As you may recall from my post earlier this week, we had a tree take a tumble. Kinder came over yesterday and made short work of chopping it into firewood size for summer camping trips with his trusty chainsaw.

That tree was part of a small clump of 3 aspens growing together in our front yard. The main tree in the rear grew nice and straight but the two growing next to it were leaning.

The root ball from the tree that fell surprised me by how small it was.

My concern is the other two trees, especially the one that leans. Are we in danger of it falling as well? Should I reach out to Kinder and have him come over with his chain saw to turn it into more campfire wood?

Most of the aspens in our yard have a root system that is pretty aggressive. I'm surprised yours is leaning. It may be on its way out anyway so I'd chop it on my terms. Good news about aspens...they're cheap and fast growing.

I've removed 3 or 4 Aspen trees from my yard over the last few years.

They aren't a very hardy tree and you can easily see whether they are vibrant, dying, or dead.

Each one I removed had small root systems with only one or two main roots which were surprisingly short. I would estimate the root diameter at less than 4 feet on a 20' tall tree.

A couple I left in the ground too long even after they were obviously dead. When they blew down, they were so dry and brittle they broke apart which was better than them damaging what they fell on.

So, if what you have left is still producing leaves and new branches I would just keep a close eye in it. If even part of it is dead, I would yank that biotch otta there !

Sometimes a nursery or tree supplier will take and clump 3 different trees in the same ball. the dominant tree (or healthier) will take up all the nutients and mosture it needs without a care for its buddies around it. So, a grove of Aspen trees normally are part of the same root sytem. An aspen grove is one large mass all made up of the same root system. (the largest bio mass in the country is an aspen grove right here in colorado) so unless your home is in danger I would let nature run its course and just remove the dead or dying ones. TMI??

Aspens are just very large weeds. They die relatively easy but new shoots always come up. I'm surprised you don't have aspens all over your yard because they spread really good in a healthy environment. They also tend to rot from the inside out and topple that way. If you have one that is leaning towards the house, I'd cut it down. For that matter, if you want a good looking tree in your yard, cut the remaining two down and put an maple in there. A hardier tree that will withstand harsher growing seasons. The problem with aspens is that once they get established, they take over everything, but it takes 15 or so years for them to get established and until then, they just act like weeds.

Just an odd bit of info, but the largest single living organism in the world is an aspen grove in Utah. It covers something like 100 acres and the entire thing is just suckers from 1 tree.

Right you are sbolt! I thought it was here in Colorado....
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/2610 ... tml?pg=all

I'm good like that. My wife tells me that I'm full of useless information.

Just tie the trees together :)