They actually can be seen from the street. They're all in front of the house. We have no trees in the backyard thanks to Kevin.
Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?
- Thread starter mimico_polak
- Start date
I though the spot where they are splitting faced the house.
Yes, I took photos of the WORST splits on each of the 3. There are other smaller / less notable ones facing the street...but they've gotten worse over the last year.
Wife also wants me to get rid of the gargoyles...but I love those guys.
Agreed - I would get rid of them and just have a nice wide mulch ring around the tree in place of that raised bed thing. Let the roots get as much water as the level grade allows.
I’ve always felt those raise bed tree rings look tacky.
That’s what I’m thinking. Take it apart, let the hard soil loosen up naturally with rain and weather, and then put in a mulch cone around.
Perfect. I typically will use a natural mulch (not dyed like the gas stations use) and avoid piling it up against the base of the tree. The whole mulched area will be about 3-4" thick from centre to edge. Then invert your string trimmer when cutting your grass each week to create a crisp edge.
Something simple and easy to maintain like:
Sometimes it has to be done as an alternate to taking down a tree on a property being re-developed. I thought there was a rule of thumb the ring had to be at least the diameter of the crown of the tree.
I’m not sure if I understand your first sentence properly. Are you saying that sometimes a low tier stone tree ring like MP has is used as an alternate to cutting a tree down during some situations of property redevelopment? If so, I’ve never heard of that and curious to see a real example of where that has been used.
In times of property development, I only know of tree protection zones employed to protect sensitive tree areas during the construction periods. It’s square fencing and gets removed post construction. They protect the tree from equipment hitting them or causing issues very close to the flare of the trunk, but don’t do much to protect the tree from wider root injuries resulting from digging or compaction.
For the diameter of the tree mulching extending to the diameter of the crown (i.e. drip line), that works easily for slender trees in residential lots, but some of the wider branching trees can have a crown diameter of 50-100ft. If I’m creating a tree ring for a mature tree on a residential lot, I’d typically go with what looks aesthetically balanced with the tree in relation to the property around it. For a front yard like MP’s that might mean a 8-10ft diameter tree ring for each one. For an estate property that has the space, go wide and make that ring look as grand as the tree.
We have a decorative tree in our front landscape that had river rock right up to the truck , Oakville parks horticulturalist stopped by and told us the tree would be happier if we moved that stone away in as big an area as aesthetic allowed to let the tree breath and get maximum water . Took his advice and in a year , the tree looks better .
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The public school I went to expropriated a bunch of houses on Wright Avenue to facilitate a building extension and larger athletic field for Fern Avenue School.
There was a very large tree, probably maple, in one of the back yards that got a large ring of stone placed around it. That allowed them to regrade the rest of the lot into a level field. This happened over a half century ago. No soil was added around the base of the tree but a distance away soil (and very likely root) was removed, outside of the ring.
The stones were old pieces of sidewalk cut into the appropriate shapes for the job and giving it a rustic look. Not like MPs executive designer stones.
The tree lasted for years but it isn't there now. Could the ring have been made larger? Yes.
Did surrounding the tree with a couple of acres of asphalt speed its demise? Probably.
The massive expanse of asphalt has been replaced with more breathable surfaces.
The concept has merit to preserve a tree in that situation but it in essence, creates a flowerpot. How big of a flowerpot is needed for a tree 700 mm in diameter?
Giant Bonsai anyone?
Adder:
The tree in the video would need a massive crown to root area and the tree I refer to didn't have that much space.
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Can a drone carry a chain saw?
For this use no. Still inside the canopy and a drone that can lift pounds is uber expensive.
Conceivably a huge drone could carry something like a line clearing saw but it would be a seven figure drone.
I could have climbed to the branch and cut it far faster but I don't have cut resistant lanyards for tie off and the only chainsaw I have here right now is big and heavy and would be awful to use in a tree. I'm old and wise enough not to be balanced on a branch without a safety while cutting a 6" branch free.
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I tend to use a rope saw for those situations, just cut it from the ground. If you have a good one it is fast once you get the technique down (but don't drop the branch on your head!).
I have one, given where it broke I didn't think it was the right tool. Not much crotch was left and there were tons of splinters and fibres in the break. I figured the chance of getting it stuck exceeded the chance of a successful cut.
So todays question is electrical , I have new to me two twenty volt tablesaw , it’s only fifteen amps draw , can I run that on a fourteen/two wire ? Also I have an unused thirty amp breaker in my panel that used to be for a cooktop , can I pull from there ? My mind tells me I should put in a new twenty amp breaker . Save me from myself .
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When I called on electrical engineers, I found that they never spec'd 14 gauge on jobs because of voltage drop and the cost if going to 12 was negligible.
If there was a 14-gauge circuit available and I had rented a tool for a short job, I would be tempted to run it on the circuit but not on a 30-ampere breaker. If the tool was to jam, the locked rotor amperage goes nuts. I don't know what in the circuit would get permanently affected and be a problem later.
In the days of plug fuses people would upsize a fuse temporarily, just to get through a job. Eventually they forgot and the 14-gauge panel would have 15s, 20s, 25s and I've heard of pennies, although I've never seen one myself. I did see a piece of 1/2" water pipe taped up to look like a fuse.
One can get into the weeds regarding the type of breaker etc....
As usual @oioioi sums it up. A little deeper, if the draw is actually 15 amps, breakers and circuits are typically rated at 80% load so 20 amp breaker (20X80%, 16 amps), 12 gauge (20 amp) wire and you are set. 12/2 unless a neutral is needed or maybe you want one in the future (unlikely). If you buy the red NMSC cable it should have a red and a black (hot and hot) vs yellow which is white and black if one wants to be really OCD.
As usual @oioioi sums it up. A little deeper, if the draw is actually 15 amps, breakers and circuits are typically rated at 80% load so 20 amp breaker (20X80%, 16 amps), 12 gauge (20 amp) wire and you are set. 12/2 unless a neutral is needed or maybe you want one in the future (unlikely). If you buy the red NMSC cable it should have a red and a black (hot and hot) vs yellow which is white and black if one wants to be really OCD.
