We have a porch !?!

An arborist came to the house today to talk to us about trees. The tree on the front corner near the street is a White Pine and apparently pretty rare to be of good health like it is in an urban area (see profile picture). Don't worry - it is safe. Next to it is a giant White Spruce, also in good health, and with a Balsam Fir next to it. The problem is - can you tell we have a front porch? The trees make the house dark in the front and block the view (not to mention provide good access for raccoons).

The option we chose is to "limb" the White Spruce to above the porch roof line. We are going to see how this works out and then decide what to do. We decided that the cost is worth it to at least try to save a 50-60 year old tree.

As for the trees in the backyard, we have two Norway Maples near the one set of neighbours and a third Norway Maple in the fence line with the other neighbours. Norway Maples are apparently invasive, foreign trees, prone to disease and weak. Based on the type of tree and their location, they are also probably ruining the neighbour's foundation. They have also created huge root knots in our back yard. The fourth tree (yes, we have a lot of big trees) is a Manitoba Maple and is leaning on our house. While this type of tree is more naturalized than the Norway Maple, it has the similar problems and obviously has to go.

At the moment, the plan is to remove all of the Maples in the backyard other than the one in the fence line. While it has an obvious disease in the form of a canker, it is straight and could stay for now. It was described as "ultimately doomed."

And don't forget about the cedars at the back - they have to go too...... I swear, we do love the environment.