Today’s been a good day. Cut Above Tree Services arrived to cut some bigger trees on our property down to size. Our primary problem was an overgrown golden macrocarpa claiming too much space and dominating our frontage. Connor and Matt dealt decisively with this and other concerns and, bonus, they were relaxed about us taking photos. They service Otago and Southland from their base in Balclutha.
[We didn’t know them prior to this. A few weeks ago when the council announced tree work would be done in our town in November, I asked their helpdesk staff how to contact the arborist and that’s how we touched base with Connor. We’re really pleased with their work and communication’s also been awesome]
Tapanui, West Otago, Clutha District. New Zealand
Cut Above Tree Services at work on our trees today … 16 photos
This stump had to be cut down in size, the tree had been cut too high before we moved here. It sprouted a huge wall of foliage that’d become a problem. Now the walnut can reign supreme!
The pretty blue conifers needed their lower branches removed.
We went outside a few times to watch/photograph progress. This by Nigel.
Here the shape of the branches reminded Nigel and I of a menorah.
Chips flying!
I love the following three photos taken by Nigel …
“The Fall“
Last trunk.. becoming firewood.
Sawing, and tree munching.
Thank you, Cut Above Tree Services!
Text by Liz, photos by Liz and Nigel; Exploring Colour (2022)
Exploring Colour 
You’ll have a new yard experience this year with that behemoth gone! It’s wonderful you had a good experience with the Tree company and that you took a photo journal.
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I was quite excited, I don’t often get an opportunity to photograph arborists working!
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We’ve had a few trees taken down over the years. Watching the limbs slowly be removed before the trunk is taken down is fascinating. The last tree was held in place by a crane and then once cut lifted to the ground for cutting into smaller pieces. The diameter the modern chippers can take is impressive and very little ended up having to be trucked away. The person doing the cutting was also hosited to the tree and she worked her way down the trunk removing branches. It was unusual to see a woman doing that work which I applauded and dubbed her “Paula Bunyan”.
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Ah! I hadn’t heard of Paul Bunyan lol. When we had tree work done on the first property we owned there was a kiwi “Paula Bunyan”!!
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I don’t know if this qualifies me as sexist or not but I am always impressed seeing women doing what has traditionally been considered men’s work. They are more than capable and I am glad to see the diversity improving.
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Thank you Steve, I don’t see that as sexist at all! It is indeed impressive, and for many it can’t have been an easy road.
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They did tree trimming here recently, and the service they engaged did some serious work on a live oak near where I park. I’ve been pleased to see that the tree’s been putting on new growth in the past month; it will be healthier now. It is amazing to watch the guys work. They seem to be casual about what they do, but they’re very, very careful to tend to every detail: like getting snapped in and knowing exactly where that chain saw is.
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We’ll be watching to see how our remaining conifers develop now the macrocarpa is out of the way. They’ve suffered in it’s shadow because they were on the south side of the macrocarpa which down here, down under, is the cold, dark side!
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It’s an interesting process to watch…from a suitable distance! 🙂
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Absolutely! When the high-up chainsawing was in action the chips were blowing toward me.. a little disconcerting while trying to get my photos!
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Wow. It is fascinating to see the different stage of the work as they tackled that large tree. It seems a bit crazy to be using a chain saw while hanging from a tree, but clearly these guys knew what they were doing.
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They worked great as a team and ran a smooth operation plus top notch communication with us. I’m so pleased Nigel took photos too and we’ve ended up with a nice record of how the work progressed. An opportunity like this doesn’t come along very often!
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