Anonymous wrote:

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.

We just had several very large trees taken out by Lee's Trees at a cost of just over $1k/tree. The person who said $5-10k/tree is either high or didn't bother getting multiple estimates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. The entire point of established neighborhoods is that they have old-growth trees. You are reducing the value of your house and neighborhood if you cut them down. An arborist can thin and ensure they are safe.

Is this in some way quantifiable? Wouldn't people prefer a healthy green lawn to some trees and grass that will never been lush? Like I said, plenty of other trees around, even in my yard.

The best lawns are the soft, downy, mossy lawns that have patches of dirt under the trees. They're so much softer to walk on and play on. Plus it seems that many people's version of "healthy lawn" = chemical bomb. That is not healthy.

what a dumb comment

Not at all. Some people's version of a "healthy lawn" is one that has been pesticided fertilized to freakish uniformity and greenness. That's not healthy, that's a chemical bomb.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You know anyone can be a "certified arborist" right? In fact OP, you would be best off becoming one and scrutinizing the situation yourself.

Ah, the internet, where no one ever hesitates to speak from between their buttocks. http://www.isa-arbor.com/certification/benefits/credentialsExplained.aspx

Even your own not so talented buttocks would tell you it is not brain surgery.

Which I'm sure you perform day after day. Not all skills need to be brain surgery to be valuable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. The entire point of established neighborhoods is that they have old-growth trees. You are reducing the value of your house and neighborhood if you cut them down. An arborist can thin and ensure they are safe.

Is this in some way quantifiable? Wouldn't people prefer a healthy green lawn to some trees and grass that will never been lush? Like I said, plenty of other trees around, even in my yard.

The best lawns are the soft, downy, mossy lawns that have patches of dirt under the trees. They're so much softer to walk on and play on. Plus it seems that many people's version of "healthy lawn" = chemical bomb. That is not healthy.

what a dumb comment

Tree roots help with rainwater absorption. We get more rainfall in this area than Seattle, so trees help.

Get them trimmed. Find a certified arborist. Not a hack that will put spikes in their boots to climb up and trim branches.

OP, get a few opinions, and you should be fine.

Call an arborist. We moved into a house with lots of older trees in the yard. A couple are very big, solid and healthy. Many of the others were Chinese elms which are not so pretty and fairly fragile. We have had most of this removed over the years to preempt falling and also to improve the use of our yard -- some were right in the middle of our fairly small back yard. One fell and barely missed the house. In principle I'm a big tree fan but when it is warranted it is very wise to remove them. We have planted some new ones, by the way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You know anyone can be a "certified arborist" right? In fact OP, you would be best off becoming one and scrutinizing the situation yourself.

Ah, the internet, where no one ever hesitates to speak from between their buttocks. http://www.isa-arbor.com/certification/benefits/credentialsExplained.aspx

Even your own not so talented buttocks would tell you it is not brain surgery.

As long as you have other trees on your property take them down or talk to an arborist.

We took down three trees at our house- and we still have a bunch more. So we still have shade from trees, and the look of mature trees around our house. But now the front of our house looks nicer having taken out one in front. We still have trees in front, but there were just too many before. There was an area of our backyard where we had trouble growing grass and that was very buggy. Now we have a nice area of grass there for the kids to play on and less insects. No regrets.

Anonymous wrote:

You know anyone can be a "certified arborist" right? In fact OP, you would be best off becoming one and scrutinizing the situation yourself.

Ah, the internet, where no one ever hesitates to speak from between their buttocks. http://www.isa-arbor.com/certification/benefits/credentialsExplained.aspx

I say take them down and if you want some tree cover plant something like a dogwood that won't get too huge over the years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. The entire point of established neighborhoods is that they have old-growth trees. You are reducing the value of your house and neighborhood if you cut them down. An arborist can thin and ensure they are safe.

Is this in some way quantifiable? Wouldn't people prefer a healthy green lawn to some trees and grass that will never been lush? Like I said, plenty of other trees around, even in my yard.

The best lawns are the soft, downy, mossy lawns that have patches of dirt under the trees. They're so much softer to walk on and play on. Plus it seems that many people's version of "healthy lawn" = chemical bomb. That is not healthy.

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

+1 , do it!

Trees immediately close to the house will not have as much velocity in a fall as a similar size/girth tree ten to fifteen or so feet apart.

You know anyone can be a "certified arborist" right? In fact OP, you would be best off becoming one and scrutinizing the situation yourself.