Young House Love

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Limbing Up Trees So You Can See The House Again

Alternate post title: Trees: 0. Sherry: 2.

You might not remember what our first house looked like when we bought it so I’ll remind you:

Front Yard Unclipped

And this is what it looked like five hours after John left and I went crazy with a clipper (surprise!):

Front Yard Clipped

Three cheers for being able to see the house. And we gained a view of the neighborhood from our front windows. You know, instead of the view of a dense “tree fence.” So much better. Plus it was free and gave me a nice little arm workout.

Of course that house’s curb appeal was a pretty constant four and a half year evolution (these things take time) so when we left we finally had it looking like this:

Final Exterior After

Isn’t it amazing what removing some stuff and bringing in some other stuff can do? And we’re huge fans of craigslisting bushes and trees that you don’t need to give them a second life (we post “you dig ’em up and they’re yours for free” ads and people come and do all the work to clear our yard – it’s pretty amazing).

But I digress. Back to this house and my “me vs. tree” tally. I decided to surprise John while he was out picking up these craigslist chairs, so while he was driving to Mechanicsville and back (about an hour and a half round-trip) and Clara was inside napping (miraculous!) I realized I was free to go outside and go crazy on our giant blocks-the-entire-house-and-it’s-all-you-see-out-the-window magnolia.

You think I’m kidding. Here’s the giant ranch-hiding magnolia:

Magnolia Before1

Magnolia Before2

At first we thought we needed to get it taken down (it’s just way too big to be right smack in front of a small ranch, and it blocks so much light). But when my mom visited she recommended that we try limbing it up as an it-can’t-hurt solution to see if we could keep it – at least for a while. So I decided to give it a go. Couldn’t hurt right? Although I was kinda scared my tree tally would end up tied (since the magnolia is a lot more monstrous than the other trees that I tackled by myself at our first house).

Here’s what I used: a Corona branch clipper and a WoodZig hand saw, both from Lowe’s about four years ago.

Magno Clip Saw

And here are my other supplies:

Magnol Phones

A baby monitor, my cell phone, and the house phone. In case Clara woke up, I needed to be ready to drop the clippers and spring into action. And in case John called, I needed to be able to answer the phone and act like I wasn’t outside cutting down giant tree limbs so as not to ruin the surprise. John actually did call a few times so I tried not to sound too out of breath as I hurriedly dragged giant branches to the back of our property (one good thing about having nearly an acre of land is that there’s always a wooded spot in the back for dumping trimmings).

My method was basically to use the branch clipper to get all of the thinner branches that I could reach from the ground (since the clippers were so long they extended my reach quite a bit) and then to use the hand saw while standing on a nice sturdy wrought iron lawn chair (I probably should have gotten the ladder but I’m too wimpy to carry it by myself) to get all of the thicker branches that the clipper couldn’t handle.

The hand saw part of the job was the hardest (it only took about ten minutes to clip all of the low-hanging branches that I wanted to nix, but it took about 15 minutes per giant branch that I had to saw manually. And I tackled three of those for a total of 45 arm-cramping minutes spent sawing away. Oh well, still a better solution than me with a chainsaw (which I’m pretty sure would = death). Plus I am now the proud owner of Arnold Schwarzenegger arms.

Just kidding but how disturbing is that mental picture?

Anyway, the other hardest part of the job was dragging what felt like an entire tree into the back of our lot after trimming everything back (including a few dead boxwoods that I cut out from the front yard’s perimeter while I was at it)…

Magno Clippings

….while panicking that John would pull up mid project or Clara would wake up and start screaming for me. Luckily I got everything to the back just in time to snap a few “progress” photos (let’s face it, they’re most definitely not curb appeal after pics)…

Magnol Tree After

Magnol After2

… and run inside, toss all of my muddy clothes into the wash, and even take a quick shower before Clara woke up and John got home. And since some of my best ideas happen in the shower, it was there that I hatched the plan to videotape John’s arrival (I snickered at the thought of catching that what-the-heck-did-you do look on his cute surprised face). So here it is:

That’s right. He didn’t even notice that the bottom of the magnolia was missing (!!!) because he couldn’t tear his eyes away from his weird wife waiting in the carport with the Flip cam. Foiled. But when he did walk around front to see my handiwork he was definitely shocked and extremely happy that I did all the work without him. Haha. Mission accomplished (I kept saying that all I wanted for my birthday was to limb up the magnolia so I finally made it happen, if not a bit late).

I’m sure our front yard will continue to evolve over the years just like our first house did (we’ve got a long way to go), but for a free 1.5 hour afternoon undertaking, it was totally worth it. Even if only for the light that now floods into the dining room and a view of the neighborhood that we gained (instead of a big old mass o’ leaves out the front windows).

Magno Looking Out

Point: me.

But come to think of it, I did end up with a clipping-related blister:

Legs Blister

So maybe the tree deserves half a point for putting up a good fight.

Psst- We announced this weeks giveaway winners (along with a discount for everyone else). Check it all out here.

Comments

  1. Amber says

    Way to get your hands dirty and get the job done- looks awesome!! It would’ve been sad to see you completely hack off the magnolia since they are such beautiful trees!

    Reply

  2. Michelle says

    Wow! I did something similar to my Grandmother’s bushes last summer. I started just trying to “shape” them (picture what you had on a slightly smaller basis). She ended up with several “mushroom” bushes. Hopefully, someone’s going to maintain them while I’m not there. But one thing that I did…Sherry, you must wear at least one glove!

    Reply

  3. Jennah says

    I’m so glad you limbed it and didn’t cut it down! It still provides some privacy, but it doesn’t block the entire view. I love the look of a mature tree in a front yard, and especially one with a nice shape like a magnolia. I hope you do end up keeping it!

    Reply

  4. r8chel says

    At a previous house I owned, I had the same problem of a big tree blocking the view of the front of my house. But before I could figure out what to do with it, it blew over in a big storm! Problem solved! But I’m glad it looks like you’ll get to keep your magnolia. :)

    Reply

  7. aaroohii says

    Did anyone notice that you took before picture from far away and after pic from closer distance, that way more house is seen? or should I be proud of my attention to detail??

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I didn’t even notice that- haha. I just snapped a few photos like a wild woman before jumping in the shower and grabbing the camera to film John’s arrival! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  9. Tanya says

    You are the woman, Sharnold!!

    Want to come to my house and tackle the crazy 14′ holly trees the previous owner planted all over the place?!?

    Reply

  10. Rachael says

    Hey guys, I had a few questions.

    I noticed that there were power lines in the pictures of your old home and new home. Are they common all over Richmond or just the neighborhoods that you’ve lived in (I saw your response to another comment about the power lines at your new house being across the street)? I live in Atlanta and some neighborhoods have power lines all over and the rest have all of their power lines buried.

    Were they something you considered when you were house hunting? I know there is a big debate over them, studies come out every year both against them and for them.

    And also, (random q) do they make noise? Growing up I would play soccer on a field with power lines overhead and the would buzz loudly! I would think that would affect a home’s value.

    Love that you were able to save the tree!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Rachael,

      Any older neighborhood here in Richmond has them (new areas now bury them). So since we love older homes they’re just part of the territory. The awesome thing is that this time they’re not on our side of the street, so if you drive by our house or stop and fact it you don’t see them (they’re on the other side of the road). So that’s an upgrade for us! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  11. Amy says

    Kudos to conquoring the tree! It will look so pretty when it blooms too, it would be sad to cut it down completely.

    Something that we have in our area (and there are probably similar organizations in other states as well) is the Cornell Cooperative Extension that sells tree saplings, shrubs and flowers for dirt cheap (har har) at their annual spring plant sale as part of their conservation effort in our area.

    Reply

  12. Holly says

    Ahh that looks so much better!!! Good job Sherry!!! Of course he didn’t notice, I could have 3 naked girls outside of our house and my husband wouldn’t notice… ok maybe he would notice 3 naked girls but you get it!

    We totally have the same house phone! High five!

    Reply

  13. Ashley says

    Love it and I am so glad you didn’t have to get rid of the magnolia. From a girl that lives in a neighborhood with no trees, I have a bit of a jealous/ protectiveness about trees. ha! It looks great!!! I bet you’ll enjoy looking at those magnolia blossoms as well. I have some great memories of climbing my grandmas magnolia tree. : )

    Reply

  14. Sarah-TEOT says

    Hey Sherry,

    What a woman! We trim all of our limbs with my Dad’s pole saw or a reciprocating saw. I love trimming trees, its one of the most affordable methods to gain curb appeal available.

    Reply

  15. Gloria says

    Sherry, for your next tree conquest try a bypass pruner. They are so fun! Look up Fiskars 14 ft. Bypass Pruner at Home Depot for about $40. You hook it over a branch up high, pull the rope and lop it off. Watch your head though!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Love it! We did have to get a second sensor pad after about 4 months when Clara became more mobile and could roll out of range, but it was just $30 more for that (we contacted the company directly). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  21. Jen says

    That picture of your brolickness is HILARIOUS! And you did a great job on the tree. Seriously, I can’t wait to own my own home so me and my hub can start some awesome projects too. Keep up the great (and totally inspiring) work!

    Reply

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