The 80 Year Assault

The lack of foresight and high level of apathy it takes to allow a tree to grow out of the side of a structure is neigh unspeakable.

 For each tree, there is a near 10 year window to first yank, then snip, the chop down a trifling thing that cost no time, money or energy to deal with. Some people must prefer to have things done the hard way. Beyond that, it starts to get a bit tricky as the tree starts to meaningfully fight the building for access to sunlight, rotting panelling and pulling off shingles.

Our barn is in the historic district and is a "contributing structure" which means that, just because it's termite ridden, falling over, with a tree growing out the side, not quite the right size to hold a car, and your not allowed to keep any animals that would like barn, doesn't mean you're allowed to tear the barn down. Thus, I relented, opened my wallet, closed my heart, and allowed a bunch of thugs with chainsaws come in and settle the score.

Before:

During:

I've always wondered how to pilot a cherry-picker.

I saved this one to demonstrate how wide around the tree was. I almost stopped this guy from carrying this section off, since it looked like a coffee table in need of some legs, but I have enough projects at this point.

I counted the rings on the stumps. The smaller trees were 20-40 years old, while the big one is near 80. 80! That's a long time to wait to deal with a wee problem that's pushing over your barn.

After:

You know the trees are winning when it seems easier to just cut holes in the wall around them rather than cutting them down. That craftsmanship! Or pride of ownership. Or something.