We had an arborist come to the house to take a look at everything in the hopes that maybe some of the mature trees near the house could stay in place, rather than need complete removal.

Unfortunately, we were correct in our assumptions that the trees were planted too close to the house and in too small of a space to be able to remain. Whether we decided to do the siding & roof wasn't even a consideration and at some point the trees would need to be removed. All 3 trees pictured above would have to come down.

While we were at it, we thought it made sense to have our large pine tree trimmed up as well. We thought it would be nice to have some clearance under it for lawn mowing, as well as for more visibility to see the kids in the yard from the patio once they're a little older and can play back there by themselves. Random trivia: We call the pine tree our Dr. Suess tree because it has a noticeable lean to the top, similar to the Cat in the Hat. 

So, we hired the arborist and his crew came out to take care of the tree trimming & removal in the back yard. Will was mesmerized all day by watching the men climb trees and take down branches. Once John was down for his nap the 2 of us headed outside so he could get an up close look at the work that had already been done and to watch the crew do some more trimming. He pretty much thought it was the coolest thing ever.

The guys finished up for the day and we were left with what feels like a really bare backyard. I do miss some of the trees and am going to have to move some of my shade plants come next year until Erik and I decide what, if anything, we'd like to re-plant in some of these spaces.

All in all, the crew did a fantastic job and we are very pleased with how everything looks. 

And now for some before and afters!

We've never seen the full side of our house in the entire time we've lived here. It's still really weird driving up to our house and actually being able to see it without any trees blocking the view.

I thought the trimming up of the pine would be a really subtle difference and am amazed at how nicely it opens up our back patio area.

This view is pretty different as well. The cherry tree in the middle of the rock wall had some very low hanging branches and the crew took a lot of care in removing the dead branches as well as giving us the proper clearance from the house and the new roof.

Overall it's a really big change and is just step 1 in really revamping the look of the exterior of our house. Well really, about step 8 in the time we've lived in the house with all of the other exterior & landscaping updates we've made!