Michigan Tree Thinning Home Makeover

First, let me start by saying, “I love trees.”  In fact, I think I may have even been a tree in a different life .  So, please don’t be upset and call me names because I had some of our trees cut down.  There are many reasons why we decided to do this (I explain why below), and it was definitely one of the best decisions we’ve made for our family.  Welcome to our “Michigan Tree Thinning Makeover”…

Here’s our forest front yard from the street a few months ago before the Fall foliage began to appear.  I think you can see the problem we were having  😯 .  Our house was disappearing.

Here’s the view from the house.  It was actually very beautiful, but many, many problems were going on.

Here’s just a few of the issues we were having with so many trees: mosquitos, big spiders all over the exterior of house, spider webs all over the house and in our garage, increased allergies, dried oak leaves everywhere all year long, poison ivy spreading rapidly, too many plant eating critters, ants, too many twigs, dangerous limbs, risk of trees falling in storms, and we just felt like we were being covered up by trees and our house was being eaten alive (it literally was).

Here’s proof of the dangerous activity in there.  Right before we hired the tree dudes, that super large limb fell off of the “Mother tree” in the middle.  We actually saved “Mother” by trimming not only her, but all of her children.  By “thinning” the trees, we are actually helping the other trees thrive.  They will have more sunlight, and more nutrients to grow thicker and healthier.

While we waited for the first frost to arrive which seemed to take forever (TIP: Do not trim Oak trees until after the first frost-research this.), we decided what trees we wanted to save.  We tied a ribbon around each one that we wanted to save because there were too many to do it the other way.  We did this on our entire property and really took the time to figure this out with careful consideration.  We chose the trees we thought had the best chance of thriving after they were set free from their brothers & sisters.  There were many that were leaning towards the house and those defintely had to go.

The day finally arrived in early November and let me tell you…it was quite a circus (complete with lumber jack monkeys).  My cat and I watched from the front bathroom window and I set up “shop” in the bathroom with my camera and computer.  Kind of like Starsky & Hutch, only it was Julie & Sylvia.  Sometimes the guys would see me, but so what.  I wanted a front row seat and nothing was stopping me from watching.  Have you ever watched a lumber jack before?  Put it on your bucket list.

It was a bitter sweet 3 days.  Yes…this took 3 days.  More if you count the landscaping after.  We had many trees out back and along the side that needed trimming as well.  I seriously felt like I had gotten the best hair cut of my life.

The guys mulched a lot of the large limbs and used that to cover the floor of our front forest.  At one point trees were coming down so quickly I didn’t know which window to stay in.  I would run upstairs and actually see a tree shadow coming down on my wall.  It was really quite a day.

The guys had to move our daughter’s swing set so this tree that was leaning towards the house could come down safely.  Unfortunately, our daughter’s beloved swing set could not be saved because it was rotting.  Don’t worry though, I have big news coming up this Spring about that.  She won’t even miss that old dinky thing.

There was lots of growth in the front that also had to be removed and we paid extra to have them do that.  I didn’t get a shot of the front until after the first snowfall, but it looks so much neater and well maintained.  So much so, that maybe I will design a small patio down there.  We will see come Spring.

Are you ready for the afters…

I can see my house!

I can see the road from my house!  Hi Mr. Postman!

Wait a minute…where did this beauty come from?

The best part about the whole process is that we decided to plant beautiful Norway Spruce Christmas trees in several bare areas in our yard.  I’ve always adored Christmas trees, so this was really a dream come true for me.

We planted 8 on the side of the house for privacy and our own min-Christmas-tree forest.  We also planted 3 out front to add a little charm to the bare areas.

Then we planted 1 out back where a very large dangerous tree once was.

Keep in mind, these pine trees grow about 2 feet per year and get very tall.

I think this is the prettiest post I’ve ever written.  I hope you enjoyed the photos.

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