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Some people in my neighborhood took out trees because they thought it might fall on the house in the case a big windstorm. I have a couple of trees near my house that could pose the same danger. But I am not sure if these trees are necessarily a danger. If I get a tree remover to give an opinion, I feel he is going recommend removing them regardless because its extra money for him.
How can you tell if the tree needs to be taken down?
Have a tree surgeon examine the tree for health rather than someone who will profit from their removal.
If you have large limbs hanging over your house have these evaluated for trimming. Basically you never want to have any more than 20-25% of any limbs trimmed in a single calender year or the tree will likely suffer. Never have trees "topped".
The Cornell Cooperative Extension is also a good source for information but they don't do on site tree examinations. They are mainly gardening, etc but some info on trees.
In really high winds many types of trees can be blown over in high winds healthy or npot. Water oaks for example when the ground is soak have bery shallow rots and can fall form pretty moderate winds;especaily if not trimmed properly.Large limbs themselves can be damaged and weight alot goign thru a roof. If your going to have trees near the house its always best to have them properly trimmed. I say properly because not done right can start tree on the way to it dying.I have seen hundreds of tree that blew over that were healthy ;it just takes the right conditions.
I'm pretty ignorant on this topic but I'd think that soil type has a rather large amount to do with it, such as loose or sandy soil being less likely to hold the tree.
We're new to the south, but we hear that the ubiquitous Bradford Pear trees start to split when they get old. So, we have several in our back yard which we will begin to prune this fall, in order to hopefully keep them from doing this.
After reading all the replies, the word "arborist" stands out a lot. Not all arborists are experienced and not all are certified. It takes only 3 or 4 years of experience for them to take their exams. So you want an experienced arborist who may also be a certified arborist.
Because there are over a dozen factors that they have to look at and think about.
Who knows how many things they consider that are inconspicuous too.
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