Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Taking Down the Willow!

Our last entry ended with the falling of our Willow tree.  It was a pretty big tree and we are glad that there was not more damage when it fell.  I don't think it was just the Texas winds that brought it down, but the drought this summer probably weakened the root system to where it wasn't going to last much longer.  It was surprising to me to see how it just broke right at the roots.

Here are the broken roots.

Jeff was able to borrow a chain saw and get to work chopping up the tree before the big storm hit last night.  It took a while because it was so big.  

Jeff had good helpers though :)

This is what it looked like on the outside of the fence.  The whole top of the tree was basically outside of our yard.  

Sandra, Mhari, Grant and Talmage giving the tree one last hug.

Mhari saying "Poor Tree"

The storm we were trying to beat!

The boys hauling branches.  The pile started building up pretty fast.

Still cutting away at the top... 

Starting to make progress... trying to get it off the fence.

Bigger branches require more helpers ;)

The poor slide :(

Finally seeing some progress.

Getting to the bigger branches... harder to cut 

Taking down the stump.  By this time the rain had hit and we were under the patio.

What is left today... the tree still on the slide, but much less weight pushing on it.  You can see the huge piece Jeff cut off on the ground too.

Our huge tree pile.  It could be more compacted, but the kids did a great job helping!
I'm sad to lose the tree, but at the same time it has opened up more options for our backyard and maybe we will do something new and exciting ;).  We may have to actually buy a tree though, we will want the shade in the summer!  
Oh and besides one broken slat the fence seems to be fine, what a good fence Jeff built :)

1 comment:

Katie Busken said...

Your husband is so handy. And what great kids to help so much!