After nearly a century shading the yard at 225 Main St., a beech tree in Kentville came down Nov. 21.
“It was on borrowed time, “ homeowner Julia Reekie said, “but we were so sentimental bout the tree we couldn’t take it down.”
Ed Reekie said it was time for the 70-foot tree to go before it fell on the couple’s home or the house next door.
“It’s rotten – it started to lean to one side,” he said, of the tree which is 90 to 100 years old.
The couple has lived in the house for approximately 20 years and their now-adult children had a tire swing in the beech.
“We aren’t very happy about it (coming down),” Ed added.
Staff of Burton Towering Tree Services began work before 9 a.m. with four people, a large crane, a wood chipper and a number of chainsaws.
Trevor Burton was still high up the trunk of the tree around 2 p.m. removing the last branch – with the top of the tree safely tethered to a boom truck.
The next challenge was going to be sawing through the trunk – which has been reinforced with concrete over the years.
“We’re going to try to cut below it,” Burton said.
Once the tree is gone, the look of the Reekies’ property will be dramatically changed.
“We had a shade garden and it’s going to be a sun garden now,” Ed said.
