In article ,
jangchub wrote:

You can prune the trees back a bit. ;-)

It won't kill them.

These trees are live oaks on steroids! There are no trees here
younger than 200 years old and my neighbors tree has a canopy of
almost 150 feet with a diameter of 5 feet. We bought one of those
tree chain saw things and prune the trees at the proper times of year
to prevent oak wilt (not in the area, but still being cautious). I
tell ya, in months it seems the canopy is back down hitting me in the
head.

I understand... :-)
My live oaks out back provide the critters with shade (2 dogs, 2 ducks
and 1 emu) but I'm a bit more ruthless with the hackberry and the elm
trees so I have sun over 1/2 the back yard. The herb garden gets full
sun too but so does that side of the house. I actually put external
blinds over the windows.

As for tree branches hitting my head? A bored border collie takes care
of that! She loves to jump up and tear branches down. I had to wire off
the cedar tree as she tore bark strips, and the crepe myrtle had to be
wired off too.

She can "prune" the hackberry all she wants. The tree is huge and she
can't hurt it.

I have a simple lopper/pruning saw combo and an electric chainsaw where
needed. I like the electric saw because it's light in weight.


Now, the peaches will soon be plumping and golding up. I cannot wait
to sloosh into my first scrumptious, totally organic, full of sugar
peaches.

Victoria

Sounds wonderful. :-)
--
Peace, Om

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"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

Omelet wrote:
You can prune the trees back a bit. ;-)

It won't kill them.

The only pruning I would do to a tree would be to remove branches that
obstruct the way or damage the tree when brushing against each other.
Trying to prune a tree to prevent it's natural canopy from forming is
not something I'd do.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
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In article ,
Victor Martinez wrote:

Omelet wrote:
You can prune the trees back a bit. ;-)

It won't kill them.

The only pruning I would do to a tree would be to remove branches that
obstruct the way or damage the tree when brushing against each other.
Trying to prune a tree to prevent it's natural canopy from forming is
not something I'd do.

Hey, I gotta protect my house roof! ;-)

And trimming the lower canopy back a bit is not bad for the tree.
Remember, I said "a bit".

Sometimes it does not take much to give your ground plants more sun.

At least I did not say "cut some trees down". G I don't do that either
in most cases, unless a new tree is threatening my foundation.
I have a very nice bunch of trees here, including 1 old OLD cedar and an
even older Mesquite. That old Mesquite is nearly 2 ft. across at the
base.

The only trees I take out are all of the sprouts that come up every year
from the hackberries and the ligustrums. Those are fair game as "weeds".

The pecans the bloody squirrels plant every year get dug up and potted
as soon as I spot them and if they survive, I give them away.
--
Peace, Om

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"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:33:01 -0500, Victor Martinez
wrote:

Omelet wrote:
You can prune the trees back a bit. ;-)

It won't kill them.

The only pruning I would do to a tree would be to remove branches that
obstruct the way or damage the tree when brushing against each other.
Trying to prune a tree to prevent it's natural canopy from forming is
not something I'd do.

Me either. There are so many fantastic shade plants I love that it's
almost a blessing to have so much shade. Knowing that I created much
of it because the day I moved in I planted trees have now provided me
with shade. So, for this reason I grow my tomatoes and eggplant in
containers and have to set them out by the pool. Next year I will
plant them in really nice planters. Maybe I'll make some hypertuffa
and put it on the outside of the container using chicken wire to hold
it on the pot. At least it won't be this ugly plastic thing.

On Jun 6, 10:24 am, jangchub wrote:
Me either. There are so many fantastic shade plants I love that it's
almost a blessing to have so much shade. Knowing that I created much

We didn't expect the bald cypress to grow so fast, but that means we
can now start planning the shade garden with gingers and ferns!

plant them in really nice planters. Maybe I'll make some hypertuffa
and put it on the outside of the container using chicken wire to hold
it on the pot. At least it won't be this ugly plastic thing.

I've decided I'll just buy my produce from Boggy Creek farm.. It's
just as fresh and also organic and I love supporting them. I'll stick
to herbs as far as kitchen plants go.

Cheers.

Victor

On Jun 6, 8:09 am, Omelet wrote:
Hey, I gotta protect my house roof! ;-)

Yeah! Us too, we've removed some dangerous limbs from above the house.

At least I did not say "cut some trees down". G I don't do that either

We've cut down all the original trees in the back now, the last one
went down this spring. We've replaced undesirable species or trees in
bad locations, with better species according to the master plan.

I have a very nice bunch of trees here, including 1 old OLD cedar and an
even older Mesquite. That old Mesquite is nearly 2 ft. across at the
base.

That's a big mesquite! The oldest trees we have left now are chinese
elms in the front. And this year our bald cypress will be just as
tall!!! Those elms are 50 years old!

The only trees I take out are all of the sprouts that come up every year
from the hackberries and the ligustrums. Those are fair game as "weeds".

Most volunteer trees are treated as weeds around here.

The pecans the bloody squirrels plant every year get dug up and potted
as soon as I spot them and if they survive, I give them away.

We do that with agaves.

Cheers.

Victor

In article .com,
pistor wrote:

On Jun 6, 8:09 am, Omelet wrote:

I have a very nice bunch of trees here, including 1 old OLD cedar and an
even older Mesquite. That old Mesquite is nearly 2 ft. across at the
base.

That's a big mesquite!

I think it's unusually big.
I should take pictures.

It drops enough dead branches to provide some nice smoking wood.

I never cut it.

The oldest trees we have left now are chinese
elms in the front. And this year our bald cypress will be just as
tall!!! Those elms are 50 years old!

Not sure how old my post oaks and elms are, or the hackberry, but they
were a decent size when I bought this place 20 years ago.

I love the souls of old trees.


The only trees I take out are all of the sprouts that come up every year
from the hackberries and the ligustrums. Those are fair game as "weeds".

Most volunteer trees are treated as weeds around here.

Heh!


The pecans the bloody squirrels plant every year get dug up and potted
as soon as I spot them and if they survive, I give them away.

We do that with agaves.

Cheers.

Victor

I know. G I have a couple of yours in pots.

I also have one large agave in a pot that I dug up out of the wild
somewhere and it's beginning to produce pups.

They will get "rescued".
--
Peace, Om

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"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 15:39:55 -0000, pistor wrote:

On Jun 6, 10:24 am, jangchub wrote:
Me either. There are so many fantastic shade plants I love that it's
almost a blessing to have so much shade. Knowing that I created much

We didn't expect the bald cypress to grow so fast, but that means we
can now start planning the shade garden with gingers and ferns!

plant them in really nice planters. Maybe I'll make some hypertuffa
and put it on the outside of the container using chicken wire to hold
it on the pot. At least it won't be this ugly plastic thing.

I've decided I'll just buy my produce from Boggy Creek farm.. It's
just as fresh and also organic and I love supporting them. I'll stick
to herbs as far as kitchen plants go.

Cheers.

Victor

Yeah, but Boggy Creek is 45 miles away from my house! I appreciate
what you are saying, but that's sort of far to drive considering gas
is what it is and round trip it's 90 miles. So....

I have a hackberry on the west side of the house which furnishes the
entire property with it's delightful seeds which I think the birds
poop out.

Anyway, it is HUGE and shades the garage very nicely. However, I
can't stand the weed part. Would you cut it down, and if so, who'd
you hire to do it. It's in a precarious part of the yard with very
little room between the house and the fence and the neighbors garage.

Victoria

In article ,
jangchub wrote:

I have a hackberry on the west side of the house which furnishes the
entire property with it's delightful seeds which I think the birds
poop out.

Anyway, it is HUGE and shades the garage very nicely. However, I
can't stand the weed part. Would you cut it down, and if so, who'd
you hire to do it. It's in a precarious part of the yard with very
little room between the house and the fence and the neighbors garage.

Victoria

I just pay mexican labor to pull the weeds for me. ;-)
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Jun 6, 4:52 pm, jangchub wrote:
Yeah, but Boggy Creek is 45 miles away from my house! I appreciate
what you are saying, but that's sort of far to drive considering gas
is what it is and round trip it's 90 miles. So....

Absolutely! Part of supporting local agro-businesses is reducing fuel
consumption. There may be an organic farm closer to you.

Cheers.

Victor

jangchub wrote:

I have a hackberry on the west side of the house which furnishes the
entire property with it's delightful seeds which I think the birds
poop out.

Anyway, it is HUGE and shades the garage very nicely. However, I
can't stand the weed part. Would you cut it down, and if so, who'd
you hire to do it. It's in a precarious part of the yard with very
little room between the house and the fence and the neighbors garage.

Victoria

Hackberry is probably my least-favorite tree. If it's HUGE and shading
the garage, it's probably going to at least partially fall on the garage
at some point in time. There's at least one giant hackberry out east of
Webberville that split and both halves came down in that storm Sunday.

If you're really looking for a service, my girlfriend used They Might Be
Monkeys. http://theymightbemonkeys.citysearch.com/ She said they seemed
to know what they were doing, and were very careful, both with the trees
and their persons. They also advert^K^K^K *support* KUT, FWIW.

Me, I gotta get a new chain for the ol' Sears electric chainsaw, and get
after some of my broken elms.

DT

On Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:22:49 -0000, pistor wrote:

On Jun 6, 4:52 pm, jangchub wrote:
Yeah, but Boggy Creek is 45 miles away from my house! I appreciate
what you are saying, but that's sort of far to drive considering gas
is what it is and round trip it's 90 miles. So....

Absolutely! Part of supporting local agro-businesses is reducing fuel
consumption. There may be an organic farm closer to you.

Cheers.

Victor


I think the farmers market in Round Rock will start up again soon, if
not already. I am not sure I've seen any organic farmers there, but I
will check it out this year again.

I feel like such a jerk driving around in my Expedition. I bought it
ten years ago and paid cash for it. There is nothing wrong with it
and it only has 65,000 miles on it! I really want to buy a scooter or
small motorcycle, but my hubs thinks I will get killed on it. He is
probably right, I'm the biggest klutz on earth.

Oh well, I'll drive it till it drops then buy a Cooper or a VW.

In article ,
jangchub wrote:

On Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:22:49 -0000, pistor wrote:

On Jun 6, 4:52 pm, jangchub wrote:
Yeah, but Boggy Creek is 45 miles away from my house! I appreciate
what you are saying, but that's sort of far to drive considering gas
is what it is and round trip it's 90 miles. So....

Absolutely! Part of supporting local agro-businesses is reducing fuel
consumption. There may be an organic farm closer to you.

Cheers.

Victor


I think the farmers market in Round Rock will start up again soon, if
not already. I am not sure I've seen any organic farmers there, but I
will check it out this year again.

I feel like such a jerk driving around in my Expedition. I bought it
ten years ago and paid cash for it. There is nothing wrong with it
and it only has 65,000 miles on it! I really want to buy a scooter or
small motorcycle, but my hubs thinks I will get killed on it. He is
probably right, I'm the biggest klutz on earth.

Oh well, I'll drive it till it drops then buy a Cooper or a VW.

rofl I can so relate...

I can't afford car payments for a hybrid, and my dad (who lives with me)
would be scared to death for me if I got a motorcycle or similar vehicle!

Funny isn't it that those that we love tend to rule our lives? :-)

I'd not have it any other way...
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:57:21 -0500, jangchub
wrote:

I have a hackberry on the west side of the house which furnishes the
entire property with it's delightful seeds which I think the birds
poop out.

Anyway, it is HUGE and shades the garage very nicely. However, I
can't stand the weed part. Would you cut it down, and if so, who'd
you hire to do it. It's in a precarious part of the yard with very
little room between the house and the fence and the neighbors garage.

Victoria
I've seen some nice hackberry trees here and there, but they are the
exceptions. Being bird-planted, they tend to be in the worst
locations. Being viewed as "trash trees," they tend to be abused
and/or ignored. Even with proper care, they are prone to mistletoe,
which can lead to weakness, and poor structure, which represents
inherent weakness. They often succumb to hypoxylon, a disease that
might go unnoticed to the untrained eye but could lead to failure. I
wouldn't condemn your tree without seeing it, but I don't think I'd be
inclined to keep a hackberry right over my house like that. too many
things to get damaged if it breaks.

I won't offer a recommendation for a specific company since I have a
conflict of interest, but I strongly suggest you make sure the company
you hire has a liability policy that specifically covers work aloft in
a tree. Most lawn care companies do not have such coverage. Do not
hesitate to ask for proof of this policy. Consider calling the
underwriter to make sure it's valid.

Keith Babberney
ISA Certified Arborist #TX-0236AT

PS How does this jibe with your no-kill buddhism? I'm seriously
asking, though I can see how this might sound like a smart-ass quip.
If you decide to keep the tree, a qualified arborist can evaluate the
risk and help you find ways to mitigate.