The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsAbout trees falling
I live in a heavily forrested area. The trees are mainly California Redwoods, Douglas Firs, Tannoaks, Bay Laurels and a few Madrones here and there.
There are, of course, always things falling from the sky. Usually just leaves and branches and cones.
But the other night, right around midnight, I hear a really, REALLY loud crash right outside my window (I had been awake). A tall--at least 100 foot--fir tree had fallen from the hillside next to me, and the top crashed onto my patio. It was neither raining nor windy at the time, but we have been having plenty of that this year so the ground is well saturated.
Amazingly, it missed my house by 1 foot. And my car by 6 feet. So, while it destroyed quite a few things I had outdoors (tables, chairs, fencing, my pressure washer wahhh), it was obviously not as bad as it might have been. Six hours prior both my dog and I had been outside right there (ironically, working on the exact fence that got demolished).
So, while before I was *highly* attuned to the local trees--watching for the signs (who has ivy or fungus growing up the trunk, whose roots are close to the surface, guessing which would fall next, that sort of thing)--*every* tree around me now is highly suspect! There are at least a dozen massive trees that, if they fall, will completely destroy my home. I think I might become really paranoid, thinking that trees are going to be falling all around me now. We just got another storm and at least a couple more are due over the next week.
I'm torn between thinking that the likelihood of another tree falling and hitting me/my dog/car/house is really low now, and thinking that the risk is even higher now.
For those of you who live in similar environments, how do you mentally manage it?
Onthefly
(169 posts)Lots of trees falling. Have two trees near the house with steel rods and cables. Otherwise, we take our chances.
intrepidity
(7,302 posts)Which is probably practically ridiculous. There are two bay trees that are eyeing my car like crazy. I want to tie them to a nearby redwood, lol.
But, none of these trees are mine.
Quakerfriend
(5,450 posts)I have had anxiety about our trees for years & we have had quite a few fall!
2 large white pines demolished part of our house during Sandy. One 140ft. pin oak fell, causing more damage(but, that provided us with 10 years worth of firewood 😉 . And, there are 4 huge tulip poplars (each with a girth of > 12 ft.) that could crush our house.
I love them all! And, for some reason, I have stopped worrying so much- perhaps because Im getting older! ( btw, The guy who lived here 50 years before us was an arborist & he planted some beautiful trees).
intrepidity
(7,302 posts)But the firewood thing is a consolation. Too bad I don't have any wood-burning heat sources!
Although I may drag a stump or two over to use for... something. Chairs? Chopping blocks? Gotta recoup something.
Onthefly
(169 posts)Otherwise, I give wood to my sister for her fireplace.
OldBaldy1701E
(5,129 posts)It was always a source of anxiety when I was growing up, as pretty much everyone had big trees around their houses. On a farm, that was more of an issue since the trees could take out fences, buildings, equipment, etc. I guess you just learn to keep a 'half eye' on them and if they look shaky, taken them down. Not worth your house just to save $300 on having a tree cut down.
(Your prices may vary.)
Onthefly
(169 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,349 posts)hunter
(38,316 posts)... and filled our entire backyard with tree. The top of the tree was blocking our back door but there was only minimal damage to the house -- just a screen door and one of those 1950's aluminum awnings which we were planning to remove anyways.
We had almost no money at the time so I bought a little electric chain saw and long extension cord on our Sears credit card for about $75 and started chopping up the tree. Between work and taking care of our children it took me about two weeks to clear the backyard.
A neighbor happily took a lot of the wood for his fireplace and the city trash service took what we didn't have room to compost. I left the larger part of the tree's trunk, which was too big for the chainsaw, in the yard.
I've been wary of trees ever since. I couldn't stop thinking how lucky we were that nobody had been in the backyard when the tree fell, and that the tree had fallen in the one direction where it could do the least amount of damage. It might have just as easily crashed into one neighbor's house or smashed another neighbor's cars.