Should I remove trees from my yard?

[Anonymous]

This has the potential to be a helpful post.

I have old trees in my backyard as well, some of which lean heavily toward our house and lose the occasional branch in an ice or wind storm.

So the question is really one about the rational to remove them - how do I know if it is healthy enough of a tree to survive? The occasional fallen branch is okay, but how do I know if the entire tree could come crashing down on my house?

[Anonymous]

We had an arborist come out. If the top of the tree is dying, the crown, the rest of the tree will die. That is the crown is the first part of a dying tree to show and it cannot be reversed. So remove it without guilt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you got a quote that low -- do it now. Run, do not walk. Get them out.

+1 the first bad storm will cause that price to double for a few months.

We had 5 huge oaks in our yard and had the same concern. The two scariest came down (one cost us $2,800).

Enjoy your grass and flowering shrubs. We do now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has the potential to be a helpful post.

I have old trees in my backyard as well, some of which lean heavily toward our house and lose the occasional branch in an ice or wind storm.

So the question is really one about the rational to remove them - how do I know if it is healthy enough of a tree to survive? The occasional fallen branch is okay, but how do I know if the entire tree could come crashing down on my house?[/quote]

I couldn't get this opinion from any arborist who came out, which I understand because of liability. I had one really big tree that was healthy, but leaned downhill and toward both my and my neighbor's houses. The best answer I got, or the one that finally helped me decide was that sometimes healthy trees get blown over and, if this one was, then there would be significant damage to our houses

[Anonymous]

Two people in our area had trees go through their homes last summer. They had to move to a temporary house for over 6 months. After that, lots of trees came down, including one of our own. My understanding was that both trees were healthy. It is certainly unlikely a tree would fall but not impossible.

[Anonymous]

Lush green Lawn with small ornamental trees is what I prefer.

[Anonymous]

We live in an area along GW Parkway that has a lot of flooding & puddling up in backyards after rainstorms. Our yard, however never floods. A friend of ours who is an arborist said it is due to the four big trees in our yard. he said never take them out because they suck up lot of water and our backyard looks great.

[Anonymous]

We live in an established neighbourhood and took down all the trees when we tore down and rebuilt. Love the green grass and peace of mind. In the past we lived on a heavily wooded lot and grass couldn't grow and branches always fell on the house. It was only a matter of time before one of those trees fell on the house. Ohh and the constant maintenance for trimming branches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in an area along GW Parkway that has a lot of flooding & puddling up in backyards after rainstorms. Our yard, however never floods. A friend of ours who is an arborist said it is due to the four big trees in our yard. he said never take them out because they suck up lot of water and our backyard looks great.

Haha he's wrong . Trees don't prevent erosion as much as grass and proper perc beds. Sounds like he wants to keep his business going.

[Anonymous]

Trees are good, but too many trees can be bad. Will you lose all the shade your property has if you take down these trees, or just reduce the shade canopy? If the former I wouldn't do it, if the latter, I might.

[Anonymous]

it would be nice if you did it before the birds were nesting; sad to see baby birds get killed in the process. hurry!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in an area along GW Parkway that has a lot of flooding & puddling up in backyards after rainstorms. Our yard, however never floods. A friend of ours who is an arborist said it is due to the four big trees in our yard. he said never take them out because they suck up lot of water and our backyard looks great.

Haha he's wrong . Trees don't prevent erosion as much as grass and proper perc beds. Sounds like he wants to keep his business going.

If he wanted to drum up business, he would have "claimed" the trees should come down. That is what happened when a neighbor tried to send an arborist around our neighborhood. The arborist, understandably, saw dollar signs, and wanted to take everything down - why wouldn't he?

OP, be careful about what "arborists" claim, and be sure to get more than two opinions.

[Anonymous]

I would talk to an arborist before chopping down a tree. If it's healthy I would keep it. Trees add so much to the character of the neighborhood and the wildlife environment.

And I say this as someone who's had two trees fall down over the last 10 years - including one on the side of our house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got an estimate of $3,000 for both.

wow, they must not be that big. Who offered that. That is really cheap.

[Anonymous]

I love trees, but even a healthy tree can fall in a really bad storm. Our neighbor's 60-foot oak tree fell on our house during the derecho of 2012 - they had no reason to believe it wasn't healthy, and it certainly had looked healthy. It did a lot of damage, most of which was covered by insurance. (though I had to go out of pocket for a few very expensive things, and my daughter and I both could have been killed.)

You can't control for everything, and you definitely don't want to remove all your trees, but I can see some value in taking out a couple that are nearest the house and leaning in that direction.