TIMBEEEEEERRRRRR!

The above picture was taken by Roofer Reese when he was up on top of our house repairing the damaged shingles a few months ago.  The leafless tree on the right is a Bodock / Hedge Apple / Osage Orange, Maclara pomifera that has been on the "to-do" list for a while now.  It is entwined with a Hackberry tree on the other side of the fence in the field close to the drive where we park our cars.  Over time, it has grown large enough to drop hedge apples and thorny branches in the driveway plus it could possibly damage a car if toppled during a storm.  Both needed to go.

We call it a "Hedge Apple" because the female trees produce large round inedible fruit.  Squirrels love to eat them and have spread seeds everywhere.  I don't have a picture of any of the fruit that fell last Fall because they are rotted.

The branches are covered with sharp, dangerous thorns. They easily puncture lawnmower tires, soft-soled shoes, and the thorny branches are always dropping onto the ground.

Before barb wire was invented, they were planted close together and trimmed into hedges to keep livestock fenced in. Nothing wanted to crawl through the sharp thorns. This one is on the back side of our property.  A few years ago Bill cut it down right above the fence top thinking it would kill the tree; instead, it sprouted into many smaller thorny branches. 

I have two more growing in my flower bed area which is why I must always wear shoes when walking in my garden.  Forget running barefoot through the grass.  Both trees plus a third one beside the power line to our house are on the "mile-long, someday in the future, to-do list."

In the front area of my flowerbed.

The second one is in the back of my flower bed also close to our power line.  We can't fell it because it might hit the telephone pole, so we made the best of a bad situation and put an orange target on its back.

The orange spot is the target.

Bill likes to sit on the porch in a rocking chair and shoot at the spinning target on the tree. The other side gives me the creeps whenever I walk past.  It glares angerly at me as I work in the yard.



We were once told a country legend that chainsaws will shoot sparks when cutting the wood because it is so hard.  We laughed at the teller of the tall tale - we don't laugh anymore. Bill has seen the wood spark when cutting it. The grain of the wood is uneven, almost like a crooked spiral so it won't split apart and an ax will bounce off.

Timbeeeeeerrrrrrr!

 One down, a zillion more to go.

My Hero, Lumberjack Bill

Cutting them down was the right decision because the area where the two trees were touching did not look healthy.

Bodock / Hedge Apple Tree

Hackberry Tree

Cutting it down was the easy part. The Hackberry tree will be used in the woodburning stove next year, but not the Bodock.  It produces a black, smelly smoke; not something we want to burn inside. Each section must be small enough to be lifted and tossed on a bonfire.  The fire will be sitting on the stump and that should, hopefully, kill it.  (UPDATE:  It did get rid of it.)

A new chore has been added to the list - mend the smashed fence so Scooter can't get out.

Good riddance

"Woe is me." moaned Scooter.  "Everyone was outside watching Dad cut down the tree but I was locked inside the house.  I could only peer helplessly through the window.  Pack Leader was afraid I would get hit by the falling tree.  Mom was worried I might get chilled since it was cloudy and I have a new haircut.  She made me wear my new sweater, wrapped me up in a blanket and left me in the warm, cozy house all by myself.  I was neglected, lonely and had to watch the sunset alone."

Additional Links:

Roofer Reese

Scooter Sends a Thank You Note

UPDATE:  A year later, we hired two lumberjacks to cut the trees down in the front yard.

TIMBEEEEEERRRRRR...Again!