Big Tree, Big Problem

Having trees on the property is great. They provide shade in the hot summer, block gusty winds and give cute little animals a personal playground. We have a mature oak tree in our backyard that stands more than 12m tall. It was in rather poor shape with some dead branches, plenty of "suckers", a "borer" infestation, poison ivy (!!!) and the list goes on. Considering that a few of the branches are long enough to practically hang over our roof and the neighbor's back-porch, it needed fixing, and fast. One thing we learned was that oak trees don't like being trimmed from April to October. The tree is actively trying to grow then and therefore loses nutrients through cut branches, which then develop infections. End result: dead tree. It was already March so I began calling around for estimates from professional tree service companies. This is way too big a job (and way too dangerous!) for a DIY project. We found a local company which gave us a very reasonable quote, described to us what the crew would be doing from start to end, and, most importantly, a written estimate that included the entire list. The boss also offered much appreciated follow-up care advice which demonstrated his knowledge and professionalism. The full crew turned up the very next day. I'm not kidding when I mentioned earlier that it was a very dangerous job!! The trimming and cleanup took about 2 hours. The results (below) speak for themselves. It's reassuring that we won't have dead branches the diameter of my leg fall on our heads while we're out in the yard.