I felled this poplar (cottonwood) in a kindergarten. Poplars are very weak trees. A very bad choice for an urban tree. Worse choice for a playground. Safe and accurate felling is definitely an art and a science. For more info on felling, http://www.mytreelessons.com/Dutch%20Push%20in%201%20side%20of%20Face.htm

Let the bodies hit the floor! I laid the stem between a red oak and a spruce. It was a tight fit between the canopies. It fell just short of the school house. In the other direction, there is a new multi million $$ house. You really have to be able to trust yourself and your capabilities.

Posing with my kill. The tree was very hollow at the bottom.

Good kids respecting the security tape. Securing our jobsite can be a very difficult task. The tape is usually ignored by kids and adults a like. Safety is always a challenge.

If it were not for the courage of the fearless crew..... Ok, these are the Irish that do ground operations.

FIRST pic with the new camera! This willow was in a public pool here in Munich. It had to go due to severe rot and decline. It was rigged with a Z-rig to give some pull and then felled. This pic shows the stump and my experiment with relief cuts. Left side of the pic was the face cut, right side back cut and the cut facing the camera was the relief cut. It unplugged nicely.

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.
Hermann Hesse, Wandering

In July I drove to a little village in the mountains near Merano, Italy to visit the oldest larch trees in Europe. There are just 3 anceint trees there. It was a rewarding adventure.

Locals say these trees are over 2000 years old. Experts say they are more in the range of 600 years old. This tree was the largest of the trio.

I brought gear to climb the ancient Tirolean trees but the 2 biggest ones were actually not that tall. One had a dead top and the other a broken top so the gear stayed put. Instead, I took some time and enjoyed sitting in their shade thinking about others who had done the same over the last centuries.

You have to touch trees to know them. Its ok to hug.

This larch was hollow and had a little place to sit inside.

Inside a hollow larch. Cool view.