"I'm furious and heart broken that the 'Tree Forum' was added to this thread, when the Kitchen Table forum would've been sufficient."

'My post is about a tree and how it was destroyed by inattention. Not my fault it veered in the direction it went'

These kinds of posts ALWAYS go on forever with a life of their own, and the fact that a tree was involved has nothing to do with information ABOUT trees, just an idiot husband who could care less about things.

We are all capable of doing stupid things, posting about a stupid husband in the trees form is one of them. IMHO.

PS: you could edit out the Trees forum with a click.

"That personal attack^ is totally uncalled for."

Flag the post then. Not necessary to get into a debate with her.

"These kinds of posts ALWAYS go on forever with a life of their own, and the fact that a tree was involved has nothing to do with information ABOUT trees, just an idiot husband who could care less about things."

True about the post, but not my husband. He's not an idiot, and he does care -- he just screwed up royally. And I miss my tree.

"PS: you could edit out the Trees forum with a click."

I didn't know that. Do I go and edit the original post and just not click on Trees when picking the forum?

Yes that‘s how you do it, or you can ignore the bully tree forum police and leave it. So easy for him to scroll on by your post if it causes him so much distress.

Sorry porkchop for being so insensitive. Been a hot day in the sun.

But yes, original post, click edit. Then page through to where you add forums and uncheck the tree forum. Then post and it should still be in the other forums.

Dimiss olychicks judgment on other people. I'm sure she NEVER makes a mistake.

Why are you even still posting? Clearly you don't like how this one is going. The majority of us do.

It's interesting that the him/her thing came up here in that gardening is one of those hobbies that are about equally enjoyed by men and women. So I went to AI (whatever that is worth) and here's what it said:

Overall, gardening is highly popular among both men and women, with total participation often split nearly evenly. However, traditional gender roles, preferences for plant types, and divisions of labor still influence how men and women approach the hobby . [1, 2, 3]The breakdown reveals several trends:

• Overall Participation: Recent gardening statistics indicate that the demographic is fairly balanced, with males making up roughly 52.5% and females 47.5% of gardeners . [1]
• Division of Labor: In shared households, tasks are often divided. Men are statistically more likely to handle arduous "grunt work" , including heavy lifting, landscaping layout, and lawn care . Women frequently take the lead in design, deciding on plant layouts, and tending to aesthetic flowerbeds . [1, 2]

So maybe it's in the approach that explains it ... though these days, I'm the one swinging the chain saw and the splitter ... DH is getting a little weak and wobbly with his medical issues.

"Why are you even still posting?"

Me?

I might just delete the entire thing, it has devolved. RIP little cherry tree...

I really don't think that was directed at you Porkchop.

Threads often take on a life of their own, regardless of the OP. I wouldn't take any of this personally. And yes, RIP little tree.

*sigh* I sincerely do not understand why some threads turn into this kind of conflict. Why??! I just don't get it.

Porkchop, You have done nothing wrong. It makes perfect sense that you would have come to a garden forum when you were so upset about a gardening issue, thinking that fellow gardeners could sympathize and allow you to get it off your chest, and maybe offer some perspective and suggestions.

And posting to the Tree Forum, was 100% correct. Anyone doesn't have an interest in the topic, can sail on past it and ignore it.

I would think this thread has now reached it's natural life span. Once it starts to head in a negative direction and people are feeling free to take shots at each other, it's usefulness has evaporated.

Thank you for sharing Porkchop, hope you can weed through the comments, find something helpful and ignore the rest. I don't think you need to do anything at all. People will start to ignore it and anyone who has some need to discuss off topics, can keep going with it, if that's what they wish. It's a free country. To each his own.

Sorry about the loss of your tree.

I thought the whole thread was interesting and, yes, kind of fun. There were many posters who normally wouldn’t take an interest on the Tree forum, so I’ll take that as a win. Thanks, Porkchop!

porkchop, it WAS NOT DIRECTED at you. It was directed at the post directly above mine.

BillMN-z4a has been complaining about the post being on Trees more than once. If it wasn't what he was expecting, hoping for, whatever, all he needed to do was close out of the post. But he complained and then complained again. That's what I was questioning. If it's not to your liking, just close out and pick something to look at.

porkchop, I'm sorry it caused you distress. This is a valuable post. You found out you certainly are not alone and that others have felt the same way. I hope it was cathartic in some way. At any rate, I apologize for making you feel upset about it. Please don't delete it. Commiserating with friends can be very helpful.

Porkchop, I’m sorry about you cherry tree. I can definitely relate. My DH gets so busy and perhaps I overload him — he does a lot of various yard work for us.

He’s cut down the wrong tree on seveal occasions. Often I put flagging on the trees I want him ro remove. I also carefully explain. Then check that he understands. (“Right!”)

He cut down a large oak ’sapling’ that was about 15’ tall. Insisted I told him to.

About a year ago, there was an American Beech tree, another volunteer sapling of about 12 to 14 ft tall. It was right next to another tree of about the same size. I absolutely love American Beech trees. I went over it and over it (knowing he seems to developing ADhD like behavior. He insisted he understood. Bzzzzzzzzzzzz! I weny out later, beech tree gone!

Geez, man, I took so much time to have you get it right. He left the paper birch.

I wasn’t that upset. I had intended on moving that beech tree, or sellin it. We don’t really have a spot for it and I did not want it close to the house (shallow-ish roots).

Years ago I noticed that there was a tuft of vounteer perennials in the lawn and I intended to transplant/rescue them. One day after he’d mowed, they were gone. I asked him if he had deliberately mowed them and he said he sure did. Why, I asked? He said we had others. He isn’t a gardener. He probably know a birch from a hemlock, but….

Another time, about 6 yrs ago I spotted him weed whacking where I had just discovered a bunch of pristine Oyster Mushrooms. WTF? He never weed whacks in that area. I’m sure, that like a boy, it was fun for him to watch pieces of oyster mushroom fly through the air. ight as well gouge up that area of stump they were growing out of. Fun! The guy isn’t a wild mushroom forager either. I might have neglected to tell him there was a cluster of very nice, edible mushroom out back, at the woodline. But I am pretty sure he saw me harvesting some, looking them up and verifying what they were. He just wasn’t thinking as was on automatic pilot — man as young boy with a power tool ;)

Over the years he’s help me/us dig up and transplant shrubs and trees, fixed carburetors on various power equipment, fetch plants for me, etc..

But I truly get the heartbreak of seeing someone goof like you guy did when, without even asking, he wiped out a fine tree that you cherished daily. I hope you can go together to buy another cherry tree. I personally don’t care for those Higan weeping cherries (too commonplace, even if pretty). There are few species of Japanese cherries that I adore. The brnching has a lot of ”character” and in spring, the blossoms are so close to the dark branch and bloom before the leaves come out. I believe they want full sun.

This was an interesting topic, Porkchop. I’m glad you started the discussion.

Oh, I'm not upset. A little perplexed why it devolved the way it did, but I've been around long enough to know it happens all too often.

Yes, the commisseration helped me to feel better. Obviously I'm not alone in such a mishap happening. Putting a few days behind the incident helps, too -- as does DH being out of town for a bit LOL!

I have to wonder what country ollie jane is living in when she talks about a ”strong and resilient economy” ?????

This is weird - I could swear I posted about my personal experiences having cherished plants taken out by my hubby in response to porkchop's OP, but I don't see it...?

And I clicked the link to show all comments - seems like a number of them are missing...?

@ Jay 6a Chicago - So many times I want to respond similarly, but we are on Houzz and they will remove a thread that goes into a political discussion. Their playground. Their rules.

I understand how deep the disagreements go and it would be great if people could talk it out and come to some compromise or way to go forward without attacking each other, but as much as people think they can discuss politics reasonably, I haven't seen that being possible for the past 10 years. I used to attempt to discuss with someone with an opposing view, and it never worked out. Always got personal and judgemental driving the division deeper. People don't stick to facts and they start calling names right out of the gate. You can't make any positive change that way.

They used to have a forum here called Hot Topics and it got so bad, they removed the forum.

So, no, these forums are not for politics. They are for gardeners trying to talk to each other, to learn things, ask and answer questions, maybe build a community where people like each other and want to be here. You could say it's also an escape from the stress of living with the political environment that we all find ourselves in.

I'm sure there are forums and sites where you can make those kind of discussions. I think the majority of people here agree that they don't want the conflict that comes along with politics. I could be wrong. I think that most people who want to discuss politics on line really aren't trying to make any positive change or persuade anyone to see a different view or to understand someone who has a different view. I suspect it's a lot about having an outlet to get things off your chest and release stress. It's not constructive.

The views here are my own. :-)

Posting on ”Trees” was very on topic. Bill needs to get a life and learn to scroll on by. The politics people on either side need to go away!!!! It is NOT Bill’s private forum, where you can only post what HE wants to read.

@Elmer J Fudd as pointed out, cutting down a tree which porkchop had specifically requested several times that her DH (and I don’t mean ”Dear”) NOT cut down, showed a distinct lack of respect to porkchop. She has every right to be angry.

In the OP, porkchop described how she went along the area to be worked on and told her DH what to keep and what to cut. He was grouchy when she actually put a note on one of the trees to keep. She offered to put a similar note on the cherry tree and he assured her that he understood and would not cut it down.

“More orders than he wishes to tolerate”? Give me a break. If that’s the case, then he should have simply said, ”You do this, since you have it clear in your mind what you want.”

And when you’re wielding a chainsaw, you should not be having other things on your mind.

When there's some kind of dispute or disagreement between two people in a personal, private relationship, it's quite facile to hear one side of a story and assume it to be complete and objective. But it rarely is.

What I was trying to point out, maybe not very skillfully, was, I wonder how he relates his side of the story?

I'm the main gardener in my home. My husband has learned a lot and I'm impressed by his knowledge. We have a wildlife habitat and I can identify good plants at a glance so that part of our yard is mine to mow and cultivate. He does most of the grunt work for which I am immensely grateful.

Elmer, are you a Libra too?

I love that this has gotten so many replies. Thank you for starting it Porkchop. Got to admit I haven't read all of them yet. I need to get out and pull some weeds this morning before it gets hot. (hotter).

I think the lesson is only to supervise non-gardeners with chainsaws. Males are just more likely to be the ones using chainsaws since they're heavy. I hope we haven't made are male gardeners feel unwelcome.

I got one of those mini chainsaws that you can use with one hand. They about the size of a drill. It cuts branches up to five inches (?) and they're quite easy to use. I used to have muscles in my arms when I was younger and carried toddlers around but now that I'm older, there's no way I could use a full size chainsaw. We also got one for my dad last year for Father's day. He still farms a bit but he's elderly. He no longer uses a full size chainsaw.

PK- No.

Christie, I've never heard of a mini chainsaw you can use with one hand. What is the brand name?

@ christie - my hubby got one of those too - rechargeable battery powered and very easy and useful. Not as dangerous as a full-sized one too, IMO. Hubby almost self-amputated his fingers with our regular one many years ago - "gloves, who needs gloves?"

And I was going to P.S. my earlier comment about the thrill power tools can give to say I've experienced that feeling myself, but I know better what not to cut. The little chainsaw definitely gave me that feeling.

We have an electric saw that is much simpler looking than that. And it comes in handy a lot. Wouldn't do the same size job as the one you posted Carol, but it's easy to handle. I'll have to look for the brand and name of the one we have. Thanks for posting that.

Pretty sure it came from the big A, prairiemoon...

I have a rechargable reciprocating saw for small jobs you can change the blade length.

I also have an Ego rechargable chain saw it is very easy to use and I can cut down decent size6” diameter or so small trees nothing huge of course . It’s definitely easy to use and extremely safe . I’m 5’2 and 120# and 75 yrs old I can use all the tools and shovels easily. DH just mows. I have an excellent tree service but all they do is thin one large tree every 3 yrs. and I don’t ever worry about their skill. I do everything else. If/ when I have to hire things out I know who I’d hire and I have no worry about their skill.

It is always interesting how some threads particularly on this forum get a life of their own that brings such controversy and animosity out of the woodwork. 🙏c

I’d been wanting a small automatic saw for a long while, but DH talked me out of it. But waiting for him make time to cut branches with his chainsaw or my using a manual Japanese style pull saw on a 2.5” to 3.0” branch was too tiring and slow.

So in the spring I was at LOWES and found myself in the power tool gadget department where I spotted these nifty small chain saws for trimming branches. I bought the Kobalt 6” saw and a battery pack. I couldn’t wait to use it. FUN!!! We need to do so much branch trimming around the ”ranch.”

The following two days DH tried it out and finally understood why I wanted one. It’s a nice tool. (Thumbs up to Rob333 whose ambitious homestead chopping and sawing inspired me further.)

I finally gave up on my Stihl 20" chainsaw because it was no longer easy for me to start. I bought a Stihl 16" rechargeable one that is much easier for me. I have a Stihl gas chainsaw on a pole and and electric pole trimmer, too, but hate messing with the extension cords. It's so satisfying to be able to take care of some of these jobs myself, but I sometimes ask the gardeners to do it.

I was telling my DH about this thread and he ( a Libra like me) wondered if it was as obscenely hot where y'all are as here. He mowed over some wild violets that I wanted to relocate when he was overheated and not in his right mind.

In southern New England it has been about 96-98 Deg F. Today was cooler—87deg F.

We go outside to water plants, change water in birdbaths, but otherwise stay cool indoors with the AC. Tomorrow is forecast to be 83 deg and 76 deg on Monday.

Sorry about your wild violets. I can send you some of mine — purple, white and ? some mixed.

I have this saw:

It works quite well but I had trouble at first letting it do its thing - I instinctively was trying to move it back and forth instead of holding it still and letting it do the work. So I bent the blade and the whole darn thing got stuck in a tree of about six inches in diameter. My husband had to come try to get it out. He did, and the blade is still slightly bent, but it works. I know it works because now I stand and watch while someone else, like my son-in-law uses it, lol.

He was over just two weeks ago with his chainsaw to take down some small trees, and his chainsaw didn't work. But we pulled out this little saw and he was able to do four or five of the smaller trees no problem.

:)

Dee

More info on the LOWES 6” Battery Operated Chainsaw.

If you get it, I suggest you buy a 4 Ah battery (or two). It performs well and longer than the 2Ah (of course). It gives full, robust power right up until when the battery is exhausted.

These saws are frequently on sale as LOWES uses it as a loss leader.

A few days after I bought ours, LOWES was selling them (saw only) for $79. I suggested to DH that he pick up a second (at that price) since he already had two of the 4 Ah batteries. The batteries are not cheap. Now we can saw side by side.

I’m not sure I operated it with a single hand — guess I did, but other hand nearby. Keep fingers, hand, feet, arm, legs and neck well out of the way. These small saws are justas eager to cut off body parts as their larger cousins. Stay vigilant.

I think they might sell a durable case. If not I will look for something durable.

Also, don’t forget to buy chainsaw oil ;)

PS This week, saw is $69.

@diggerdee zone 6 CT, that looks like a reciprocating saw - you can buy pruning blades for them that are made to cut green wood, FYI.

I bought 2 battery operated small chain saws:

My friend who does gardening and will take care of bigger jobs for me has all Dewalt battery operated tools and I got the 8" Dewalt Chainsaw Pruning CRDLS 20V 8IN DCCS623B for them to use.

I take care of trimming smaller bushes and limbs and wanted something even more compact. I got the STIHL GTA 26 battery-powered garden pruner (4 inch, light weight, easy to handle, and worked great even pruning a 15' row of forsythia.

I am in love with this thing.

@ PKponder - wild violets might come back from the roots, I think. They tend to have fairly substantial ones - and they also self seed, so give them some water and time.

It's funny how some of us can get so emotionally attached to our plants that we mourn them like pets. I have been too, but I have made an effort to not let losses overwhelm me so much, after losing many precious things over the years. When our house sold, I had to leave behind a number of favorites that just couldn't be taken with. I took things that were sentimental and could grow in pots and planters and left things that were too large/established or could be easily replaced in the future, if desired.

Agree. Mowing violets is unlikely to faze them.

@petalique, yesterday and the day before were miserable. It's the humidity that makes it so bad. We did go the the parade and it was wonderful, as usual...very small town style. My DH went down to the corner the night before and put our chairs out. So, we did have shade and a breeze once in awhile from the ocean. No cook out for us...straight home to the A/C to read and relax. We have a water ban, so only hand watering. Plants are looking very sad, but the Baltmore Orioles are enjoying the grape jelly. If this continues, I'll have to take out a home equity loan to pay for their meals.

Oncape, I’m happy to hear you and your DH enjoyed a good parade. Yo must be cooler now.

I’ve been supplying the birds with grape jelly as well. The catbirds gobble it down, the orioles, not so much. The red bellied woodpeckers are also very fond of it. I bet the birds would be just as happy with sugared gelatin alone, sans food coloring. We have a couple of hanging hummingbird feeders. Lots of hummers, sometime three are jockeying at once for a perch.

I let one of those orange trumpet vines (Campsis) grow this year for the hummers, but although it’s now in full bloom, the hummingbirds seem to prefer the sugar water. In another 8 weeks, I’ll begin the long process of eradicating the assertive trumpet vine (unless hummer activity picks up).

Indeed, the humidy with the heat definitely tests my mood.

Every battery operated tool I have had (very expensive options) ended up in the junk pile…quite quickly…the ones requiring a cord are still working fine..

With the added plus that the corded ones are much lighter weight and easier to operate..seriously…all of them still working after 20 years!

I was an early adopter of battery powered tools and equipment, and I've had nothing but good luck with them. I've got a Stihl battery blower that is going on ten years that works perfect. I've also got an EGO ZTR mower that I've had five years without any mechanical or battery issues. I can't imagine going back to gas power. They may be a bit heavier than corded, but also no cords to trip over or move around objects.

I think rechargeable battery tech has gotten way better than it used to be. I had a battery powered mower years ago that took around 18 hours to recharge, now batteries take only an hour or so.

I've had very good experience with battery tools - I had a mower, leaf blower and string trimmer all by Worx, that share the same type of battery. Our yard was small but crowded with plants, so a cord was always getting hung up on something.

My mower even got flooded with salt water from hurricane Helene and surprisingly, I was able to get it running again.

I do not leave the batteries in the equipment - which was another blessing, since they and the chargers were stored well above the water line. And they are expensive - something like $85 last time I bought one.

The only issue I had was with cheaper off-brand batteries - they did not last at all.

@petalique, thank you sincerely for the kind offer. The violets will be back in the spring, I'm sure. Absolutely not the same thing as losing a perfectly formed cherry tree, sorry to divert from Porkchop's dilemma.

Our cordless mini chainsaw is an MkSense brand that we ordered off Amazon almost 5 years ago so there may be better choices now. Be sure to get one with a plastic guard over the top so the sawdust doesn't fly in your face and a lot of them come with an extra battery or extra chains. Some come with a case. They won't take the place of a full size chainsaw but they're wonderfully convenient for pruning small tree limbs that get in the way when we mow.

Is anyone else thinking about George Washington cutting down the cherry tree?

Christie, I've never heard of a mini chainsaw you can use with one hand. What is the brand name?
I have such a chainsaw -- love that thing! -- I think they're actually sold as "pruners". I think ours is a Stanley; at least it is Stanley blue. It runs on a rechargeable battery -- definitely buy a second battery so you don't "run out of juice". My neighbor has a really cool one on a long handle, so he can reach up 8-10 feet to trim higher branches. His is electrical /requires the use of a long power cord.

That reminded me I did have a power pole pruner by Worx as well, that was lost to the hurricanes in '24.