Tree Removal

The backyard is all about the pool.   It’s a concrete jungle that will someday suck about $100K from us as we try to tame it.   So, if the pool is the center of the world, why would you let 4 alpine spruce trees grow on the south end?   They block most of the sunlight, they drop needles in the pool, they crowd out the upper landing outside the master bedroom, and they block the view from the master.   These were trees, likely planted as small ornamentals, that were just ignored until they reached 35 feet high.

Removing the trees has been a top priority since we first bought the place.  But it has turned into a real pain.  The City of Lake Forest Park has very strict rules about removing trees with trunk diameters over 6 inches.  One of the trees is scrawny and about dead.   The other three exceed six inches.  It turns out that any tree removal of more than two exceeding 6 inches is a major tree removal.  This means we need a permit, an arborist report and pay a big fee.  Furthermore we have 6 months to replace the removed canopy with new trees.   Fortunately the replacement canopy can be anywhere on the property.

So the required replacement canopy turns out to be 450 square feet.   They gave us a list of acceptable indigenous replacements.   We have chosen a specific dogwood to plant in the front yard near the road.   It’s not a big deal.

These trees were pretty big.  We contracted with Davey Tree to remove the tress and to grind the stumps.  The entire process took a full month with the permitting and getting the arborist report and scheduling the actual work.   The total bill was over $3K just to get those trees out.  Part two is to add replacement arborvitae trees with drip lines.  The bid for that is about $3500.

Perspective of actual size of trees

Perspective shows proximity to pool