Alternate post title: Trees: 0. Sherry: 2.
You might not remember what our first house looked like when we bought it, so here’s a quick reminder:
And this is what it looked like five hours after John left and I went a little crazy with clippers (surprise!):
Three cheers for finally being able to see the house. We gained a neighborhood view from the front windows instead of staring at a dense “tree fence.” It was free, gave me a solid arm workout, and made a big visual difference.
Our curb appeal at that house was an evolving project over four and a half years, and by the time we left it looked like this:
It’s amazing what removing some things and bringing in others can do. We love Craigslist for giving unwanted bushes and trees a second life — we post “you dig ’em up and they’re yours for free” ads and people come do all the work to clear our yard. Amazing.
But back to this house and my “me vs. tree” tally. I decided to surprise John while he was out picking up some Craigslist chairs. While he was away (about an hour and a half round-trip) and Clara was miraculously napping, I seized the chance to tackle our giant magnolia that blocked most of the front of the ranch.
Here’s the magnolia that hid the house:
At first we considered taking it down — it was simply too big for a small ranch and blocked a lot of light. When my mom visited she suggested limbing it up to see if we could keep it, so I decided to give that a try. Couldn’t hurt, right? I was a little nervous that my tree tally might end up tied since this magnolia is much more massive than the trees I tackled at our first house.
I used a Corona branch clipper and a WoodZig hand saw, both bought at Lowe’s a few years ago.
My other supplies were simple: a baby monitor, my cell phone, and the house phone — just in case Clara woke or John called. I wanted to be able to drop the clippers and run if needed, and also not sound suspicious if John rang while I was hauling branches to the back of our property. One perk of nearly an acre is having a wooded spot at the back to dump trimmings.
My method: use the long branch clippers to cut thinner, reachable branches from the ground, then saw thicker branches while standing on a sturdy wrought-iron lawn chair (I probably should have used a ladder but didn’t want to haul it by myself). The clippers made quick work of the low branches — about ten minutes — but the hand saw demanded more effort: roughly 15 minutes per large limb. I sawed three big branches, which added up to about 45 minutes of muscle work. It was tough but still preferable to using a chainsaw.
Dragging what felt like an entire tree to the back of the lot after trimming, plus removing a few dead boxwoods from the front perimeter, was the other challenging part. I worried John might arrive mid-project or that Clara would wake up crying. Thankfully I finished moving the trimmings to the back just in time to take a few progress photos (definitely not “after” curb appeal shots) and then ran inside to toss muddy clothes in the wash and take a quick shower before anyone noticed.
While in the shower I came up with the idea to videotape John’s return — I couldn’t resist catching his reaction. He didn’t notice that the bottom of the magnolia was missing right away because he was distracted by his weird wife waiting in the carport with a camera. But when he did walk around front to see the work, he was definitely surprised and very happy that I did it without him. Mission accomplished — I’d been hinting that all I wanted for my birthday was for the magnolia to be limbed up, and I finally made it happen.
I’m sure our front yard will keep evolving like our first house’s did. For a free 1.5-hour afternoon project, limbing the magnolia was totally worth it — we now have more light flooding the dining room and a clear view out the front windows instead of a big wall of leaves.
Point: me.
That said, I did end up with a clipping-related blister:
So maybe the tree deserves half a point for putting up a good fight.
Psst — We announced this week’s giveaway winners (and shared a discount for everyone). Check it all out here.