THE TREE

One thing I have had to consider when building the cottage is my old cherry tree.  I have thought about tree for many years.  I know it is at least 50 yrs old.  I know that it will need to come down at some point as she doesn't have too many years left.  I know that the arborist informed me that her one funky limb will eventually tear from the trunk and damage the fence and/or anything under it.  I know she still produces some cherries that the birds/squirrels eat.  I know that her canopy provides some shade in the backyard on sunny, hot days but doesn't flower like she used to (white flowers).  And I know that if she needs to be felled it is better to do so before building a cottage in the back yard as opposed to waiting until there is a structure to have to work around. 

So I have decided to have her felled and have the large parts milled and incorporated into the new structure.  Turns out getting a tree cut down and removed in Seattle is easy but finding someone to mill it into slabs is a whole other ballgame.  Apparently, Seattle-ites have trees removed and could care less what happens to the carcass.  It is rare for a person to want their tree milled and made into reusable parts.  This is a cherry tree which means cherry wood which means gorgeous so I am milling her and either using the live slab cuts as aesthetics mounted on walls or used as a top for a kitchen island.  This feels good to me and a way to honor the tree.  The process has been a bit challenging however.

First, I found a tree service that will take the tree down.  Then I had to figure out how to have it milled.  Not all tree felling services will haul the large parts of the tree to a mill.  I happened to choose Seattle Tree Service who will haul the tree to a mill but I wanted to do a little bit of information gathering around milling. 1.  My first step into the dork forest of the wood world was going to Woodcraft of Seattle and asking about having my tree milled.  They were very excited about me reusing the wood and suggested looking for someone with a portable mill online.  I didn't know a portable mill was a thing and thought it may be cheaper to have it milled in my yard than paying the tree service to deliver it to a mill and then paying the mill to create the slabs I am wanting.    2.  I looked online for portable milling services...did not find much.  3.  Then I called Cross Cut Hardwood as they have a warehouse full of huge slabs of wood and seemed like they would know of a mill I could use.  4.  They did not but did suggest I call City Trees Furniture which I did.  Left a message, never heard back.  5.  Then I decided to contact Seattle Tree Service and ask them if they had any suggestions for millers.  They suggested I call Urban Hardwoods.  6.  I did and they work with a guy who owns his own portable mill and said he would come check out my tree and give me a bid!  Right after this, a design firm friend filled me in on a female miller so I have her info as plan b. 

Now I wait to get everything on the calendar.  In the mean time I have decided to have a ceremony honoring the tree realizing she has created beauty and fed the critters for DECADES!  I will cry when she comes down and I am not proud to cull an old soul and I own that.  I have contacted Farmer Frog horticulturists and Greta Jane Landscaping to ask if they would be willing to facilitate a tree honoring ceremony in my back yard.  They have all agreed enthusiastically as they are lovers of nature and appreciate when others make the effort to recognize the 'green people' (plants).  I have also, thanks to the suggestion of a good friend, decided to donate to A Living Tribute which plants trees in our National Forests.  Check out their website and perhaps donate as well:  https://www.alivingtribute.org/?gclid=CjwKCAiAnfjyBRBxEiwA-EECLCE94ezvtDvdaRGX0QQdSU3PEWgO1bv-VsDW9Ve23FimYc2H3bWgExoCl9QQAvD_BwE   
It seems like a good idea to plant a tree in return for felling one...integrity is in there somewhere.