From time to time you will need to remove a tree from the garden. Possibly you own an aged tree that is diseased, an apple tree that doesn’t produce fruit any more, or a tree that’s diseased or in an inconvenient position. Although it’s tempting to give it a bit of chain saw action and fell it all in one go - avoid! Take care and you’ll get the tree down safely and make life effortless for yourself.
Now, before you start, take notice. Make sure that you’re allowed to take the tree down. If you’re not sure then you’re going to need to call your local council. Also, if the tree is over 20 ft or 6 metres in height, don’t even think about it. Far too big and dangerous for an newbie. You will need a skilled tree surgeon to deal with it. They’ll be able to talk to the council for you as well.
OK, so you are determined to go ahead yourself. You’ll need some equipment. Thick gardening gloves - ideally leather. Rope, a chain saw, a pruning saw, a good ladder and safety glasses. You should actually have a helmet but you almost certainly will not bother. But for crying out loud wear your safety goggles. A wood chip in your eye is a real day spoiler.
1. Get your ladder and thread it between the branches to the top of the tree. Make certain that it’s secure and at that time get a friend to hold the bottom of it. If you don’t have any friends - well that’s the topic for another article. If this is the case on the other hand, lash the ladder to the trunk of the tree so it won’t fall or move when you are on it. I would spend some time making sure it’s nice and tight if I were you. You’ll be untying and re-tying this ladder a lot all through this exercise if you are on your own.
2. Start cutting at the pinnacle of the tree. Use the pruning saw or the chain saw to cut branches into manageable lengths. don’t cut pieces that are too large and heavy to lift comfortably. You don’t need me to tell you that you are at the top of a ladder!
3. Shift the ladder round the tree as you work. This will mean getting down the ladder and untying and tying it if you’re on your own. do not be tempted to stretch and reach for branches that are beyond you. Get down that ladder. People have very severe accidents with chainsaws. In fact, in August 2004 a man accidentally cut off his wife’s head with a chain saw, do not take chances.
4. Continue cutting back the branches, but bear in mind to leave a minimum of one main branch to support the ladder. As soon as you have taken off most of the branches, use a shorter ladder or fold a down the one so that it can stand on its own.
5. Move the stand alone ladder into place so that you can begin to cut down the trunk piece by bit. Keep the portions small to make disposal quicker. Cut the tree to within 6” of the ground.
6. You will now be left with a stump. The easiest way to remove a tree base is to pay somebody else to do it! Failing that, hire a stump grinder from an equipment rental shop like HSS. It will make short work of a base but it can be a unpleasant and sweaty business. If you don’t need to deal with the stump instantly, you can buy a root killing product from a garden centre. When applied to the base it will work its way to the roots to destroy the plant. It may need a few applications. In due course your base will rot, making it easier to take out.
7. Finally, burn the branches and small logs or put them in the boot of the car and take them to the local recycling centre - where they’ll probably burn them someplace else.
My garden is my passion. I just like to walk around the garden and lose myself in amongst the flowers and the vedgatables, shut the rest of the world out. My garden has not always been as nice as it is right now, in fact without the help of a gardening companies help and advise it would still look a tidy mess as I used to call it. I always search on the internet using the term - gardener london. This always gets me in touch with the best people for the job.
Read More From Stephen Drummonsy
|
