How to Remove a Tree

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen, and in this segment, we're going to talk about how to remove a tree. Now, if you've ever had a dead tree in your yard, you know what a pain it is to get rid of it. And there are certain techniques that you should use. And first of all, before you even consider removing a tree, if it's a very large tree that could fall into your neighbor's yard or accidentally fall into your house, then don't even do it yourself. Always hire a professional because you don't know which way it's going to fall, and you don't want to risk it falling on your neighbor's house. So once you've decided that you can take it on yourself, then the trick is to just cut a little bit at a time. And the trick is to go from the top down. So you want to get the very top branches and cut them closer into the tree. And when you're cutting into the tree, too, you don't want to just cut into a large branch straight on. What you want to do is work your way down, slowly but surely. And the easiest way to do it when you get the large...to the larger branches is to go on this side halfway, then that side halfway and this way, and work your way down. Don't try to cut all the way through. It's much easier to do a little bit at a time. So you work your way down from the top to the bottom, and then once you've got...you're down to the stump, you can either grind the stump all the way down, and it'll eventually rot. Or you can actually dig it up yourself or have someone come in and dig it up for you. Or you can just leave it in the ground and there's different types of chemicals that you can use, actually, to put into the base of the stump that will break down the stump as well. There's many tricks that you can use when you're cutting down a tree, but remember, a little bit at a time, top to bottom, and make sure not to try to cut any branches that are over your neighbor's house -- to be very careful and to do your research."