Work is always easier when you know you're helping someone out.
Last weekend my older brother Ben and I descended on my parents' house to help them with some yard work. For years when we were younger, our time in the summer was measured out in yard work; mowing, trimming, pruning, mulching, weeding, deadheading and so forth, all laid out on lists that were to be completed before any fun was to be had that day. Ah, the memories. Not surprisingly, it's been years since I made my services available to the parents.
Sometime in the early 90's, my brothers and I gave my parents two weeping cherry trees and planted them on either side of their driveway. For years these trees were a harbinger of spring, exploding with pink blossoms - and the symmetry of their placement really tied the landscape together. This year has been a real bruiser around here. We're about 12" behind on rainfall, and these beautiful cherry trees took it on the chin. They had been inspected by Davey Tree last year, and the arborist said that these particular trees were in the autumn of their lives, so to speak. The drought this year was just the straw that broke the camel's back. That's 3 bad colloquialisms in 3 sentences, for those of you scoring at home.
As sad as it seemed, it was time for the trees to come down, and with the aid of a chainsaw it went pretty quick. There's an idea in psychology called Weber's Law; basically it defines a "just noticable difference" for different exchanges. It's the law that explains why people who buy a $2,000 suit can be convinced to buy a $100 belt at the same time. In the same vein, once those two trees came down it was open season on a whole mess of overgrown shrubs on their property. We figured, "Hey, if we took down the cherry trees, these taxus might as well come out too..." In the absence of a Bobcat, we hooked chains up to a van and yanked the shrubs out by the roots. Good times, though the trailer hitch is a little worse for the wear...
There's something unsettling about cutting down a tree you remember planting. I imagine this will happen more as I get older, but this was the first time that I've outlived a tree. The experience has reinforced to me how important it is to take care of trees in your landscape. Trees are slow moving, and it's easy to miss symptoms of problems when you see the tree everyday. I highly recommend having a certified arborist inspect all your trees. They know what to look for, and they can make recommendations about treatment if they do uncover any problems. The International Society of Arboriculture has a great locator tool on their website for finding a certified arborist in your area.
Also, I'm a big believer in watering your trees and shrubs. Even if you let your lawn go dormant in the hot part of the summer, remember to water your trees. They're much harder to replace. I found an awesome tool that's specifically for watering the root zone of trees and shrubs. It's called the Ross Root Feeder, and you can use it for fertilizing as well, though I mainly use it for watering without worrying about evaporation.
When it was all said and done, we had helped my parents take care of a lot of heavy lifting that they weren't going to tackle themselves. The whole thing was a stark contrast to my memories of summer labor in their yard. They were genuinely greatful, and since the help was freely given it was a lot more satisfying. The presence of cold beer helped as well...
I encourage anyone to help out a friend, family member or loved one with yard work. If they really need the help you'll be surprised how happy you can make them with even a small amount of effort. Maybe you have a parent or grandparent, or an elderly neighbor who could use the help. If not, Project EverGreen has a really cool program called GreenCare for Troops that you can look into. They will match you up with a military family who is short handed around the yard because they have a member deployed overseas. These people are stretched thin enough, if you can offer your assistance with their yard work it will be much appreciated.