Firewood

During the home inspection, we found out that the tree in our back patio was a Bradford Pear. For those non-tree experts out there, a Bradford Pear is apparently very lovely for the first 10-15 years. After that, if not pruned properly, it has a tendency to split at large "V's", of which there are usually many. The tree actually rips itself apart at these V's; two sections of bark will grow against each other with enough force that eventually the inside of the tree breaks. Considering that our tree had many very large 'mini-trucks' and had possibly already split in some places in the past, we decided it would be best to remove the tree. So, yesterday we had a tree guy come out and turn the Bradford Pear into firewood. A lot of firewood. There are at least two prime benefits of the large amount of firewood: 1) we won't have to buy firewood for a very long time, even though we have two fireplaces; 2) whether I like it or not, I now have my very own personal trainer for the foreseeable future (ie I get to split all the logs), something Katie is already looking forward to.



A few pictures of the tree, pre-chainsaw.

We were very impressed with the work. The tree was in a very tight space and not one bit fell on something it shouldn't (like our neighbors' brick wall which they'd mentioned about a dozen times in the 30 mins we've actually talked to them).

The finished product. Like I said, it's a lot of firewood.

After the tree was cut down, cut up, stacked, and the branches were turned into mulch, the tree service (Out on a Limb Tree Service) did an amazing job of cleaning up. If you're in the DC metro area and need a tree removed or trimmed, we highly recommend them.

This weekend we'll have the stump removed. We're not sure what we're going to do with this area, but eventually we'd like to plant another tree. Unlike past owners though, we'll put something in that's a little more appropriate for the space.