Merry Stems Tree Service LLC

This telephone pole of an oak spar had tipped and was leaning on a single branch in a white pine -the only thing keeping it from tipping onto the house. Any option other than securing it and rigging it would put the worker and house in danger. All the wood and debris brought down safely and hauled out. Speaking of oaks - it's oak trimming season! Give Merry Stems a call!

The hostas made access with the stump grinder impossible, but fortunately manual removal was the cleaner and safer option. This happy customer can now continue their w**d barrier and mulching project! Looking great!

Catching up on posting some work we did this winter. This massive red oak needed to be removed so that a flooding gravel driveway can be made more usable and safe for the homeowner. It had to be carefully removed in pieces due to proximity to the road, municipal water mains, other trees, and houses. Fortunately its large straight trunk was made into beautiful slabs and mantles, and the rest will be heating homes in the coming winters, and mulching other trees, gardens, and paths in our community.

Today we removed a large Hophornbeam tree that was leaning over a new build. It was wisely taken care of before the metal roof was installed, but careful rigging was still required to protect the framed roof structure and a wooden fence that ran along the base of the tree. Strong lean toward the house and a steep dune slope that the tree grew from made this tree very difficult to access and even trickier to fell, but it was taken down safely and this home is soon ready to be roofed and sided!

Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus Altissima) is a very invasive tree. It quickly spreads through adventitious shoots (root suckers), has leaves that smell like rotten peanut butter, attracts the invasive spotted lanternfly, and quickly outgrows native trees, which is why this large one had to be treated with herbicides all summer and removed this winter. However, its wood is known to be similar to ash in appearance and hardness, which is a popular wood for electric guitars. So, I decided to slab this one up. We'll see how it dries and planes - it should make about 15 guitar body blanks.

We put a full day into a backyard that had been overtaken by vines (grape, oriental bittersweet, greenbriar, blackberry) that grew around a downed tree, a rotting couch and construction debris, and lots of unfortunately doomed saplings. A large stand of staghorn sumac had also been overtaking the play area, so we removed 25 to 30 of those at the homeowner's request. Around the perimeter of the yard we uncovered a number of red oak, red maple, beech, sassafras, and white pine saplings (and a recently planted eastern red cedar) that could be freed from the vines and permitted to grow as the next generation of backyard trees. It will require a good deal of mowing, treating, mulching, raking, and seeding, but they may gain back room for the kids to play without getting tangled in prickers and vines!

Stumps can be stubborn, but grind them four to six inches below grade, cover in topsoil and seed, and they will soon be forgotten. We ground three spruce stumps today, ranging from 10 to 36 inches in diameter.

The weather held today and made it perfect for climbing and topping this spruce. Winter is the best time to take care of hazard or unwanted trees - most invasive species that spread disease are dormant, firewood that is cut can be split before Easter and ready to burn the next fall, and pruning is more effective when stems are fully visible. Give us a call or fill out the form on our website - we have lots of availability.

There's a good chance you're cutting down a tree this week. If you need a tree cut down that won't fit in your living room, give us a call or fill out the quote request form on our website. www.merrystemstreeservice.com