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1. 10-16
   1:16
   am

   I am too much of a tree hugger to vote for cutting the trees down. I voted “long live the trees” but I do understand where you are coming from.

   laney - Reply
2. 10-16
   2:14
   am

   Cut them down! From the first time you posted pics of your view, I couldn’t help but think it sure would be prettier without those scraggly trees in the way. On a farm, you use wood in tons of ways. They wouldn’t be wasted, and there are tons of trees left around the farm and all of WV. Go for it!

   Patty - Reply
3. 10-16
   2:16
   am

   It’s not like you’re just tossing the trees aside, you’re reusing them, so it’s okay. Get the view you want. After all this work, I suspect you’re going to live there a VERY long time.

   Amy - Reply
4. 10-16
   3:05
   am

   Leave the trees! The trees did nothing to you and they are just doing their thing. Why must you cut them down?

   Actually, I don’t mind the view with the trees – they actually add a little variety. But not so sure if I’d like it after they grow bigger.

   David - Reply
5. 10-16
   3:40
   am

   I voted to cut the trees down. And then the instant that I did I remembered this: “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”. So….I guess I’m undecided too! Sorry

   Melissa - Reply
6. 10-16
   4:44
   am

   Whack ‘em down and plant 6 more somewhere else.
   Happy Thursday!

   Snapper - Reply
7. 10-16
   4:55
   am

   People who haven’t moved into a property tht has been let go for a while can never understand. Cleared land, farmland, that has been let go becomes scraggly and unkempt. We aren’t taking old growth forest here, this is scrub. Take it down. When I moved intomy upstate NY place, I personally took down 50 scrubs (and hired out a few larger trees). Eeryone moaned, but when they visited they couldn’t see the loss, I still had 12 acres of wood land, but now I had sun around my house and fewer spiders and house damage. You go ahead, take them down. You are lucky to be able to use the wood- I had to let my scrub rot down and feed the soil.

   G - Reply
8. 10-16
   5:10
   am

   Suzanne,
   Before I vote it would be helpful to know if 52 does or doesn’t see the forest through the trees on this? My guess is he will be the one wielding the chainsaw. By the way, you forced me to drag out Webster’s this morning, niggle was news to me. Thanks.

   Goat Roper

   Goat Roper - Reply
9. 10-16
   6:09
   am

   If you didn’t have so many trees already I would probably say let them live , but with so many to spare and that view just waiting to be adored, I say “down with their heads!”.

   DeeBee - Reply
10. 10-16
    6:38
    am

    Trees are recyclable. You won’t be wasting the wood and you will get a beautiful view. Go for it.

    Betty - Reply
11. 10-16
    6:47
    am

    I think the view is better without the trees, but be sure and plant a few somewhere else. Do you know what kind of trees they are?

    Janet - Reply
12. 10-16
    7:01
    am

    What if you just took the ones that are Dead center?
    Then if that didn’t solve it take the others. I had my husband whack a tree down,actually 2 in different spots thinking that I wouldn’t miss them. Well I miss them.
    ONE I really MIss.

    But Yes the ones in the center really obstruct your view.
    :flying:

    wkf - Reply
13. 10-16
    7:01
    am

    Have you considered just cutting part of them down? Or even just topping them? That way they’ll still shoot back up in the spring, but they’ll be short enough that they won’t affect your view?

    But if I had to pick, I like the open view.

    Kelleh - Reply
14. 10-16
    7:01
    am

    I like the view better without the couple of trees in the way! Gorgeous view. By the way, when I went to vote…I was told I already had??! Strange.

    Scherrie - Reply
15. 10-16
    7:06
    am

    I voted to keep the trees. Try to look at the view from another angle. My trees provide me with beautiful events…birds & squirrels etc…If a tree is in my view, I just move my head one way or the other. :treehugger:

    mim - Reply
16. 10-16
    7:16
    am

    Yes, 52 would be the one wielding the chain saw. He thinks the trees should go.

    Suzanne McMinn - Reply
17. 10-16
    7:16
    am

    You’ll miss those trees in the summer, if you take them down!!!

    Becky - Reply
18. 10-16
    7:24
    am

    both views are nice, but I voted for save the trees. I hate the thought of killing any type of plants…except for weeds.

    TeresaH - Reply
19. 10-16
    7:28
    am

    The view would be better without the trees, but it is hard to cut down trees just to improve a view. I know you can put the cut down trees to use, but I am one of those people who find it difficult to destroy a healthy tree unless necessary.

    Shari C - Reply
20. 10-16
    7:34
    am

    I actually like the trees better where they are. Co-operating with the mountain. But then, that’s me.

    Lucy - Reply
21. 10-16
    7:48
    am

    It’ll be like you have your own little mountain to see when it snows. Does it snow down there really?

    Sharon Elkins - Reply
22. 10-16
    7:50
    am

    I voted to take them out. But, I feel the need to add that I would base my decision on what KIND of trees they are. If they are just “scrub trees” I’d take them out. But if they are oaks, I’d have a harder time taking them down because oaks are such slow-growing things.

    On the other hand, it’s not like you’re lacking in trees ’round those parts!

    Jenn - Reply
23. 10-16
    7:57
    am

    I say take down the trees. We shouldn’t just throw away what God has given us, but it sounds like you are planning to put them to good use.

    Teresa in nc - Reply
24. 10-16
    8:21
    am

    I don’t know what all the trees are, but I don’t think any of them are oak. One is a wild cherry and one is a poplar.

    And yes, it snows here a lot!

    Suzanne McMinn - Reply
25. 10-16
    8:26
    am

    I agree with G. We are working with that on our own property. We’ve been here a little over a year now, have seen the season’s change, and have marked the trees that we need to have removed to enhance our views. We won’t be wasting them, either. And, they aren’t even “good” trees! Second growth scrub messy things. We had an arborist out to look at one of our oaks, and he thinks it is well over 200 years old! Grandfather tree will benefit from his clearing away some of this stick tree mess from around him so he will have more room.

    Kathryn - Reply
26. 10-16
    8:28
    am

    I know you need a goat barn. To remove this handful of trees, put them to good use, and improve your view is smart land management.

    Gizmo - Reply
27. 10-16
    8:39
    am

    I agree completely with post #7.

    I’d remove them whether I could use them or not – and if not, you can have them mulched and use them that way (if you desire).

    You can’t keep every stick that grows out of the ground.

    This is off topic, but I meant to ask you this while I was there – do you have a compost pile? Feel free to email me that answer so I don’t disrupt the topic here!

    beeyourself - Reply
28. 10-16
    8:43
    am

    I’m something of a tree hugger, but I also think that property should be groomed for the good of the whole. The view is much nicer without those trees. And, honestly…when you really look at them. They’re kind of scraggly. They don’t look all that happy. You’ll be able to use the wood for something. Do it – and do it now so you can enjoy fully the rest of the fall color.

    Suzette - Reply
29. 10-16
    8:43
    am

    PS My mom has a sawmill on the property. We had a cedar removed that had been there since before I was born. (It was huge, and rare for one to grow that large in that area.) Lightning hit it. The wood was sold, but scraps were still there. It’s beautiful wood. My brother cut me a piece of it – and I’m trying to decide what to do with that chunk. It will be with me always. (You should have seen the box I shipped it back in…)

    beeyourself - Reply
30. 10-16
    8:47
    am

    Nix the trees but use the wood. Then it becomes much more circle of life.

    Molly - Reply
31. 10-16
    8:49
    am

    OK I voted NOT to cut them down but I see the points listed here. You need sun and air on the farm and of course fewer spiders!!!! IF you can use the wood to build or sell – ok, but cut as few as needed. there is something about preserving nature, air and so on.

    jane - Reply
32. 10-16
    9:09
    am

    I say, leave it up. The view is definitely better, and there’s plenty of point to be made about scrub management. Mostly, though, it sounds to me like too much trouble for a view that will get grown over again, anyway.

    Robin G. - Reply
33. 10-16
    9:29
    am

    I think do a wee bit of thining. By thining your trees you make a better enviroment for your land.
    As long as you don’t go all out chain saw them all down, and just thin those that need to be removed, it will look beautiful!
    I am always lost when it comes to trees and thank godness my hubby has logged and knows what trees to keep and what to chop down. we just took out 10 trees this summer and wow it made things nicer and easy for the other trees to get sun etc. :mrgreen:

    Erika - Reply
34. 10-16
    9:35
    am

    I have to say long live the trees!! I think they are just as beautiful as the view!

    Lorie - Reply
35. 10-16
    9:40
    am

    Long live the trees!!!

    Jill S. - Reply
36. 10-16
    9:45
    am

    Getting up later than the rest of you, I have the advantage of reading the other opinions before commenting. Even though I used to hike and I love the woods, I voted to cut them – but like others here, I’d be very, very easy on the cutting – just the minimum that will help over all. Yes to both your idea of using the wood and that of planting some treelings elsewhere on the property (I know – ’tisn’t a word!) :catmeow:

    Nancy in Atlanta - Reply
37. 10-16
    10:00
    am

    If you’ve never seen WV you have no idea how many trees live on our mountains. They grow, well, like weeds. Farmers have to continuely battle to keep their meadows for hay. If you don’t watch carefully you’ll end up with a forest instead of a pasture. Yes, it is a tree (or several) but the poplar is one of the fastest growing trees around, and are planted on tree farms to be harvested. Even if the trees were cut and left to rot, removing a few trees gives more light for the remaining trees, and fertilizes the ground naturally. I say groom your property go give you the most useable assets, and so you can appreciate its beauty.

    WV_Hills - Reply
38. 10-16
    10:02
    am

    Thinning out the “forest” is a good thing. Plus you can use the wood for good purposes, and you have a lot of trees there. I say go ahead and make good use of them!

    Claudia W. - Reply
39. 10-16
    10:49
    am

    Well, don’t you need FIREWOOD for the winter?

    Melissa's Cozy Teacup - Reply
40. 10-16
    10:51
    am

    We are dealing with the same question on our mountain top lot in Arkansas. The tree GO. Like someone said, you cannot imagine how many trees there are. There are plenty left for hugging. HA HA.

    - Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife

    Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife - Reply
41. 10-16
    10:55
    am

    I have an unobstructed view of a gorgeous mountain in southern Calhoun Co. so I have to vote for you to cut down the trees. The return is well worth the effort! :purr: And since the trees are a little on the scraggly side, I don’t think you’ll miss them much. If they were big, beautiful fiery red maples, then you’d have to leave them, but what’s there now doesn’t appear to be very impressive. Wonder if 52 would be willing to do a little tree trimming here too. At the top of my beautiful view is an old dead tree that sticks out like a sore thumb.

    Kara S - Reply
42. 10-16
    12:17
    pm

    yes, cut those trees down. reuse the wood for fences. i wanted those trees down the first time you showed that view. besides, it will give you more sunlight, and the younger trees close to the forest floor will benefit too.

    margiesbooboo - Reply
43. 10-16
    12:26
    pm

    Trees are a renewal resource just like carrots. I say take them down. Where you are, it would be a service to the surrounding vegation. I have little vegation and no forrest, so when I remove a tree, I replant elsewhere. But in your situation, I say get out the saw.

    Gma Judy - Reply
44. 10-16
    1:08
    pm

    The trees are beautiful but I assume you have other options for close-up tree viewing, so I vote for the vista. Sometimes we need to look at life close up and sometimes we need to go for the long view. Good luck with the chain saw!
    Gloria Jean

    Gloria Jean - Reply
45. 10-16
    1:09
    pm

    I’ll just say for the record that be happy they’re not ugly scrappy nasty 40-foot tall juniper trees that are in your front lawn dropping berries and sap and duff and Husband says “no they’re trees, leave them”. AAAARGH.

    HAVE VISION!!!!

    Meadowlark - Reply
46. 10-16
    1:34
    pm

    I like both views so I didn’t vote. There’s something natural and rugged about the trees, but the clear sky is lovely too.

    Kathy In UT - Reply
47. 10-16
    2:05
    pm

    Cut them down! You can always plant some more somewhere else if you feel the need. The view without them is framed perfectly. And you will be using them for your needs. Which is partly why they are here anyway.

    Nancy - Reply
48. 10-16
    2:15
    pm

    I vote for keeping the trees. We’ve only cut trees down that were dead or dying.

    Maureen - Reply
49. 10-16
    2:27
    pm

    We had the same problem! My dad loves using his chainsaw and took care of the trees lickity-split. Those trees kept us warm during the winter, too!

    Susan - Reply
50. 10-16
    3:08
    pm

    I didn’t think I was a tree hugger, however, after seeing them clear acres of trees around here, for stupid things like more mini strip malls, for nail parlors…it looks so bare …so now I am MORE of a tree hugger. It DRASTICALLY changed some views, for the worse.
    I kind of like those little trees there…because they afford more privacy in SUMMER…and I think it gives the view a more natural look, verses constructed..but that is just ME…I voted no. LOL

    Donna - Reply
51. 10-16
    3:10
    pm

    I vote for keeping them. In the winter there won’t be leaves so I don’t think it really blocks the view. I love to see bare trees with snow or ice on them.

    catslady - Reply
52. 10-16
    3:13
    pm

    I can see both sides of the argument. A lovely view and wood to burn for the winter OR keep the trees. I guess I’ll change my vote to cut down the trees and reuse the wood either in lumber for the goat house or for the fireplace.
    :cattail:

    Jodie - Reply
53. 10-16
    3:43
    pm

    As much as I love trees, I would have to say take them down.
    The picture without them has a much nicer view.

    Estella - Reply
54. 10-16
    4:04
    pm

    Go for the goat house!

    Christine - Reply
55. 10-16
    4:08
    pm

    I already voted but after thinking it over go ahead & do away with the tree`s It will make u a fine view of the top of the hill , after all their r other tree`s & they will be growing up in no time just enjoy u`r place I can`t wait to ck in ever morning & see waht is going on I just love u`r site Barb

    Barb Wilson - Reply
56. 10-16
    4:42
    pm

    I’m a tree lover. I’d plant 10 or 15 in my backyard if I had the space, unfortunately I live in the suburbs. I voted for you to keep them. *G*

    Brandy - Reply
57. 10-16
    6:44
    pm

    I vote to leave the trees, it gives a three dimensional look to the view. A more natural look,rather than tailored.
    I love trees in their natural state. And you can see the view through the bare branches in the winter. I think you’d really miss them if they were gone.

    Phyllis - Reply
58. 10-16
    7:02
    pm

    I say cut them down too. Especially the wild cherry if this is anywhere near where you might pasture your horse. Wild cherry is poisonous to horses when it is wilted, such as a broken branch after a storm.

    Farm Girl - Reply
59. 10-16
    7:53
    pm

    I voted yes, cut them down. They aren’t providing shade or shelter for the goats or chickens though, are they? If they are, then I would think hard about it first, and may lean to no.

    Annie - Reply
60. 10-16
    10:32
    pm

    You have an award over at my place! Drop in and get it when you get a chance. http://www.thepost-itplace.com

    The Jillybean - Reply
61. 10-16
    11:50
    pm

    I think it would be okay to cut down those few trees. I think sometimes that way too, if I could just cut down that tree to improve the view?” Or mostly, if I could just move that school building in my backyard, I could watch the sunset.

    :J

    MamaJayne - Reply
62. 10-16
    11:51
    pm

    Oh and I want to move in that barn!

    :J

    MamaJayne - Reply
63. 10-17
    8:49
    am

    All I know is how great it is to have a woman talking about trees and real things when she mentions -the view- not a TV show. Refreshing!

    Lynn Jones - Reply
64. 10-17
    4:31
    pm

    HUGE treehugger here–gotta keep the trees!!!!

    The Tile Lady-Marie - Reply
65. 10-19
    7:55
    am

    No need to save ALL the trees.

    Minna - Reply
66. 10-21
    11:18
    am

    From what I see you have lots of trees so utilizing a few for firewood will not hurt the environment. Go chop some wood!

    Carole @ Fowl Visions - Reply
67. 10-24
    7:13
    pm

    I would only take out the scraggly trees in the middle of the picture on the left. They look like they have been damaged by that crazy ice storm we had a couple of years ago, and will never recover to their original beauty and health anyway. I also love tres and beautiful Fall views, go for it.

    NOTE: West Central Beekeepers Association meets at the West Fork Community building near Arnoldsburg this coming Sunday, Oct. 26 at 2:30. We also meet on alternate months at the Roane County Library. If you would like to be notified, EM me and let me know. I send out prior notice each month. Beekeeping is a very interesting and much needed hobby or business. You can learn a lot about bees, pollination, trees and flowers. You are invited. Sounds like you would have the perfect location for such a hobby, and you could have your own homegrown honey supply in a couple of years for all those wonderful home baked pies. SC

    Sharon - Reply
68. 5-24
    3:35
    pm

    I can’t really tell from the pic, but the offending trees appear to be oak. Oak does not top well, but if they are Maple, or another tree that can be topped instead of removed that may be an option. Personally … if you intend to make use of the trees, I would cut them. The view is worth it aaaaaaand … more trees will grow up surprisinly fast if you decide you’d rather have the trees to look at.

    4rum - Reply
69. 8-13
    6:41
    am

    Did you ever remove the trees ???

    Suzy - Reply
70. 8-13
    6:46
    am

    Suzy, yes, we cut the trees down. You can see the new view in this post:

    http://suzannemcminn.com/blog/2008/11/02/the-new-view/

    Suzanne McMinn - Reply

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