stealth pruning

You'll never believe what I did today. 

The background: I've decided it's time to get rid of the last two spruce trees in the Adventure Garden that are interfering with my dream of achieving a balanced and beautiful garden.  Don't worry, I will still have 3 other gigantic spruce trees in my backyard, not to mention many other trees and shrubs, not to mention the gigantic spruce trees in the front...  But I haven't exactly informed my husband of this decision yet.  I've removed a lot of trees from our large, mature yard in the last few years (for entirely justifiable reasons IMHO - they were half dead, too close together, too close to the house, etc.) and he's never really been on board but has let me do it.  I'm not sure if he'd approve of any more.

So what did I do this morning?  I got up early to start cutting down branches from those last two trees.  (Yes, it was dark out when I started.)  I thought I could do this weekly - a few at a time - every Friday morning so that I can get them tied up and taken away by the Friday garbage pick-up before he sees them.  I'm sure he'll notice eventually, but I thought I could at least get started on tree removal without having to bother with trying to convince him this was a good idea.  Unfortunately, Daughter #2 (5 years old) woke up early this morning and caught me in the act before I could get all the branches tied up, so I had to leave a few lying around for next week's pick-up. 

Busted.

Comments

[Allison]

This sounds like something I would attempt when I don't have buy-in from my husband. Shh!

[Calgary Garden Coach]

Thanks Allison! It's a bit sneaky and underhanded, I know, but I'm convinced it's for the greater good! :-)
Janice

[Paula H.]

Do you think that he will notice?

[Tammy]

We planted a fir tree (got it free on Kijijji )in our yard that had struggled the last few years... Last weekend we finally decided to put the tree to rest... It was heart wrenching when my husband started to cut it down ... But alas it was the best thing for the tree and the garden on a whole.

[Lisa]

I would never resort to sneaking around, when it comes to my life's partner. What message does that send to your kids? If there's disagreement we talk through the issues until we find a solution.

[Calgary Garden Coach]

Lisa: Yes, I figured at least some people would disapprove of my actions! In my defense, no he didn't notice the missing branches. He typically doesn't notice changes I make in the yard. The yard is pretty much my domain - I do pretty much all the maintenance as well as the design - so I guess I feel like getting him on board is just a hoop I didn't feel like being bothered with this time around.
Obviously, a few tree branches does not impact our family's lives in any way. If I was sneaking around regarding something important, obviously I wouldn't think it was funny and I certainly wouldn't blog about it! But I wouldn't be sneaking around regarding something important anyway!
J