It’s been a while, but today I was able to continue working on the perimeter of the spruce grove. I started off at the little maple I had stopped at, last time, and made it to the fence line. 😀
The last time I went through the area, looking ahead to what needed to be done, it was still green. The leaves are completely yellow, now!
Here are the before and after pictures. (click on the images to see them better)
The cluster of trees is made of up 3 poplars and 2 spruces. One of the poplars has lost its top, and I’m pretty sure that’s what’s lying on the ground near the little dead spruces I took out. There is some dogwood at the bottom of this group of trees that I cleaned up a bit, but otherwise left to grow. It’s one of those things that will spread quite handily, given the opportunity.
The next section is an open, mossy area. I’ve been using it to turn around with the riding mower.
Most of the clean up here involved pruning shears instead of saws.
Once that was done, I was at the fence line and had to make some decisions. How far to the north did I want to go?
In the end, I decided I needed to at least clear out a dead tree that had fallen on the fence, so I could access it for repair.
Though the dead tree was a big poplar, the remains of two other trees had also fallen on it.
The poplar itself was growing on the outside of the fence line. There are a few larger trees on the outside that I will have to leave, but I will be taking out any smaller trees on that side, as soon as I am able. I’m not sure about the bylaws in regards to municipal land along the roads, as far as who is responsible for keeping it clear, but I don’t want it to become overgrown with trees like it has on the other side of our gate.
I didn’t do much more in this area, as I want to focus in the other direction, so this section is unfinished. There are a couple of trees that will be taken out, because they are too close to the fence line. Otherwise, it’s mostly undergrowth that will need clearing and cleaning. There seems to be some juniper in there that I intend to leave.
Moving southward, now.
There are some pretty massive spruces here! There isn’t really a lot that needs doing with the trees themselves; a few low hanging branches and dead branches to clear out. I could see that, at some point – long ago – someone had gone through and cleared the lower branches, so they were already pretty good. Again, I spent more time with the pruning shears! There are quite a few poplar on the outside of the fence that I will have to go back to, later.
If you look in the before picture, at the big spruce to the left of centre, you can almost see a potential problem. The top of this tree is broken off, and its top is still there, hanging upside down. I have no idea how long it’s been like this, but at some point, it’s going to fall. Ideally, we’d get it down before it falls on its own and potentially damages something, but for now, it will have to wait.
It’s starting to open up quite nicely.
Though my priority is clearing the fence line, so it can be accessed and repaired as needed, I might have to clear out some of the dead wood further into the grove. There is a large spruce that has come down in the area that I am leaving for next year, but I might have to cut away at least some of the branches, just so I can drag out some of the stuff I know I will be dealing with, further down.
And that is my progress for today! It might be another few days before I can work on it again, so I’m glad I was able to at least get this little corner done.
The Re-Farmer