December 29, 2005

Matt, the tree guy, came over to give us an estimate on taking out some of the trees on our property. He hated to see me take out three older Dogwoods. After seeing that the re-grading of the yard had covered their root flares, he couldn't garantee they'd live much longer. From what I know about them, they only live about 45 years. These have to be about 30 aleady. Besides, we'll replant trees with a better chance of surviving construction and a better chance of having their own space.

Matt suggested if we planted maples to plant Sugar Maples. I'll look more into it later as we won't plant trees until late February or early March.

Vince and I settled on having about a third of the trees removed. A total of 11 trees will be cut and their stumps grinded to mulch. One particular tree beside the house Matt thought was a tree he called a "tree of Heaven," another invasive gift from China. The trees grow about 5 feet a year, and their sawdust is apparently so poisonous that it can cause cardiac arrest if inhaled. Matt may be right, but Mom and I looked up the tree on that Internets this morning and found the Black Locust matched the bean pods.

Our potted Queen Crimson and Lace Leaf Maples will hopefully arrive from Virginia next week without any significant damage.

Today, ChristianGrantham.com turns six years old!