Clearing the Orchard – 12/3/2023

We’ve decided to put an orchard on the property where we are building the house. We won’t be planting any trees until we get water to the property, but there is plenty of brush clearing to do until then.

There is also a large branch on an oak tree that reaches into the orchard area and shades some of the area, so we want that to come down. The problem is that the branch is about 12 feet off the ground and nearly 2 feet in diameter! I’m no slacker at cutting trees (thanks to Mary’s training at Litzsinger!), but this one is out of my comfort zone. Luckily, I have a friend who is a pro with a chainsaw, so we asked him to take a look and try to cut it down. He gave it a go, but the branch is bigger than it looks, and the blade on his pole saw wasn’t long enough to make it all the way through. It didn’t help that the tree is on the edge of a slope, making it hard to reach the top on the downhill side.

After he cut through as much as he could, he and Hogan got a rope and flung it up around the branch. After it was tied off, they pulled on it a bit. Nothing happened. Then they tied it to the truck and pulled. Nope! Sadly, the sun was setting and we were out of options for the night. Since nobody should be back there besides us, we just left it for the night and hoped that the wind and weight of the branch would pull it down in the next couple of days.

Spoiler alert… no such luck. But you’ll have to read future posts to find out what happens!

Danelle