I think you can rent a mechanical wood splitter.

I kept one of the leaves as a memento. The yard seemed incredibly empty and exposed for a while until I finally (sort of) got used to it.

Which is great

So few of them here and it was gorgeous but had a lot of battles in its lifetime. I was really sad when they came to get it and still miss it.

Hard loss - plant a new one

I'll try

I miss that shade they cast on my southern windows, but they were dropping limbs so they had to go. Finally was able to grow grass in the yard though.

often between faster growing softwoods

i kept the bottom bit of the trunk, and used it as a planter. i figured some folks wd b mad at me, since a few already were. i wanted them to know how bad it was.

Imagine the things that tree saw in its life. We are so ephemeral in comparison. Here today. Gone in an instant. But the trees live on long after we're forgotten. I do love them.

I hope it was a good day other than having to take your old tree down. I hope you had some fun.

I wish you many more happy birthdays. 🎂

Ask them to make a special piece for you in exchange for free wood that they could also use for other projects.

and we had to get ir taken down immediately. The trunk alone weighed 12K pounds.

I also have a more light in the front yard now so I planted a beautiful perennial garden this spring where the tree was.

Lucky the tree fell into the street and not the house as I likely would have been killed as I was in the room closest to the tree.

I live in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, and trees are constantly dying and new ones sprout up.

The borer beetle destroyed countless pine trees whose sap, which defended against the borers, was reduced drastically by years of drought. I lost 4 or 5 pines in my front yard alone.

And then the oaks get old, mistletoe, a parasite, sucks the life out of them, and down they go.

One in my land broke into parts three separate times and fell over my power line, which thanks to the first owner, was UNDERGROUND.

I just posted a roadside "live oak" which ain't live any more.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1036165222



All these things required tons of cleanup to remove the tinder they created.

There's a big live oak just west of the home that won't live much longer. But behind it is a manzanita that is almost as tall, so there'll be some privacy.

It's sad to see them go, but nature renews (out here, anyway).

Nothing lasts forever, but perhaps you can get a long-living plant for your birthday. In previous homes, we had lemon trees and so on. Again, they don't last forever, but the lemons (Meyer Lemons) were wonderful. Your weather may vary.

🎉🎉💃🎁💃🎉🎉

I have a couple of oaks that might need to come down.

I love my trees and my birds. But I'm really starting to hate Father Time. These two are probably 80 to 100 years old. One was hit by lightning and has started to show signs that it's time. The other might be OK with a trim.

I hate to do it. I don't want the critters to lose their habitats or the birds to lose their aids to navigation, though. It's not easy.

We have tried hard to save our ash tree, the only tree in our yard.
We have had it injected 3 times now.
It looks good and is the only ash tree left in our neighborhood.
We find at least 5-10 dead emerald ash borers on the cement and in the pool daily.
Every time I look at that tree I give thanks.
I would be sad if we had to take it down

I share your sentiment. I agonize every time I lose a tree on my property. I have acres of them, but the big old giants are my special favorites. My children gave some of them names when they were young and now my grandchildren carry that on. I hope some of the wood can remain with you in some way, even if it is cut into rounds for a path or a border around a new tree you choose to plant. Now go have a giant piece of birthday cake and big scoops of ice cream. 🩷🩷🩷