Cutting down of albizia tree

[Beachboy]

I think I found someone reasonable for cutting down these trees. The thing is he will cut it down & chop it up. But it's up to ourselves to haul it out from own property. He quoted me a few hundred dollars, were others quotes ranged near the 1000 dollar range.

[ef9]

Hello beachboy,

Can you please pm me the person's name and phone number?

Thank you,

Stan

quote:

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I think I found someone reasonable for cutting down these trees. The thing is he will cut it down & chop it up. But it's up to ourselves to haul it out from own property. He quoted me a few hundred dollars, were others quotes ranged near the 1000 dollar range.

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[Beachboy]

quote:

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Hello beachboy,

Can you please pm me the person's name and phone number?

Thank you,

Stan

quote:

---

I think I found someone reasonable for cutting down these trees. The thing is he will cut it down & chop it up. But it's up to ourselves to haul it out from own property. He quoted me a few hundred dollars, were others quotes ranged near the 1000 dollar range.

---

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Stan, I'll see if he's up to the task. Normally he's a drywall finisher, and Rock wall builder. He knew my situation and decided to make me an offer I couldn't refuse.
He's on Oahu for the week, when he get's back I will ask for him if he's up for doing a few yards.

[glennoid]

On the topic of Albizias... is it in any way frowned upon to kill / cut down a baby albizia growing on someone else's vacant lot, before it because a huge nuisance for everyone? Right now it would only take a good whacks from a machete to stunt it back back down to 1' high...

Thanks,
Glenn

[missydog1]

glennoid,
I hear the midnight treecutters are alive and well ... frowned on? maybe if you get caught ... although how catching a nuisance in the bud is a sin, I'm not sure.

[ef9]

I don't know of anyone who actually wants albizias in their property. I would think you are doing everyone a favor, including the lot owner as well.
Albizias are a pest. I like to think of them as a "weed." Just on a much larger scale.

Stan

[glennoid]

Thanks for the tips. I just may be sharpening up muh sling blade, then, mmm hmmm...

[Mitzi M]

I wholeheartedly support the whacking of albizias wherever you can...but one really important thing to remember is that they frequently re-sprout when you cut them, and can even grow from the fallen logs. Although I'm not generally into using chemicals - there is a good herbicide I've recently become acquainted with that I think no weed-tree warrior in Puna should be without. It's called Garlon - there are 2 kinds I know of you can use: Garlon 3 and 4. One is water based and the other is based in horticultural oil. It's the same chemical, but the application methods are a little different. Basically you make small cuts in the bark (or drill holes for larger trees)into the soft wood and then apply a small amount of Garlon into the wound with a small tipped squeeze bottle, avoiding spilling it onto other plants. If you actually whack off the whole tree, you can paint the stump - but this needs to be done right away, as the sap can recede and wound callous over within minutes. If you try this with larger trees, make sure that they are well away from anything you like. I have heard that if you girdle or poison a tree, tree trimmers will refuse to cut it down afterward - which makes a lot of sense because then you never know how stable the branches might be. Supposedly, Garlon has the same toxicity to humans as aspirin. If it gets into your eyes it can either just sting like the devil or... cause irreversible blindness depending on the kind you use (3 or 4) so wear glasses and gloves. I think it degrades pretty quickly and won't be toxic in surrounding soils or water.
People who have lots of experience with it have told me it kills weed trees or prevents re-sprouting dependably and, if used correctly, leaves surrounding vegetation unharmed.

Aloha,
Mitzi

Uluhe Design
Native Landscape Design
uluhedesign@yahoo.com

[ravy]

You're so right ef9 ... a weed indeed! The weed (I mean tree), is actually nitrogen fixing and that's one of the reasons it grows so rapidly. Judging by the growth rate over the last twenty-five years, it's destined to change the whole ecological balance here on the Eastside,and as usual, the County & State officials have dropped the ball on eradication efforts, and in fact, they have simply given up from what I can see, since a few pamphlets here and there just doesn't cut it! We're basically left under siege
here in Puna by this beautiful yet tremendously envasive plant.

I've talked to kapuna who say that they don't recall the tree anywhere before about 1970 to 1975 and look at where it is now. It's gone beyond the point where any reasonable person would admit that even a full-scale eradication process spearheaded by the government isn't possible, and the loss of endemic species in the rain forest is now underway,(simply drive to the lookout at the end of the road at the gravel pit across from the steam vents and you'll be shocked. There is a massive arm of Albizia streaching out of Black Sands Subdivision heading west into the rainforest chocking our native species.

The only way to save the environment here in Puna (and keep it from looking like Lava Tree State Park),is the creation of a largescale energy system to be developed which would use the tree as the prime-mover for fuel in a boiler system which would produce 660 volt AC, 3-phase electricity. A bagging system would insure no particulate escapes into the atmosphere ... the boiler's ash would be used in agriculture and an extrodinary amount of jobs would be created in all construction
trades,falling(logging),transporting,clerical,legal,security, administration et. al. (and of course kilowatt hour cost would eventually drop rather than esculate, which it is about to do now.

But, alas, our leaders arn't really leaders are they? Or this would never have become a problem of such magnitude.

So your are correct, ef9, it should be viewed as a weed, but a weed with tremendous economic potential and at some point the County and State needs to wake up and be driven from the industrial stone age they're languishing in by burning mostly bunker fuel for the production of electricity. What is needed is a local person (who's really a leader who's not afraid to be heard),to come forth and raise their voice over the government's inaction in this arena ... >because if it's not done soon, we're going to enter an ecological hell. We need cheap to [at least], moderately priced energy ... we need jobs for all these young adults graduating from the high schools each year, and we need to get this albizia infestation under control ... and most of all, we need leadership.

Ravy

[Jean H]

Is there a good photo online on one of these trees? I heard that they are related to the Mimosa Tree, if so do they resemble the ones on the mainland with the small leaves like a sensitive plant?
I am going to be sort of camping on our land starting Sep 3rd and I would like to whack the small ones down before they get too big.

Jean Hopper