Trimming Trees

We recently had contractors to the municipality arriving at our gate to cut back the branches of trees that have grown and are hanging over the electrical power lines.  We had seen them in the area a week or so ago but didn't really think much then about them coming to us too...but then they did arrive.  Once before some years ago we had some branches trimmed from the same trees and we were not impressed by the way they hacked at the one Jacaranda tree leaving it bare on one side and top heavy on the other, all because they decided to cut off a main branch instead of just the overhanging growth.  This time they arrived fairly late in the afternoon and Johan was already home so he decided to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't go mad again and just cut wherever they felt like it.

 Johan has felled a good number of trees over the years and I remember many years ago before moving here, he, Bryan (I think) and Matthew (most definitely) felled all the trees that were growing up our driveway as well as a few more for our neighbours'.  It wasn't a one day job and took much planning and precision to make sure that the trees fell in the right direction.  There was one tree close to our gate that gave them a few grey hairs and they also had to be careful making sure that it didn't fall over the power lines. They managed that one very well and were both proud and relieved when it fell as planned, but I remember one of the trees at the top of our neighbours' property that was right on the boundary between us that had to come down and their calculation wasn't quite as they had hoped with this huge tree falling and clipping the edge of the outside room's roof.  Not too much damage but none the less very scary as it suddenly fell after cutting for ages with the chain saw.  Another huge tall tree, poor Matthew was sent up like a lumber jack to tie a rope around as high as he could climb, all in an effort to hold it and steer it in the right direction as it came down.  Well when it did finally fall, Matthew became a candidate for the two minute mile, sprinting away in the opposite direction as quickly as his legs would carry him for fear he would be crushed beneath it.  So you see, Johan has plenty of experience with tree felling and knowing that it is just branches that need to come off and not the whole tree that is coming down, made him curious to see what they planned.

The first few trims were fine as they wielded these very snazzy saws  on long poles that could be made longer as required, but then they decided to aim for a huge branch which we felt was unnecessary to remove.  Johan stepped in and advised them that they should cut here and here and then there...haha...and then they could save the main branch they were planning on cutting.  I guess if they had done it their way, it would have been quicker but it would also have left a huge gap in the skyline and ruined the tree.  Nonetheless they attempted it Johan's way with one chap scaling the tree and tying a rope around the branch in an effort to pull it away from the power line as it fell, which in theory could have worked if they had cut it from top to bottom and not the other way round.  POOOOOFFF!!!!! There it was, the branch fell onto the power line, blew the box at our pole as well as the box somewhere way over there somewhere in the distance and half the neighbourhood was without power.  after that they were quick to pack up their tools and be off but not before phoning the municipality to say what had happened.  We imagined it might be an 'all nighter' with no power again, but were pleasantly surprized when just an hour or so later the muncipal workers arrived to fix the problem.  Hopefully it will be another few years before the branches need trimming again, but maybe we should think of keeping them away from the power lines ourselves next time....