No Longer Stumped ~ Backhoe To The Rescue

Directly behind Claudia's house is a large vacant lot, and just a few feet behind her fence was a great big ficus tree which shaded her back yard in the afternoon. Two years ago when hurricanes Katrina and Wilma paid us a visit the tree fell over. It fell away from her yard but the extensive root system succeeded in destroying her rear fence as the roots were pulled up out of the ground.

She was in a tizzy because her dogs could no longer stay in the yard without somebody watching them. The owner of the vacant lot seemed to be in no hurry to remove the downed tree or the root ball. We went to the Home Depot and got some eight foot sections of lattice to use as a temporary fence, wiring them to the chain link fence well enough to keep the dogs in the yard. Finally a few calls to the city got things started, but it took over a year until a few guys with a truck and chain saws cut up and hauled off the ficus tree. A few weeks later this backhoe showed up and removed the stump and filled the hole with dirt.

During that year and a half wait the wood lattice acquired a nice weathered appearance, and vines grew through and over it. Actually, I think it looked rather nice. We even talked about facing the entire inside length of the chain link fence with lattice just for that reason. She decided not to mostly because after a few years it would rot out and need replacement.