Chelle,
What a shame about the trees. Thank goodness the one endangering your safety is down. Isn't it amazing what those tree experts can do? Not a job I would want to ever take on - scares the heck out of me just watching them at those heights. I know exactly what you are dealing with. Had a similar issue with a very large oak tree close to the house that was partially uprooted last summer during a severe storm. It didn't fall on the house but was leaning precariously over it. Too risky to take down ourselves. The tree experts brought in a crane to assist. Amazing... Good luck with the rest of the trees - sounds like you will be busy! Don't know if this is an option for you, but they brought in a chipper for our job. We kept the main trunk for firewood and chipped the limbs. I was surprised at how much it made - about a dump truck load. We used the chips for a new walking path. I was happy to have the path and they were happy they didn't have to haul it away LOL.

It is truly amazing what these folks can do! I was nervous just watching him make the climb! I spent most of the time while he was up there spring cleaning at mom's house. It was a good outlet for my nervous energy.

We opted out of the chipper for this first tree since we weren't sure what we could do with the wood and we were in such a hurry to just get it down. I'd venture to say that we'll have it for the next ones though. I'm thinking that we need to remove at least three more trees very soon and that would be more branches than our yard could hold at one time!

I'll likely use this first wood for Hugelkultur beds if burying it seems like a safe option. So far all I've accomplished is pulling limbs from the piles and getting them trimmed and sorted into manageable stacks for the guys to be able to work through them quickly with the chainsaws.

I thought of you while I was writing this blog post. I'd wondered if you'd had similar experiences.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Terri!