Tree Hugger

This is a sneaky picture I took of Bob, my arborist. As you can see, he's so wrapped up in his description of my abused trees that he barely notices the photo taking. I claimed to be taking pics of the trees -- which he loved.

I have an arborist.  How many people can say that?  Who has an arborist anyway?  Apparently I do.

Yup.  We now have an arborist as one of our it takes a village to renovate a house built in the mid-1800's.

As I mentioned in the past, we purchased our Maine house from a couple of fledgling DIYers.  The net result of said DIYing is that most everything they did, they did the wrong way.  To say they were shortcutters would not begin to describe their approach to home repair.

Such was the case with the beautiful trees growing on the property.  Let's just start by saying that there is absolutely no chance that either Ted or I would ever, in a million years, willingly (or even unwillingly) hoist ourselves into a tree to perform tree trimming or even a cat rescue.  This is why there are tree trimmers and firemen.

Unfortunately, the previous owner of my house did not share our views.

So, this morning Bob came over to consult on the shockingly detailed (and expensive) proposal he put together for us to Save the Trees.  

I think I'm safe in saying that  Bob has never met a tree he didn't love.  In fact, I think it's pretty safe  to assume that Bob has never met a living thing that he didn't want to rescue.  This includes bugs, house plants, and weeds.  Bob truly loves all things great and small.

I have to admit that I have, without so much as a second thought,  killed bugs that I've found in my house.  I have used bug spray to rid my immediate environment of pesky visitors, and have coated myself in deet to avoid being eaten alive sitting on my patio.  I have thrown plants out rather than coaxing them back to life.  I've most certainly killed my fair share of indoor trees from sheer neglect. Clearly Bob and I have a philosophical difference in our approach to all creatures great and small.

Several (very long) hours later, I knew things about trees that  I never 1) knew were possible to know, and 2) barely knew I cared about.  Bob went on (at considerable length) about fungus (which, of course we have and which, of course, it is essential to treat), pruning (which I have learned is an essential part of maintaining not only beautiful trees, but healthy trees as well), and all manner of other tree disease.

In addition to the tree rescue and maintenance, it seems that when my DIYers trimmed the trees, they would just throw all the limbs into the woods behind the manicured part of the yard.  Apparently this is not the proper way to do things.  Bob is bringing in a chipper.  I really wish I was going to be here for that.  Talk about satisfying!  Cleaning out the woods is an organizer such as myself dream scenario.

Tree limb graveyard.

And did I mention is was a whooping 40-ish degrees outside and raining?  Super fun.

Fun fact:  The optimal time to do tree maintenance is in December, just as the ground is freezing and all the leaves have fallen.  Who knew?  

Bob has a game plan.  I have a (rapidly diminishing balance in my) checkbook.  Together we can make healthier trees together.