Signs that your Tomato obession is out of control

[natural]

I thought it would be a great idea to remove a few trees that I wasn't fond of (planted by the previous owner. I partially justified this effort because it would eliminate an area of shade in order to allow for growing even more tomatoes.

Well, the tree service decided to drop a limb on my electrical line which connects to the exterior of my house. Results are displayed below.

Yep, the force of the tree pulled the support boards right out of the house. Nice. The neutral line was detached so I had to ask the power company to cut power until the repairs were somewhat completed. That took an entire day.

My wife asked me to remind her again why we were doing this? Ummmmm.

[Cole_Robbie]

d'oh! I hope the tree service is paying for the repairs?

[peebee]

I lucked out when a strong storm recently took out a large native tree in my back yard. Hubby was disappointed as we were all fond of this tree, but inwardly I was doing a happy dance cuz now I can plant 2 more tomatoes in the area that is not shaded anymore. Whooo-Hoooo!
But having your roof damaged like that hurts. Hope they will cover the repair, as they should.

[Labradors2]

For once I was pleased that Dutch Elm disease took out two big Elm trees that were growing close to my veggie garden. Not only did they shade it at mid-day, but the roots were sneaking up into the garden and stealing nutrients and water. Now the garden gets full sun all day!

Hopefully, the tree service will have insurance to cover the damage that they did to your house.

Linda

[natural]

oh yes. The tree service has insurance and is taking care of everything.
The interesting part was that the tree cutter dropped the limb on the line intentionally. He said that he thought that the wire was secured to the house more than it was. I politely asked him how many limbs have fallen on his head.

The power company said we were lucky that we didn't lose any electronics. It could have been much worse.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by natural

oh yes. The tree service has insurance and is taking care of everything.
The interesting part was that the tree cutter dropped the limb on the line intentionally. He said that he thought that the wire was secured to the house more than it was. I politely asked him how many limbs have fallen on his head.

Where's the like button! That cracked me up.

[Labradors2]

Funny, but sad too .

Hopefully, he won't do THAT again!

Linda

[sdambr]

That's really terrible what happened. Glad they had insurance. More importantly, how many more plants fit now?

[Zana]

OMG....sorry...but I did smile and laugh...but was also glad to hear nobody in the home was hurt. Glad to hear that the tree service is covering the damage.

I agree I have a feeling the guy doing the trimming has definitely been dropped on his head a few too many times. I also wonder if he still has a job after admitting to dropping it on the line deliberately.

[natural]

Originally Posted by sdambr

That's really terrible what happened. Glad they had insurance. More importantly, how many more plants fit now?

LOL! I think I can squeeze another 40 or so plants in the new sun-filled area. The other benefit is that it opened up the area that serves as my temporary greenhouse for plant starts in the spring. That is the real key.

The downside (and it is a big one) besides the expense is that we lost the afternoon shading for the corner of the house where my home office is located. It is really going to be cooking in my office this summer.

One of the trees was a willow oak that the original owners had planted less than 15 feet from one side of our house. It was over 60 feet tall and the branches had reached the side of our house. The roots were invading the septic lines and the tank. Been there, done that before. REALLY going to miss the shade!

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by sdambr

That's really terrible what happened. Glad they had insurance. More importantly, how many more plants fit now?

okay, I really did laugh when reading this reply.

Sorry about your house Natural. A couple winters ago, ice on the lines caused problems like that for us. Just not as bad as your picture shows.

[sdambr]

Originally Posted by natural

The downside (and it is a big one) besides the expense is that we lost the afternoon shading for the corner of the house where my home office is located. It is really going to be cooking in my office this summer.

One of the trees was a willow oak that the original owners had planted less than 15 feet from one side of our house. It was over 60 feet tall and the branches had reached the side of our house. The roots were invading the septic lines and the tank. Been there, done that before. REALLY going to miss the shade!

Yup, that's the price. With forty more plants you'll be outside much more and a large rim hat will give you plenty of shade. Just bring a tomato sandwich when you're going to your office to remind you why the sacrifice.

[PhilaGardener]

Whew!

When I saw the title and picture, I thought you had anchored your Florida Weave cable to your house!

Glad the tree company has insurance!

[RobinB]

Wow! That's more damage than I thought it would be. Yeah, I wonder if that guy still has a job? I wouldn't hire him again. It's good that your wife is still talking to you!

Maybe some good insulated blackout drapes or even a bamboo blind on the outside? Hmmmm.

Robin

[natural]

thanks everyone. We're definitely fortunate that this was a minor incident. The service folks jumped right on the repairs and did a great job.

It was interesting to see just how little anchor support there was originally. Basically a single interior 2x4 and 2 nails held the bolted wire to the house. I wonder if this is by design. The service folks wanted to re-secure the bolted wire to the board and add several stronger cross braces. This sounds good on the surface, but theoretically this would yank out an even bigger portion of the structure if one of my other trees were to fall on the line during a rough storm.

A thorough inspection of the attic reminded me just how cheaply they built houses during the boom in the 1980's.

Bill