Rayrose, I'm engaging in discussion- not trying to suggest your advice is bad. This is a forum for more than just simple advice and a lot of people are interested in why and not just proscribed directions from "experts". These experts often contradict each other but if you have a sense of the reasoning and research behind advice you can better learn how to deal with problems from a point of actual understanding. I think that's how you get good at most anything. I believe the reason sealants are no longer recommended is that they've generally been found not useful, at best, in research. If you have research to counter this, please forward it- I'd much rather stand corrected than remain ignorant. Many horticultural traditions are found wanting when put to actual trial. Don't you find it interesting that Cornell recommends pruning peach trees when they are in growth to help prevent gummosis, while your experts suggest pruning during peak dormancy? It may be based on weather conditions but I suspect one or the other side is wrong and I'm very curious to know which.

Here I am to keep the thread alive! First, thank you to all who've posted because while I did know the pencil cactus was poisonous, I didn't realize just how dangerous it could be if the sap got into my eyes. That said, I just purchased a large pencil cactus today that needs to be repotted. I don't have any pets or kids, so no concerns there, and I've already warned my husband. I'll definitely be wearing disposable gloves and protective eyewear just in case. @ Kevin Dondrea Also, peanut butter has been banned in plenty of schools... I don't know if you were being sarcastic? @ Larry WestCoast, You really had me going with that astroturf bit :D All in all, a good reminder to be vigilant with the plants around us. I'm a plant enthusiast, and even I sometimes forget to pay attention to the potential threats and dangers of different species. I'm obviously not eating any unidentified plants, but from now on I'll be more vigilant about wearing gloves and immediately washing my hands after yard work too.

Your situation is a very personal, wrenching one. Been there, done that, with all of the same emotions. I also made the same promise to my beloved Tara when I adopted her at 9 months. She was a Shepard/Lab, abused before I came along. I was blessed with her for 14 years. I know all to well the feeling of having a "first born" so to speak, she was always there, got me through so much, and I just could not bear the thought of not having her around. In her later years, she developed 3 serious medical issues, all managed with medication. I almost lost her three times because of wrong diagnoses. Through all of this, I came back to my promise that I simply would not let her suffer, a quality of life was a must. I have other vets that I consult with, one a true "country" vet who was once a "city vet". She always ask's me the same question if I call her about a problem. That question is: "is the situation life threatening". If it is, we discuss options, from the least to the more drastic. If it isn't, we have the same discussion. She also want's to know if the dog can do "dog things". These simple questions put things into perspective quickly. When I consulted her about Tara's situation before I lost her, she commented that when she was a city vet (for well over 15 years) she did everything clients wanted to help their pets. Now that she is a country vet, she looks back and thinks that lots of times, she just did to much. For me, watching one of my dogs (I have three) suffer is not something that I can tolerate, especially when I have the power to end it. Not everyone thinks like this, as I originally stated, this is an individual experience. You are now faced with a horrible decision that must be made. You were blessed with your dog for all of these years. It is really your decision how you want his final days to be. Good luck! SG

Thank you Embothrium P. and everyone. This has really been upsetting and yes, my blood pressure has gone up and my stress binge eating kicked into high gear. I'm trying to work through this, but it is a process. First of all, let me assure you that I take responsibility for my failure to get more estimates, but I guess I felt reassured by the very personable arborist with a "reputable" family of "tree professionals". I know I was wrong and should have been able to handle assertively the ongoing train wreck. I made my displeasure known to the guy in charge of the work, and I could tell that I was now the "bitch" customer, but I was not reassured by his saying they would take care of it. So, due to the long holiday weekend, I have put off calling the company. Just as well, as I need time to compose myself. Knowing that I am partly to blame because I did not ask the right questions, such as how the work would be performed, and not insisting on a signed contract with everything spelled out, has just added to my pain, shame and stress. However, I feel that I was taken advantage of (not sure if that's the right word). The salesman, I will call Kevin, did not warn or caution me on the possibility of lawn damage, especially, severe damage. I'm a reasonable person and I know we're making omelets and there might be some broken eggs. He did mention a Bobcat, but again, not the consequences. He did not explain (an I ASSumed that the climber would lower the limbs by rope--that that is how it's done) that the climber would drop limbs from way up and that this might cause damage. I had decided to replace the tree that was removed closest to the street with a new tree. They would use a stump grinder and they would remove all the grindings (would leave if no transplant). Here again, I expected that the new tree would be back filled with new topsoil (if they didn't bring any, I had a whole pile they could have used!). I trusted that this would be done. I had to leave for about an hour and when I returned the tree was planted and they were finishing up putting down mulch. Like an idiot, I noticed that what was still visible looked like grindings (but my mind rationalized that what I was seeing was just on the top) and I didn't ask about it, like "you DID remove the grindings, right? or What did you do with the grindings?" It wasn't until I was unsuccessfully trying to go to sleep that night, that it occurred to me that these yayhoos had used the grindings to back fill. When I call I will insist that they return and replant the tree properly. The crew chief actually asked me if he wanted them to rake up all the smaller twigs where the big oak was removed. What? I said, yes. If you don't, I'll have to do it. Again, I just assumed clean up, of course, was just part of the service. He then shouted back to do it and I kind of got the feeling that this was a real hassle and expected answer was no. They proceeded to rake with what I'd call "not serious" or professional rakes. In fact, this crew was totally reliant of using machines rather than muscle power. I saw a huge auger in one of the trucks when I returned which they must have used to plant the new tree. This was not a big tree. I hope I'm not being too judgemental, but my over all impression that this was a pretty lazy crew. Also, speaking of clean up, they made no effort to remove the large amount of (expected) saw dust. It would have really impressed me if they had brought some blowers and made a stab of removing all the sawdust from the front of my house--patio and sidewalks. No attempt to remove the sawdust in the grassy area around the tree closer to the street. I'm pretty sure this will kill the grass it if it's not removed. I'm really worried that real damage has been done to the surface roots of the remaining oaks. I watched as a huge limb about 8 feet long, crashed down and speared the ground about a foot from trunk of one of them. Just the thought of the psi crashing down on the oak I am trying to save, after spending a lot to have it root fed by injection and the other way, is just outrageous. The Bobcat also exposed and shredded shallow roots that I think belong to the other oak. This was on a slope that the Bobcat had to go up and down many many times to remove all the limbs, most very heavy. Again, worried about how this will affect the tree and how this slope area can be repaired right now to prevent the erosion that is inevitable. I want them to "make it right", but I'm not sure what I should ask for. How can they make it right at this time of year? Grass seed put down now is not going to sprout and will wash away before spring. Straw put down now will blow or wash away or compact before spring. Any topsoil put down now to try to correct the compaction will wash away before spring. Same goes for the swale, that I so carefully construction behind the retaining wall that I carefully reconstructed after years of erosion--all by hand, shovel and wheelbarrow, so necessary to handle drainage. It looks to me like it needs to be repaired by aproper build up of topsoil and reseeded in the spring. I agree, Embothrium P. that a neighbor's property is a neighbor's property, whatever they have on it. This neighbor has been cooperative on some of my other projects with prior discussion and approval, but very unpleasant when not. I still haven't talked to him, but again, this is another aspect of the whole disaster that is causing me a lot of anxiety. I'll be calling Kevin on Monday. One of the questions I'm going to ask is, "would you have this kind of work done on your property with the use of a Bobcat on ground so soft, the damage caused by tree cutters not carefully lowering limbs and sloppy cleanup?" The answer would have to be "no". Who would? This has been one of the biggest and costliest mistake I hope never to make again. I also feel a responsibility to write an honest review on Angie's List. Hopefully, it will prevent any potential customers from making the same mistakes.