John is working on thinning out the mature trees that encircle our new(ish) house at Struan Farm. These are "European" trees that were planted by his father; some are special, some are not, the special ones will stay. We're taking our time with this for a few reasons. The first is that we have such a stockpile of firewood that we don't want to take down trees and waste that resource. The second is that once one tree is out we need to adjust ourselves to the changed view and see if it's enough open space. You don't really know until you get there.
John's dad Maurie planted many, many trees during his lifetime, and we obviously are continuing that tradition. But some many trees were planted too closely together around the property. This might have been okay early on when they were first planted, but now fully grown 30+ years later this isn't working. The trees don't have enough room to grow properly and are stressed and damaged. They've never been pruned or "limbed up." We're onto all that as/when.
Last week John had had enough of working on my recycled brick edges in the garden and grabbed his chain saw. The next thing I know a conifer out from the gate on the front lawn came crashing down, and a gap opened up. We are now able to see through to the QEII bush near the pond and the rolling hills beyond. The next day a second conifer came down.
Time out, or so he says. These trees need to be cleaned up and the situation assessed to determine what comes next. We have put the word out to several friends who normally want firewood to grab their chainsaws and come over to load up their trailers.
We know some macrocarpas at the bottom of our paddock "bowl" in front of the house will come down, since our view of the hills beyond has disappeared since we've been living in the house. It's amazing how quickly those trees grow. Discussion at the moment is about leaving "clusters" of the macrocarpas to permit a view of the river and hills through the gaps. John also wants to plant some new deciduous trees in the paddock beyond.
But right now the focus is on opening up the side outlook somewhat to the bush and the hills. We both seem envision a shady grove of the special trees with views to the bush and the hills. We'll see!
Stay tuned, much more to happen...
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