Cleaning up Twisted and Broken Trees!
Last week, I blogged about the twister that ripped through my farm, devastating more than 120 beautiful trees. As you can imagine, this blow has been challenging for my grounds crew, as so many fallen trees are difficult to move and clear. I know how much you love seeing the farm so I wanted to share with you these photos of some of the cleanup that has been going on.
Oh, and by the way, thank you all for your lovely birthday greetings!
1 This was a stately linden tree that came crashing down over my stone wall and across the road, bringing down wires and blocking traffic.
2 Once the majority of the tree was sawed and taken away, the grounds crew worked to remove the massive trunk.
3 Heavy chains were wrapped around the base to help in lifting it out.
4 Alfredo used an ax to free the roots.
5 The fork-lift of the hi-lo was employed to lift the stump up and over the hornbeam hedge.
6 Dominick has quite a load to haul away.
7 That stump was added to the rapidly growing pile of broken trees that will eventually be passed through a stump grinder and turned into rich compost.
8 Alfredo used the John Deere to get a load of top soil.
9 The top soil is to fill in the hole that the stump came out of.
10 Alfredo and Chhewang clearing and smoothing the pit.
11 This area will be seeded and perhaps planted with another linden tree.
12 More debris for the pile
13 Elsewhere on the property, many other fallen trees and branches were being cleared.
14 White pine branches being fed into the chipper
15 Load upon load has been taken to the compost yard.
16 Very tall, straight trees are being sawed into 10-foot lengths for lumbering.
17 Again, Dominick uses a chain and the telescoping arm of the hi-lo to drag the timber out of the woods.
18 When the log is far enough out, the next 10-foot section is cut.
19 My friend, Ralph Robbins, from SavATree http://www.savatree.com/ brought his crew to work on the damaged trees along the road.
20 This kind of tree removal requires special equipment and the expertise of professionals.
21 Ropes and pulleys are used to take the tree down one section at a time.
22 Dominick uses the loader to carry that tree trunk away.
23 Chhewang uses that same loader to carry more debris.
24 My beautiful weeping willows were also damaged in the storm.
25 When SavATree was finished clearing on the road, I asked them to clean up the willows. These truck supports help to stabilize the truck from tipping.
26 There are times when a cherry picker really comes in handy.
27 This arborist was able to get out all the broken branches quite easily.
28 The willows were trimmed up within minutes.
Wow. Seems like they did a thorough job. So much to deal with. Did you leave any trees down and in tact? Storms are natural and a lot of creatures thrive on a dead decaying tree. We had bad storms here a few years ago in the great park near my home and the park keepers left a couple of sections of fallen trees to decay naturally. They looked cool actually and did attract some beautiful fungi and insects as well as an interesting reminder of events.
Posted by: Christian / @vfbr2001 | August 4th, 2010 at 1:54 am
The pictures of pulling the linden roots reminded me of pictures of clearing my grandfather's farm 100 years ago..... same sort of massive roots but instead of a high low there were horses and ropes.
Truely amazing what 21 seconds of the wrong kind of wind can rought. Once it is cleaned up then you will have many opportunities for new projects. I know you will share with us.
Posted by: Susan | August 4th, 2010 at 3:21 am
That was a lot of extra work for all your people. But, it looks as if they are on top of it and things will look almost "normal" when they get through.
Gloria
Posted by: Gloria | August 4th, 2010 at 3:25 am
Hopefully some of the wood will go to wood turners....& continue to live as beautiful turned wooden bowls , vessels, boxes , lamps & turned lamp shades.
Posted by: Lynn Willard | August 4th, 2010 at 6:31 am
Your crew works very hard to keep your farm in great shape.We don't realize what can happen in just a few minutes with a twister.
Sorry but I forgot to wish you Happy Birthday yesterday. So Happy Birthday Martha.
Posted by: Bernadette | August 4th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Hi Martha,
Cleaning up fallen trees is a LOT of work and your grounds crew is doing a super job. It is good that you have all the equipment they need to get things looking great again. I see your pergola with its granite posts didn't budge an inch when the strong winds blew! It is looking good in picture #22. It was back in January of ’08 (I looked it up), when you had tabletops made from a fallen Sycamore tree that you were going to use in your boxwood room. Anyway, looks like you have enough wood now to make a few banquet tables! Thanks for the update. Trish
Posted by: Trish | August 4th, 2010 at 8:51 am
Hello Martha:
Belated Happy Birthday wishes to you. I hope your birthday was a great one. And thanks for all the lovely and wonderful things I learn from your show and website.
120 trees damaged is a lot of trees. We had a huge amount of tree damage here in Philly. In one of our historical parks, a 100 or so huge tree fell also another tree in the same park. So much tree damage took place here in the city that day. It was truly one of the most violent storms I have seen in many years. Huge limbs came crashing down as well. Telephone pools in my area are leaning now and wires came down and some are just bulging down. Crews came to bunch them up with wire holders.
I am so sorry to see so many beautiful trees have to go. Your clean up crews are doing a marvelous job. Your expert plans for those tree give them life elsewhere as compost or as lumber or as wood chips. Awesome!
Linda
Phila., PA
Posted by: Linda | August 4th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Martha
I noticed in one of your photos what looks like a deer fence behind the gorgeous stone wall. I am struggling with how to deer proof my 2 acres (currently encircled by a split rail fence)in a countryside neighborhood (corner lot)in an attractive manner - could you possible address this in a blog post? Thanks so much. Karen
Posted by: Karen | August 4th, 2010 at 9:43 am
I hope a well placed fallen trunk or two was left in place... the bunnies need a home too
Is all of the chipped wood thrown into the compost mix, or will you keep it for mulch later?
Posted by: R. | August 4th, 2010 at 10:26 am
Hello from far west Texas. I live 2 1/2 hours from the nearest WalMart so your show is a real pleasure. I watched your show this morning (8/4/10) and would like to thank you for cleaning out the remainder of the BQ sauce while combining all ingredients. It is very unsual to see a chef on TV "get all" the stuf out of the bowl while cooking. I thought everyone did as I do and scraped the bowl. Thank you for being "real".
Love your show.
Catherine Taylor
Fort Davis, TX
Posted by: Catherine Taylor | August 4th, 2010 at 10:38 am
A great cleanup and arborist crew! Unfortunate to lose such mature trees but, i guess, an opportunity to plant something new. Here's hoping that the weather systems will stay calm and be kind to your beautiful property.
Posted by: sherey | August 4th, 2010 at 11:50 am
Happy Birthday Martha!
May you live to be a hundred years old!
Posted by: Marilyn | August 4th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Martha, thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | August 4th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Hi Martha, Thanks for another great set of photos about that twister that destroyed so many trees on your wonderful property. Your grounds crew and the Savatree's Ralph Robbins' crew did an absolutely fantastic job of cleaning up that horrific mess! Kudos to all of them for accomplishing such a difficult task! Your farm already looks much better. Well, it looks like you had a terrific birthday, yesterday. Thanks so much for all of the delightful tweets you sent us to enjoy! I loved everyone of them! Bet you really enjoyed all of the birthday cakes, yum! Love, Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | August 4th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Happy Belated Birthday Wishes, Martha. Thought of you, wondering what you would be doing. Hope you enjoyed your day with your pet family, family & friends, doing what you love. Thanks for so much inspiration. I wish you many, many more years of good health & happiness...Judy xo
Posted by: Judy Corras | August 4th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Its very humbling to think of all those years of growth - toppled by such forceful winds - and how inept, we as humans, really are at preservation. But one thing i know, Martha green thumbs will be matching the devastation with new plantings, soon.
Posted by: celia stock | August 4th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I'm sorry you lost some beautiful trees. We will never tire of looking at pictures of your gardens. I wonder how your vegetables gardens are doing? Producing abundantly, I'm certain.
Posted by: Candylei | August 4th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Happy Birthday. We had a party in your honor. Thank you for the endless inspiration.
http://eggday.blogspot.com/2010/08/martha-stewarts-birthday.html
Posted by: Julianna | August 4th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!
HOPE YOUR DAY WAS GREAT, EXCITING AND SHARED WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
YOU CARRY 69' VERY WELL.
Posted by: mimi | August 4th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Hello from north central North Dakota. Today when reading your Living magazine calendar, it piqued my interest in your blog. Of course I am so sorry that the first time I check your blog I read about your beautiful trees crashing in the violent storm. We have actually mourned lost trees from storms here on our farm in ND, so I truly sympathize with you. You have a good crew, equipment and lots of ideas for a fresh look! Best wishes and may the sun shine brightly on your farm so the new trees get a great and healthy start!
Posted by: Dianne Larson | August 4th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Well you at least baked some goodies for the crew. also you could invite a famous wood carver/artist to make works of art from some of the fallen trees and then auction the items off for charity. If you use my idea please invite me to the event and perhaps donate a couple of items for me to auction here in Canada. I do hope you will think of this seriously Martha. So much damage was caused with this storm but so much good may come of it if you try. It need only be a one-off project for real punch. Thanks Martha. don't forget to read my blog and vote for me. Happy birthday....good wishes again from me.
Posted by: http://twitter.com/Geotravel | August 4th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
Happy Belated Birthday Martha! It's nice to see that some of those trees will be used for lumber and others for mulch. I was wondering if you still use Salt Marsh Grasses in your vegetable garden? I hope you don't use it anymore as it is not a sustainable option. Salt Marshes don't grow back quickly. The animal life can be disturbed enough so that sea and coastal birds won't nest in an area that has little or no hiding places for them.
Posted by: Anna-Catherine Sendgikoski | August 5th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Hi Maratha, My husband & I attended your show in NYC a few months back, we loved seeing you. So sorry to see all the damaged trees on your property. Was all the large equipment yours? If so, that is alot of up keep. Hope that the Willows will be ok, I love their soft drapping look.
Belated Happy Birthday.How can I get the recipe for the creamsicle cake that Alexis made for you? It looks awesome.
Posted by: Kathleen | August 7th, 2010 at 12:25 pm