Dead Aspens-What to Do?

Sometimes it seems like gardening is like politics.  You can be a ruthless dictator and spend your time defending your turf against all manner of fellow creatures, or you can be a compromiser and try to coexist peacefully with others, taking action only when the balance is threatened. Being the latter reduces time on the battle field but makes every decision complicated.

Take a dead tree for example.  We have several snags on our lot.  I recently had an arborist out to quote me for cleaning up our remaining buckthorn and he asked me if I wanted all those snags removed.  Now, if I wasn't concerned about wildlife I'd have had him take them all down, no other thought required.  However, we have a lot of woodpeckers on our little lot, including downy woodpeckers, who happen to live in dead trees.  So I want to be selective in which dead trees to remove.   

I love seeing and hearing the birds in our yard and I know they eat a lot of bugs so it's not just sentiment that makes me want to provide a haven for them.  They are worth it. 

Looks pretty pathetic with no snow...sigh....

So, only one will be coming down-an aspen felled a couple of weeks ago during our last bit of windy weather and snagged in an oak tree that I want to get pruned this winter.

Changing subjects...who would think that in January it'd be too warm to safely prune oaks? You probably already know, but oaks and elms should only be pruned in the winter so disease-carrying beetles don't get them.  I've seen the damage oak wilt can do to a neighborhood-it's scary!

Seriously, I love a 40 or 50 degree winter day as much as the next person but day after day?  It's gotta stop!  Bring on the cold...I've got yard work to do!