Re: Best Variety of Eucalyptus or some other fast growing evergreen tree ?

Take it down yourself. Take a ladder, wedge it into the tree, go up with a brand new bow saw and start taking out the branches. Do not use a chain saw! I start from below and work up. I finally have a pole.
I cut the pole off about ten feet up. I have a long log chain which I attach toward the top of the "pole". I use a "come-along" and then another piece of chain around the base of a reasonably large tree. Put it as low as you can! Pad this so you don't damage this tree.
Dig around the base of the tree you're removing and cut the roots on three sides, leaving the roots on the side toward the come-along. They will act as a fulcrum and help remove the root.
Put pressure on it with the come-along and have someone watching at the roots. When the ground "heaves" as you pump, it shows you where there is an uncut root. Cut it and continue pumping. It will eventually come out root and all.
I took down a large Monterey for a friend this way. I also took down a mature Eucalyptus. This time I trimmed from the bottom up leaving stubs so I could climb. I secured myself with a rope. When I had good- sized branches higher in the tree I put a rope outside of where I was going to cut so I could lower the branch safely without damaging the fruit trees he had below. I took the trunk down the same way, in pieces with a rope. It had a wonderful branched habit about 8-10 feet from the ground. I trimmed them off level, hoping he would use it for a tree house. (I don't think he did! Boo-ho!)
I had a LARGE mature (25 years) poplar tree which had to go. I hired some student help. But like most people under thirty, they could only hear their own voice. They cut ALL the roots! I thought this was going to kill me. I didn't have the fulcrum of the near roots so I was left to pulling it out of the ground like a carrot. I wound up putting two come-alongs on it. I thoroughly watered the hole.
I think it took me two weeks to get it out, water at night, one notch on each come along each day. But I finally got it out. It was a dense root ball 4-5 feet in diameter. I hired a truck to haul it away. With both of us pushing we could not budge it. So I hooked up the log chain and come alongs again and dragged it about 60-80 feet to the front yard and up into the truck!
Whew! That was a job. But I was a lot younger then, only about 55-60. I would not try it now that I'm 85! 

	But I bet you could do it!
I'll come down and help if you have some young ones to do the work and a good chair for me! 

	Do it NOW. It will only get BIGGER and harder to do!		---Chas---
========================================
I have E. nicholii in my back, and I don't know if I would suggest it for two reasons. It really isn't dense enough to make a good screen (which is why we planted it in one place), but perhaps more importantly, it is really 
bent in the wind where we planted it away from a fence.  I wish I had
planted mine at a 15 degree angle into the wind, because now that it is 25 feet tall only 9 years later, the reaction wood doesn't seem to keep up with growth and it leans and appears to be cracking in the bark where it bends with the stress. It has put on a lot of top growth which appears to try to balance the weight of the tree, but I swear, we hold our breath sometimes wondering if a good strong wind is going to take it down on top of our pool 
pump!
P.S. I know this probably means we should hire it removed, but like all 
parents, we keep hoping it will show signs of getting stronger.
Karrie Reid

-----Original Message-----
From: david feix [d*@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:45 AM
To: pkssreid@comcast.net; mtnstar@ocsnet.net; medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: Best Variety of Eucalyptus or some other fast growing evergreen 
tree ?

Some of the suggest species such as E. ficifolia are
not hardy enough to use in inland valley/northern
California conditions.  There are plenty of medium
sized Eucs(30 to 50 foot tall) that might fit the
bill, with E. nicholii, E. sideroxylon perhaps tow of
them, or E. polyanthemos.  E. globulus v. compacta is
also much seen in older plantings here in the SF Bay
Area for windbreaks, but is not the most attractive
species in my mind.  Acacia baileyana, A. melanoxylon
or A. longifolia might also serve your purposes, and
are all relatively drought and heat tolerant.

Almost any bamboo will probably need much more water
than you would care to give it in a hot, dry exposure.


--- Reidfamily <pkssreid@comcast.net> wrote:


Linda:

The only note of caution here is that ANY tree that
is fast growing will
have brittle wood.  That is the nature of wood.

Karrie Reid

Folsom Foothill Gardener

Zone 9



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
[o*@ucdavis.edu]
On Behalf Of Linda - The Lavender Lady
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 12:43 PM
To: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Best Variety of Eucalyptus or some other
fast growing evergreen
tree ?



I have an area along a fence line that is hot and
dry and I would like to
plant a row of eucalyptus to block some road noise
and the neighbors that
may soon be there.  Is there a variety of eucalyptus
that doesn't get overly
tall but more shrubby say 25 feet tall or so?  We
get quite a bit of high
winds here and I don't want to get some really tall
ones and have them snap
off - although the people across the highway have
some tall eucalyptus and
they have done ok.  I just think in my area of oak
savannah a shorter
stature tree would fit in better.  I even thought
about olive, but they
sucker so much and it would be hard to weed eat
around them.  Perhaps there
is something else I can plant that grows fast and
will fit in that area?
The fence line goes down from our house so the trees
have to grow somewhat
tall to block the view from above.



Any ideas?  thanks



Linda Starr

Springville Lavender Gardens
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