Regrets

Two (probably all three) of the beautiful 'Swanes Golden' Italian Cypress are too close to the house for fire safety.  Tree trimmers are supposed to come next week, but since I had room in the green waste bins, I got started.  They and their chainsaws will have to remove the trunk.  Too big for my little pruning saw. 
 I love these trees, but fire safety is paramount.  The fire authority guy that came out said keep anything taller than ten feet at minimum ten feet away from the house.  Italian Cypress are considered to be fire hazards--not quite up there with Washingtonia palms and Eucalyptus, but not good near a home. 

I expected the 'Swanes Golden' would be much slower growing and ultimately smaller than they proved to be.  Indeed, a long time employee of Monrovia who was well acquainted with 'Swanes Golden' commented that he'd never seen them that large.  
 I regret I planted them too close to the house.  There are two others a better distance from the house.  Perhaps they can stay--they are lovely.  
 Gardener regrets.  Ouch.  

Comments

  1. Removing a healthy, happy plant is always painful but, in this case, it's also very smart.

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    1. Seeing the terrible wildfires all over the state may have raised my IQ.

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    1. Hindsight is 20/20; foresight wears cola-bottle lenses.

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  3. What a shame. I understand the need to protect your property from fire. Try to think of this as an opportunity.

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    1. It's a lesson learned, for sure. And it is a shopping opportunity--must replace the Cypress with something shorter and less flammable, for screening.

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    2. I look forward to your careful choices. Which will be covetable!

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    3. DS, Having seen how the native oak is mobbed, mobbed by song birds--I want to do more of that.

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  4. Woody plants make for the worst regrets. In my case, it's *not* planting that I regret (not enough screening, esp in winter). Good on you for facing up to a tough job, and I hope the two furthest cypresses can stay.

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    1. Screening. Very necessary! Another issue I'm pondering is that the blankety-blank invasive squirrels love the Cypresses and hide in there. Grrr!!

      I was thinking of you; is the Hurricane Florence going to be a factor for you? Hope all will be well.

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    2. Wait, you pruned that high up with just a hand saw?

      Also: will you (or your plants) miss the shade they provided?

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    3. No, I had a pole hand saw for some of it, and a lopper. But mostly the hand saw and a ladder. The trickiest part was cutting the very top part which was about 10', so that it did not fall on anything breakable, which miraculously I was able to do. But it will take professionals to do the others as I cannot be at the right angle to cut and get the tops of those to fall without potentially breaking something.

      A little. There isn't much in the way of shade plants back there. They protected Acer 'Oshio Bene' somewhat, but the house being on the west side of it does most of the shading. I'll have to move three small clumps of Clivia but that's about it. I hope to plant something that will mature at around 8-10', that should be tall enough. 30' was too tall.

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    4. Breathing much easier than on Monday, when the track showed Florence whamming inland right toward us, which is what Hugo did in 1989. That took out power for more than a day and felled two trees.
      But it's hard to be reassured by the more southern path now projected because of the sheer scale of what's coming at the Carolinas. Things look very dire for anyone staying in the coastal zone, and I know there are a non-trivial number of people who haven't evacuated. The surge is almost certain to be bigger than the hurricanes many people there have lived through. In short: yikes.

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    5. We all hope Florence fails to meet expectations, but it is best to prepare for the worst.

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  5. What a bummer. Sorry you had to say goodbye to those beauties.

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  6. Sorry you had to get rid of these beauties but better safe than sorry.

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  7. Such a shame to have to remove healthy trees, but coming from a very fire prone country I completely see why it had to be done.

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    Replies
    1. Head has to overcome heart in such a situation.

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