Saying Farewell to an Old Tree — With Great Skill and Care

This morning I witnessed the final moments of a diseased and dying tree.

In recent months it was haven for woodpeckers and squirrels, who now must find shelter elsewhere. The tree likely was planted when our allotment was laid out more than 100 years ago, but now it was a potential hazard to cars and pedestrians; it had to go.

The story I want to tell is about the skill and efficiency of the men who took her down. Since the patient was situated in a tree lawn, the task fell to Lakewood's division of Streets and Forestry.

As quickly as the trucks arrived, they were positioned to begin the job. The coordination among the workers was amazing to watch. There was no unnecessary positioning of men or equipment, and no movements were wasted. When the crane operator wasn't maneuvering tree limbs to the ground, he was off of the truck helping to drag branches to the chipping machine.

By contrast, for years we employed one of Ohio's oldest and largest tree care companies to prune and to remove trees from our properties. They spent a lot of time sitting in trucks drinking coffee, talking on cell phones, standing around smoking, or just plain looking. What City workers accomplished in a few productive hours would have taken that crew an entire day, or longer. Lakewood taxpayers can be satisfied that their tax dollars were well spent.