamping this area.

Property Line in Red

While the trunks do provide some visual screening, when you look at them you realize that they need to come out.  With the Maple tops dying and getting so punky, they are more dangerous than we want to deal with. Also, when you fell them into the lawn they explode into a million pieces and the tops have to be burned. We have called our usual crane equipped tree cutters and they will be cutting them within a few weeks. They will chip the tops and leave the firewood.  What would be three or four days work for us turns into half a day for them.  Well worth the money.

While we are preserving the undergrowth, this will change the amount of light that gets in there quite a bit.  Conventional wisdom would have us digging stumps, clearing the area with a bulldozer, bringing in fill dirt, and spending thousands of dollars on sizeable shrubs.  Or, we could just put in a privacy fence.  Both of those options would cost a lot of money. The replanting of shrubs would take a considerable amount of time for them to reach mature height and provide a screen.  And the fence would be...well, a vinyl wall.  I'd rather utilize the mature growth that is already there and have a natural habitat for the birds and butterflies.

Northern Spicebush

I have ordered a few bareroot shrubs to start with taking advantage of spring sales and coupons.  Bareroot is the most cost effective but they will have to be potted up for awhile until the carnage is complete and they can be safely placed in their permanent homes.

Aronia Berry or Chokeberry

My priority has been native shrubs with berries for the birds, but the neighbor liked the sound of some Lilacs.  Stark Brothers has a good deal on lilac whips.  That will also ease my conscience about taking out the hundred year old Lilac bush.

Lilac

I will continue to keep my eyes open on good deals for similar shrubs.  There will be some fairly wide open spaces in there which will be perfect for establishing new shrubs.