Day 275

With Christmas just a few months away, I know that many people will be visiting the tree farm across the street to choose a tree to chop down and decorate in their own homes. While there probably won't be decorating, I've made plans to have people come to our place and get trees of their own. The true decorating will be in the form of new native plants creating a colorful landscape to replace the dead towers of wood dotting our big backyard.

To assist with our restoration plan,we look forward to removing dead ash tees so we can have access to the land and the invasive reed canary grass and other undesirable plants dominating the landscape where the ash trees once lived.

But once the trees get removed,where will they go? There are options. 

The first option is to give it away. I’ve used social media to recruit a  group of individuals who are interested in harvesting wood for their winter heating needs. Some have already come by to take a look at the land and determine when they might want to come grab some wood.

A second option involves fire. Potentially, once the land is frozen, we can cut down and pile up trees before setting them ablaze in an epic bonfire.

A third option is to let Mother Nature take care of them with some minimal assistance from humans. Basically, we’d cut trees down and move them out of the restoration zone to an area where the elements provided by nature will help decompose these trees on their own.

A fourth option might be to remove many of the trees and place them in a manner to effectively create a habitat for animals to use, especially with the winter approaching.

A fifth option is to let them be,and let them be. While this is the cheapest and easiest option, it is not preferred. Keeping the area infested with invasives is sure to impact the surrounding land and impede the progress we’ve made.

Of course, the most likely scenario will probably include a combination of all these options (minus the fifth option) with other ideas we haven't even considered yet.