Residents in the Glenwood Avenue area watched with mixed feelings as two large spruce trees were taken down Thursday morning. 

“They’re removing a couple of big spruce trees that have been growing bigger and bigger each year,” says Fred Sankay, a resident of the area since 1986. 

“Over the last three years I've watched the trees go from beautiful, bushy, gorgeous trees to two trees that are dying, lost needles, have become very thin,” adds Andrea D’andrea, the resident who called the city for the removal. 

“One tree has developed a very serious lean and unfortunately that lean is leaning toward power lines.”

For the past year, the City of Kelowna monitored the pair of trees and noticed their rapid decline after the removal of a mature horse chestnut tree on private property which led to a disturbance in the root system. That’s when they knew it was time to bring them down.  

“I enjoy the trees but I am scared about the wind and stuff coming down,” adds Sankay. 

D’andrea has been living next to the trees for ten years and she spoke to the previous homeowner who states his father topped the trees about 40 years ago.

“Unfortunately when trees get topped they tend to branch out and one tree had four or five branches going out, so very top-heavy and watching them in the wind, watching them sway it was rather nerve-racking to watch them,” she says with relief about sleeping better tonight knowing they are gone.

Despite the relief, it was a bittersweet day for neighbours. 

“It was a home for a grey and black squirrel couple and I feel sorry that I am the one that made them move their home,” adds D’andrea. 

She picked up a bucket of hazelnuts from City Park that she’s left out in her backyard for squirrels this winter. 

“I’m going to miss squirrels in it,” adds Sankay. “They were running around this morning even in the tree, they were working on the one tree, they still were in the other tree, trying to figure out how to get down."

The city says the removal cost was about $4,000 and the area will get new trees planted in the future.