The moral of the story

This week was Alabama Power's regularly scheduled tree pruning in our neighborhood.  They subcontract to a local tree service to prune back any tree branches to 15 feet from the nearest power line. 

I knew they would be coming to my door because a previous homeowner planted a red cedar tree next to the power pole; it's vigorous growth in our front yard required topping off the last time the power company came through.  The cedar tree resembled an off-center lollipop  when they were done.  The tree just kept on growing and once again had achieved an unacceptable height.  It was also planted too close to our massive oak tree so it grew significantly off sided to reach the sun. 

The contractor explained that not only would the cedar tree need to be topped off again, but that our big oak tree would also need to be pruned because several of its huge boughs were within the 15 foot perimeter required by the transformer on our power pole. 

None of this news made me happy.  These tree services are notorious for lopping off branches without any concern for the shape or health of the tree.  Trees don't recover well from the hacking and chopping methods used by the tree service.  However, I also like having reliable, uninterrupted electric service to my home so the only legitimate response to these gentlemen was to let them cut my trees.

While the oak tree doesn't look too bad, the cedar tree ended up looking something like a green mushroom; the canopy had to be topped so severely that there was far more trunk than canopy.  After discussion with the project supervisor, the only solution was to cut the cedar tree down to the ground.  My front yard feels naked and exposed without my fuzzy cedar tree to anchor that corner.

The moral of the story is that when planting trees, it is critically important to look up at the power lines.  Someday that tree is going to grow much taller and wider than the spindly twig in that three gallon pot.  It is hard to imagine what that tree will look like in 20 years. 

Farewell sweet cedar tree.  We enjoyed wrapping you in Christmas lights when you were small, hanging ghosts from your branches at Halloween and sparkling icicle ornaments during the Christmas holidays.  It is hard to say good-bye even though it was the right choice.