The Suburban Backyard Facelift: Getting Down to Business

After a few weekends of pulling roots and filling yard waste bins, we had pretty much cleared all that we could. We also had uncovered a few rotten stumps, lots of moss and ferns that were hidden under all the growth.

Next on the list was getting the required permits to take down the large trees closest to our house.   Our inspector casually mentioned a city code which requires a permit to take down trees in our area... good thing or we would have been some doing some seriously un-permitted tree removal.  Up there in Alaska where I come from what you do on your land is your business- speaking of Alaska did you see Sarah Palin's son got married- You Betcha! Down here in the suburbs its a different story. Although filling out the paper work is a bit of a pain, we do like that our community values trees- the trees and green are one of the things we love most about Seattle.

Over the next few weeks we read up on the code, researched our replacement tree options, and scheduled our "tree removal." Once everything was filled out, we headed down to city hall to get the permits. It was a relatively quick and easy process of proving home-ownership, showing the location of what trees, confirming we weren't in wetland area and finally issuing the sacred piece of paper.

Four days later, my brother-in-law rolled into town to do the deed. Now, let me be clear here, my BIL is a professional. Luckily for us, he's also family and so generously helped us out. Tom spent a few years taking trees down all over the Pacific Northwest before he and his wife decided to take over their family business.

Anyhow, Tom is as legit as they come. Chainsaws, ropes, harnesses, a beard and a flannel shirt. They (Tom, Greg and BIL Jon) started the job around 6pm and had the trees down and chopped by 8:30. I watched anxiously from inside. At one point I had to go into the garage because my stomach couldn't handle the intensity. 

Hello disaster

I wasn't quite prepared for the mess (branches, stumps, wood, saw dust) that was left after the trees were down, but the light and openness were just what we wanted.

8am the next morning, Greg and Tom started on the next step...digging out stumps. We decided against using a stump grinder, and instead rented a mini excavator from Eastside rentals (who are super friendly and accomodating-great experience renting from them). The boys spent most of the day playing in a grown-up sandbox. In addition to the major stumps left from the day before, there were a number of smaller stumps and the old ones that were hidden under all the salel. The mini-excavator was worth every penny.

In his Element

While they were digging, I was hauling. Branches, wood, you name it. By the time the sunset on that Sunday I was covered in dirt and bruises and our backyard had craters like the moon. Luckily during one of my hauling, our friendly neighbor stopped by to ask if we were getting ready for our upcoming city recycling event. Ummm no? I promptly came inside and did some research. What were the chances that the following weekend we could recycle stumps and wood larger than 4" free of charge? SCORE!

Using the mini-excavator, Greg loaded the stumps (1,500 lbs +) into our truck bed where they sat for -the next week. We actually ended up taking three loads of stumps for a small donation to a local non-profit- the least we could do for such a bargain.

Rocking Out

The mini-excavator really earned its keep in uncovering one big treasure. See that little rock in the bottom-right hand corner of this before picture. Well, when i couldn't move it, Greg offered to dig it out with the mini. Well, it took quite a bit of digging, and even more maneuvering to get that baby out of there. Turns out, we had our very own boulder nestled right into our little yard.

Given its history, we felt it needed to stay apart of our suburban backyard...just needed a little relocation. So with a few tipping scares, Greg and the mini moved that puppy back and center under our trees. We're still working on a name for him...

Where are we going with all of this... 

Next up was leveling, fertilizing, de-rocking and seeding... stay tuned.