High Altitude Pruning

When we were at Laval University in Quebec City to learn French we met a man named Alphonse from the Republic of Congo.  He was there for a year studying forestry.  One weekend we took him to my mom’s house in NH.  He thought it was strange that New England homes often have trees right next to them. Over our time in the Congo basin rain forest, we developed the same concern over trees too close to our house.

In the forest, approaching thunderstorms create high winds.  The dead branches that fall during the storm make you feel like someone is throwing things at you.  When selecting a camp site in the forest, the Bayaka people always look to make sure there are no “widow makers” above the site.  The picture below shows the aftermath of a tree that fell on a church just as Diane was pulled out the door by her friend.

At our house we removed the only tree that would cause damage if it fell on the house.  From our breakfast nook I look across top of an oak tree because it grows from lower ground. I didn’t like the way it blocked part of the scenic view of a nearby hill.  It will only get worse.  I have relatives with a vacation home on a lake in Willow, AK.  As the spruce trees across the lake grew, they lost their view of Denali (formerly Mt McKinley).

At one time the top our oak tree was cut off to open up the view of the hill.  It is 18 inches thick at the base and was cut off at 22 feet high.  Since then lots of branches grew up.  I didn’t like the looks of the crown.  In my mind I could imagine the umbrella shaped crown of an Acacia Tree in that spot.

I bought a 22 foot ladder and the first winter we were in the house I cut down the long vertical branches coming out of the top of the tree.  Last fall I lugged a pole pruner up the ladder and shaped the crown.  That was a job that I managed to accomplish, but the day is soon coming when I will not be able to do that kind of task.  One advantage is that the horizontal branches that grew out of the trunk since the tree was topped gave me security while I was on the ladder.  Take a look at the after photo.  I am pleased at how it came out.