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Path: utzoo!dciem!nrcaero!uottawa!carolyn
From: carolyn@uottawa.UUCP (Carolyn Pullman)
Newsgroups: net.garden
Subject: Re: wood chipper
Message-ID: <67@uottawa.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 8-Nov-84 10:17:08 EST
Article-I.D.: uottawa.67
Posted: Thu Nov  8 10:17:08 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 8-Nov-84 21:58:54 EST
Organization: University of Ottawa,Ottawa,Ont.,Canada
Lines: 33


     I'm not sure I agree that dead trees provide shelter for birds
and small animals.  Up here in the great white north (or at least
at my summer cottage which is even farther north) the winter really
can take its toll on trees.  Dead trees can pose a very serious hazard.
Eventually dead trees fall down. They may take off a corner of your
house or fall on a power line which while cutting off power also poses
the threat of electrocution or of fire. Dead branches get blown down
in wind storms. They often don't look as big if they're caught up high
on other branches but beware they could be quite large.
    How do you know if a tree is dead?  No leaves at all. How do you
know if a tree is dying?  Look way up!! Trees die from the top down.
If only the top half is dead it may take another 3 years before the
rest dies. Since there is no foliage on dead trees animals and birds
don't use them for their homes. At most they are inhabited by insects
and woodpeckers will come to eat them.
    Last summer I paid about $250. to have 6 dead or almost dead trees
cut down by two professional woodcutters on the cottage property.
Don't try chopping them down yourself. These guys know how to do it
safely. They brought the trees down and then cut off all the branches
and then cut the trunks into rounds about a foot high so they could
be rolled away. I don't have a fireplace so I didn't get them to further
cut them but that probably would have only cost another $100 at the
most. I don't really recall the amount. Dead wood depending on the
variety can be quite acceptable as firewood. You wouldn't want to
store it inside because of buggies though. These woodcutters know
all kinds of things about trees and they give estimates.
   These saws leave a great amount of wood chips all over the ground.
If they're from evergreens then you should probably put down lime to
balance the acidity. This is true for trying to grow anything close
to evergreens as well.

                                            Carolyn