Timberrrrrrrrrrrr!

This marks the first of our planned yard projects for 2012.  It was kind of a sad day I must admit.  My husband and I have been contemplating removing the maple tree from our front yard for the past few years.  Why?  Because it never should have been planted there in the first place.  It's a beautiful tree and looks great now, but give it a few years and you wouldn't be able to see our house anymore. Since we are planning on installing a sprinkler system, we decided it was now or never to get the tree out.   Our neighbors aren't that excited about it but they'll come around in time. 

Farewell ole' tree.  You were pretty to look at but your positive attributes ended there.  We won't miss your sun-blocking, leaf-dropping ways.

BEFORE

AFTER - But before grass was filled.
I started to have a bit of an "Oh crap, what did we do?" moment.  But once the grass was filled in........

AFTER AND COMPLETE
It looks like the tree was never supposed to be there.

UPDATE: Okay, so I kind of miss the tree. Not the tree itself, but the privacy it provided in front of our giant window. I realized how much I missed this when I ran downstairs semi-clothed and noticed that I was on display for the entire street.   I took the tree for granted.  I know it wasn't a cloak of invisibility but I like to think that it shielded me slightly from the neighbors when I was running free.  I guess I better think twice before doing that again. That aside, I'm pretty happy with the overall look of the yard sans the tree.