Category Archives: tree work

We won’t be stumped

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What to do with that stump in the yard! They are in the way when you are mowing, or trying to enjoy our short, intense summers! Maybe you tried to dig it out, or put a chain on it, or pour gasoline on it (believe me, we have see it all)

We come across a lot of stumps. There are two reasons for this – stump grinding technology has come a long way in the past few years, and if you are a on a budget, leaving the stump for another day makes a lot of sense. Why get rid of stumps? Aside from being unsightly, stumps can be a hazard to grass mowing, navigation, and can serve as habitat for bugs, and mice.

We have two machines to grind stumps – a highly portable precision machine, that can go anywhere, and grind anything and a self propelled work horse, a little robot that can make a quick job of even the biggest stumps.

Do you have a stump in a flower bed? In the middle of your yard? Call Reta at 204-730-0368 and we can figure out how to give you a beautiful yard, free of obstacles!

These chips don’t go with dip!

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We get this question a lot.

“What do you do with your wood chips?” “What do you do with your logs?”

The first step is to offer these materials to the homeowner – it is your tree/hedge/bush after all, even if we have feed it through our chipper. Wood chips can be useful to mulch around trees, augment compost, you could even get a little nutty and start a Hugel bed!

As for firewood, we can stack it neatly against a fence or shed in your yard, so that it is ready for a marshmallow roast (as your local bylaws allow!)

If you choose to take a pass on the wood chips, we have several local farmers and gardeners that we work with who would love a load of wood chips or five! And we have a whole bunch of firewood folks, just waiting to jump in and grab some logs.

If you would like to talk chips and dip, or chips and logs – call Reta at 204-730-0368

This Wild Trick Means Selling Your House Easier!

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It is so very simple.

A 1950s Popular Mechanics book (that Chris read and has been oft quoted in our house) is that when you sell a house, suggest easy living. There are plenty of blogs and Pinterest pages that can show you how to stage your home – so this is not that post.

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What a lovely day for yard raking and concrete!

Suggest easy living. No one wants to wake up to a tree on their house. No one wants to own the house on the street that is totally overgrown. No one wants to buy a house – then realize they need to set aside the plans for the hot tub/pool table/new couch – all because of the overgrown mess they have bought.

Look at those tasty maple mushrooms! They don’t make for very good eats though!

Old dead suckering maples need to go! Clean up branches around the house! A good general yard clean up is like a good haircut – it should not be obvious, but it just looks good. It all comes down to curb appeal – does this house look like a nice place to call home? Does it look friendly?

Give Reta a call at 204-730-0368 to discuss how we can arboreally prepare your home for sale. And if there happens to be something baking (isn’t that an old real estate trick? Have cookies baking in the oven?) all the better!

Is there a tree on your house? 

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We can help! The summer storms that are becoming all too regular (read also – it seems like we have had destructive storms every year since Chris and I moved back from Winnipeg four years ago)

During the storm season of 2014 or ’15, Chris was photographed and interviewed by the Brandon Sun. He was quoted as saying that “a downed tree is a spring loaded death trap.” Now to be clear, he is not trying to scare people. What he wants to make clear is that a downed tree presents many, many risks – some of which are not obvious at all.

One of the challenges of storm work is how to remove trees and branches without further damaging your property. Maybe something is fully on your house, but depending how it is removed, there is a possibility to damage eavestroughs, soffit and fascia. Or perhaps, as a post is taken apart, there is the possibility of logs sliding down the side of your house, damaging siding or stucco.

While there is no 100% guarantee in storm work, we deploy a host of tools, trucks and expertise to safely make your home tree-free. From using a pole saw to cut branches from a safe distance (logs/posts can turn or shift suddenly depending on how their weight is distributed) to using jacks, straps and chains to support trees as we take them apart, we enjoy solving the challenges presented by a downed tree.

We would rather take down a marginal tree on purpose, than come clean up after an accident.

If you would like to know if we can help, call Reta at 204-730-0368

Pruning for fruit

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We recently had the chance to revisit the little orchard east of town, where we pruned last year. The Brandon Community Garden Network, who host weekly workshops, invited us back to talk techniques, about how we assess a tree, and safety.

I couldn’t resist the blossoms!!

If you have some trees that need a haircut, give Reta a call at 204-730-0368

And a bonus!! We saw this cute little guy – debates were had – moth? Bee? What was he?


Hummingbird hawk moth!

Click here to learn more!!

Pruning 101

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I was asked today what was the scope of our business.

I said, “Well, we do tree removal, including technical removals – which basically means trees in tricky places that cannot be reached by bucket truck. We also do stump grinding (removal) and branch chipping. But our favorite thing is pruning. It is both and art and a science – how to make a tree look like a tree.”

Pruning is one of the ways that arborists and homeowners can manage the health, shape and safety of a tree over time. Just like you and I need to trim our toenails, and get a haircut – trees, hedges, and bushes need some maintenance too. Now there is not a tree spa, where you get drop off your trembling aspen or your boxelder (AKA Manitoba Maple) What you can do is tackle the tree on your own, or give us a call.

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