Im definitely cutting down all of the weeds... got a couple of brand new machetes & getting up early tomorrow to get started...That soggy area doesnt stay soggy, we've had a lot of bad weather ( as did most of the country) for the past 2-3 weeks....I was actually thinking of putting the weeping willow there.... the line of the trees will go 200 feet... with 3 rows, zig-zagged & spaced 10 ft apart...thats 60 trees... not to mention that I still want to plant a "green" fence on both the left & right side property lines.... my 75 yr old neighbor on the next street has the same issues with the weeds in his backyard & cut down all of his weeds with a machete by himself in a day...I cant let him make me look bad ;)

or it will break ... and resprout and continue upward ... or the trunk will die.. and you will get thousands of suckers popping up from the roots.. for years to come ... it is a weak wooded, fast growing, damage prone tree .... you have learned such by the facts you provide ... IF IT IS ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR SUMMER HOUSE.. I WOULD REMOVE IT ... while it is still within your capability to do it for free ... if its out on the property ... who cares ... ken

yepp ... just snip it above the left branch ... if and when the tree has a foot thick trunk ... in about 60 minutes or so.. lol ... that kink will be unnoticeable ... ergo.. ignore it.. let the tree deal with it.. rather than rigging up some cabling.. etc ... i grew these for 5 years ... and the 5th year.. was the last moment when i could take them all down with my own chainsaw ... and still have room for them to fall down safely ... and i did that.. due to disease.. and breakage .... but what i did in the mean time... was plant some quality heirloom trees .... and by the time these were ready to go.. i had some nice oaks ... birch.. and tulip poplar going full bore ... enjoy the process.. but do think.. long and hard.. about the fact that.. in tree years.. these are very short lived ...' ken ps: every time i snipped some branches... i stuck some 12 to 18 inch cutting straight into my sand.. about 6 to 8 inches in ... and i dont know.. maybe half took .... with no after care .... ken

My Mom's front yard has a center walk to the front door. The previous owners planted 2 red oaks and 2 Arizona Ash, a local trash tree, one of each on each side. The ash were toward the street. When they bought the house, they removed the ash trees. Within two years, the oaks had filled in where the ash had been and were round like they should be. It gets so hot here that shade is very important to livability. I thought it was a great solution to adding shade quickly and then also planning for the future. bk