tree felling

Lopping down my favourite tree

tree removal MelbourneI’ve always lived in this home. My parents raised me here and passed it on to me when they retired. My wife joined me here when we got married. She likes the place alright but she doesn’t have the same affection for it as I do. And now that we have to get our tree lopped, she doesn’t understand…

The tree is a great big wilting willow and is over a hundred years old. Willows are, in my opinion, the most mysterious and mystical of the trees. They’re grand and secretive, appearing to whisper when the wind blows through their branches. If you’ve ever read Algernon Blackwood’s story about them then you’ll have some idea of their mystical powers. Anyway, my wife seems to think that we’re in need of an arborist. “Melbourne is too small a city for such big trees,” she says, “The thing simply has to go.” This particular willow has belonged to the house since I was just a wee lad, and the thought of lopping it down is like considering severing a limb. I’d do anything not to see it go.

I don’t know how to convey my affections for this tree to my impervious and callous wife. “Take one look at that tree,” I said, pointing out the window, “You’re going to cut that thing done?!” She blinked at me, oblivious to the tree’s beauty or magnetism, and said, “It’s interfering with the power lines. And next time the wind blows, our roof is going to cave in.” Always so pragmatic, so unfeeling. While she sits there calling the arborists and talking equably about tree feeling, I cannot stand the thought of tree removal. Melbourne deserves more willows. If she dares to cut down my beloved tree, I’ll go on a tree-planting spree just to spite her. See how she likes that.  

Goodbye dear tree

tree lopping

It was rotten. For thirty years we had woken up and looked out our window at the mighty oak tree standing strong in our garden. It had stood there like a protector of its land since we moved in and in many ways it had become part of the family. We had watched our kids grow up under its leaves and more recently have seen our grandkids try to climb it. We were told by arborists years ago to have the tree felled, or at least have part of it removed but we could not bring ourselves to do it. So the tree has remained but it is now time to say goodbye. We called the tree removal company in Brisbane and asked them to come and have a look and decide on the best course of action. I think we were both hoping the tree surgeon would come and say we were being over cautious and the tree could stay. Unfortunately we were not being over cautious. He said the tree was rotting from the inside out and out of safety concerns he advises we get it removed straight away. We arranged for the tree lopping in Brisbane to take place next weekend and we invited all the kids round to have one last play with the tree. In fact we decided to move the table outside and have dinner under its long branches. We found the carvings the kids had done when they were all at school and we even found remnants of the tree house we had tried to build over ten years ago. The tree would be taking a lot of memories away with it. It’s removal though is a nice reminder that it really truly lived with us, it was an organic part of our family that has run its course and provided us with so many smiles over the years.