DIY Life

I'm a green gardener. I'm loathe to use toxic chemicals in my yard. However, there are certain situations when only toxic will do. Like, for example, when I recently had to kill a tree. Read on if you're in the same boat and would like some tips. Oh, and be sure to check out my photo gallery, too!

The Camphor Laurel: An Invasive Pest

First up: a bit about the tree in question. The offending plant was a camphor laurel tree (cinnamomum camphora), a native of East Asia that has become an invasive pest here in the US and in other countries, like Australia. Yes, this plant is the source of stinky camphor oil, which is found in products like Vicks® cold remedies.

In my backyard, the camphor is a big pain-in-the-butt-plant. My nemesis. My arch-enemy. It self-sows everywhere. I must have pulled hundreds of tiny seedlings by hand since learning (the hard way) to be more vigilant. Hand weeding camphor seedlings is a nuisance, but it sure beats trying to eradicate them once they become established.

I witnessed firsthand how a tree felling can go awry. The tree in question belonged to my neighbor, and her friend accidentally felled it right into my yard! What a mess. The tree crashed into the branches of a favorite oak tree of mine and broke a few planks out of the fence. I'd stop short of calling the botched felling a disaster because, thankfully, no one was hurt. That, in itself, was incredibly lucky since the guy wielding the chainsaw showed no awareness of basic safety precautions: he had no safety gloves, no safety boots and no helmet. In addition, someone's little girl frolicked all around the yard the entire time, blissfully unaware of the danger. I could go on but, well, you get the picture. My strongly-worded advice to them was: next time, hire an expert!

Think you're up to the task of felling a tree yourself? It takes a bit of forward planning to make sure you avoid the type of scenario I've just described. Start with a look at safety guidelines courtesy of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, aka OSHA. Using a chainsaw? Click here to read some good general use and safety tips for chainsaws. One top resource is ExpertVillage's Tools Needed to Fell a Tree. This feature is a bit of a goldmine for the DIY-tree-feller. It boasts 15 short videos of the host demonstrating proper tools and techniques for tree felling in safety. Each video is accompanied by a helpful written transcript so you can check back and make sure you're on track.

All-in-all, there's a ton of helpful info available on the Web. Having said that, tree felling is one DIY job you should pass over to the experts if you're at all unsure you can do the job safely. Trust me: your neighbors will love you for it!