Things I learned from my arborist brother

[Rosalind]

My brother the arborist came up to visit a couple weekends ago. I told him I wanted to thin my woodlot some more, and here's what I learned:

When lots of trees grow really tall together, if you thin the bigger ones out, the others will not grow in bushy to fill in the gaps. They will fall over in 50+ feet of crashing mess. Don't thin around a tree, it's better to cut swaths so that at least the trees will be supported on one side. Cut the swaths in the direction that prevailing winds are less likely to knock them over, i.e. in the direction the wind moves as opposed to crosswise.

If a tree is on the property line, you're only allowed to cut the branches that are on your side of the property. Even if the tree is hazardously dead, if your neighbor doesn't feel it's all that bad, you're not allowed to cut it down. If you happen to be hiking the woods with your dogs when the tree falls down with a mighty CRASH, causing the neighbor trimming his hedges to poop his pants in shock, pointing and laughing or saying, "I did tell you..." is not very nice.

The berries on hackberry trees are edible by humans if cooked. They are always edible by birds, which is why I had a lot of hackberry trees in inconvenient places where they had to be removed.

 

[HiDelight]

very good thank you!!!

..and re the property line LOL!! I have sooo been there ..I had to cut back a very dead very rotton tree one time that was going to crash on my house and I kept on saying "um I am thinking you may want to do something about this dead rotten tree before it topples over and goes through your window because it is not going through mine" .....they were an odd sort ...and just laughed at me ..as I trimmed all the wood and cut it up and made a nice pile for burning

wow what happens when you get all the dead stuff out of your yard
yup I was very nice about how I responded and even offered to help cut it up for them ..they declined

stupids

 

[PunkinPeep]

My brother the arborist came up to visit a couple weekends ago. I told him I wanted to thin my woodlot some more, and here's what I learned:

When lots of trees grow really tall together, if you thin the bigger ones out, the others will not grow in bushy to fill in the gaps. They will fall over in 50+ feet of crashing mess. Don't thin around a tree, it's better to cut swaths so that at least the trees will be supported on one side. Cut the swaths in the direction that prevailing winds are less likely to knock them over, i.e. in the direction the wind moves as opposed to crosswise.

What if you thin out the smaller trees around a bigger tree? Is it the same thing?

 

[Rosalind]

What if you thin out the smaller trees around a bigger tree? Is it the same thing?

If the tree is much over 40 feet, then yes. That was my original plan, and he said it was a bad idea.