We have quite few trees here at Anchovy World Headquarters, including a mature locust, several mature spruce, a mature silver maple (on the property line between us and the family next door), two other maples, a tamarack, a cedar, two large apples and a horse chestnut (we also have a number of shrubs and a Japanese Maple, which we planted). When we moved in, there were a number of immediate tree issues to deal with, including a number of large dead limbs on the locust looming over the drive-way and a heavy apple limb pressuring the phone lines, held up by a 2X4. We took care of these issues soon after moving in. Now we’re going to have some more tree work done to look after the over-all health of the trees on the property and our safety. This will include some significant pruning, as well as removal of some dead or dying trees as well as a couple young trees, a maple and a horse chestnut, that were allowed to grow right along-side, actually touching mature spruces.

Our goal is to maintain the beauty of the trees as well as habitat for the birds and other critters, and at the same time reduce the risk of a huge tree toppling into the house or across hydro wires during a wind-storm. So far we’ve been fortunate. Last year a couple big maples in the neighbourhood came down, one of them right across the road. It turned out, a good chunk of the wood had rotted. Fortunately nobody was hurt.

We have a tree bylaw in Toronto, intended to protect our large trees. I think it’s good to have this in place in the urban environment. The following is from the City of Toronto website:

Private Tree By-law
The Private Tree By-law was adopted to preserve significant trees on private property in the City of Toronto, to assist in sustaining the urban forest in the City and to educate individuals with respect to tree protection measures and alternatives to tree injury and destruction. This by-law is formally known as City of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 813, Article III, ‘Private Tree Protection,’ and is commonly referred to as the City’s “Private Tree By-law”. This by-law regulates injury or removal of privately owned trees which measure 30 cm in diameter or more as measured at 1.4 m above ground level.

I hate to take down any trees, but I recognize we have to look after the over-all health of the trees as a group. All the trees on our property that are 30 cm+ at 1.4m are in good shape, and only require some pruning. Anything we take down that is good fire-wood will be used in our wood stove in a year. The rest will be chipped, and the chips will be used for the path into the trees in the back-yard.

I’ve done some pruning myself, and this summer I’ve cut back some out of control shrubs quite a bit. A lot of the work we have to do requires the services of someone with a lot more skill than I have to safely bring down limbs that are near wires or the house, so we’ve hired a tree guy who is insured, has a crew of three and his own chipper.