The last two palm trees that kept Rick on a ladder are finally gone. The trees were getting two tall to trim for Rick and our landscaper. We really didn't want to hire a man-bucket every time we needed a trim. These trees sprouted multiple spikes with blooms every week. This is not usually a problem except the wind blew all the blossoms into the pool on a regular basis. Okay, I know this is a first world problem but Rick being safe and sane is important to me. Keeping him off a 20 foot ladder trimming a 30 foot tree is worth everything.
The process is really very interesting and heart stopping. Two cords are tied around the tree. One cord is tied to a lift truck arm and the second cord is hand held...scarry as hell. A chain saw is used to cut around the bottom of the tree.
The tree breaks at the base. Ground men hold the tree so that it doesn't hit anything. This is the moment that makes you heart beat fast. For a moment the tree is free to fall, swirl around or tip uncontrolled in the wind. This is a big tree that weights a lot.
All of a sudden, the lift truck takes over and lifts the entire tree over the wall and onto the haul truck. It took them less that 45 minutes to take two trees down. It was so awesome to see this process. Not their first rodeo.
We also had a tree in our back garden taken down as it was not doing well and had outgrown the area. This one, they just chopped into pieces and took it away.
We made a trip to the garden store to pick out trees and bushes to fill the areas. We want some greenery there, just not greenery that we have to trim. We continue to move toward low maintenance.
All the orchids had to come down as they were hanging on the palm tree trunks. Since they were overgrown, I started separating and repotting them. Stay tuned for a new orchid station which is under construction.
How very cool!
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