Trees Trees in the front yard trees in the back yard (roach, driveway)

[catriona]

Originally Posted by Chaka

I love trees. LOVE THEM. I cringe when they go. But all trees don't last forever and they don't always fit in the place they're located. Some end up growing too close to a house, some diseased, some at risk of falling in a storm.

Our yard was an overgrown jungle with a lot of "weed" trees. Some of those were pretty to be sure, but not worthwhile to keep. It was hard to tear them out,but out they went. We still have a yard full of mature trees, so it's not a problem, but yes, some had to go.

I am considering cutting down what I think is a lovely chinaberry. It's quite large, beautiful flowers, lots of shade. But. It's an invasive species. Shouldn't be here. I can't bring myself to cut it down just yet, but it will come out sooner or later.

I cringe right along with you, Chaka! We had the same situation in our back yard. Lots of volunteer trees planted by the helpful squirrels, most of them oak or pecan. We also had chinese pistache, chinaberry (from roots of the old chinaberry we had) and cedar elm and hackberry. Our yard was mostly mesquite, which I love for it's low water usage and gnarled trunks, but hate for the thorns and seeds. Thorns get stuck in my shoes and dogs eat those #$#@!! seeds. When considering the cedar elms and oaks, it was a very hard to decide which ones went and which ones stayed. I had no problem getting rid of the hackberries, though. They still seem to sprout up every where, even if you dig out the root! We had three big hackberries cut down several years ago when one was damaged by lightning and took out part of the fence. It had some rot or something else wrong with it, so it was good to get rid of it. I still miss our old chinaberry that also had tree rot. Couldn't bear to cut it down and it took one of those violent wind shears during a thunderstorm to finally damage it so severely we had to have it removed. The tree took out a big section of fence and part of the garage roof, but narrowly missed the cars. I still miss the shade from that old tree!

[Paka]

A tree a few streets down lost a section of it after a storm...come to find out it was rotting on the inside...that tree and the other tree in the yard had to be cut down...some type of infestation. You could not tell, they were big and provided a lot of shade, but obviously were a huge risk if the wind from a storm was enough to cause it to split in half. Lucky it missed the neighbors house by about 3 feet.

[texasdreamin]

It may have been that the roots of the tree were doing damage to the foundation or the septic, or if no septic, then the sewer pipe. Certain trees cause all sorts of damage when planted within a certain distance from a house. The tree in my front yard has caused damage to the sidewalk, which I had to replace; it has lifted my driveway. The roots went beneath the garage floor and lifted it just enough to crack the cement. They have gone beneath my gate and along the side of my house and cracked that concrete. It's all going to cost me about $40-50,000 to correct everything, including removal of the 60' high tree. This is a tree that the City planted in MY yard, when it was a baby, as part of the "planned development" when I purchased my home...yet they will not take any responsibility for correcting any of the conditions. I love trees. Truly love them...but my next home will not have a tree so close to it that it will damage everything.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by catriona

I still miss our old chinaberry that also had tree rot. Couldn't bear to cut it down and it took one of those violent wind shears during a thunderstorm to finally damage it so severely we had to have it removed. The tree took out a big section of fence and part of the garage roof, but narrowly missed the cars. I still miss the shade from that old tree!

We had the same problem with a large Chinaberry. They are known to snap in high winds or storms when they reach a certain height. Ours was about 30ft...gorgeous. Lost it two years ago in a bad storm. We were extremely lucky it didn't damage any of our property OR the neighbors!

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by catriona

. I still miss our old chinaberry that also had tree rot. Couldn't bear to cut it down and it took one of those violent wind shears during a thunderstorm to finally damage it so severely we had to have it removed. The tree took out a big section of fence and part of the garage roof, but narrowly missed the cars. I still miss the shade from that old tree!

I think the only way my husband is going to let me take the big one out is if it gets damaged in a storm. Alas, that would be a bad thing given its location very near our neighbor's house. Actually there are two there - one has 4 trunks and one has 2 trunks, the latter stands very straight and tall, the former looks like 4 arms reaching out. Both are taller than the neighbor's house. I managed to get rid of a few others when I did my massive pruning/removing after Dolly/Ike/Gustav (thankfully no damage but the proximity of the Dolly tornado and a big chunk of my amazing cedar elm coming down in another storm convinced the husband it was for our own safety......The cedar elm is in good shape now, thanks to some massive pruning.

The hackberries....well, I've gotten rid of more than I can count, but there are still many more growing in my fence. Too many years of a once loved but then neglected yard.

[fierce_flawless]

The hackberries drive me MAD.

I understand the reasons why some trees have got to go, but I also live in an older part of the city and I'm amazed that there aren't more trees. Especially lining the streets. I love "tree lined streets".... and wish we had that look here. I've planted a couple in that space between the sidewalk and the street but there are many houses here where that section is bare, of filled with rocks/mulch/cactus.

I have pecan trees in back and mountain laurels in front but I envy my neighbors yard, it's completely shaded front and back. Then again she has no flowering plants because she doesn't get enough sun, so it's a trade off.

[sapphire]

Tell her to plant hydrangea, hosta, impatiens, or begonias. They all like shade.

[Snowglobe]

People definitely have different tree philosophies that I do not understand. We had neighbors who apparently hired someone with a huge backhoe-type piece of equipment to take out a big palm tree in their front yard. What did they then plant in the huge hole that was left? Nothing--they just covered up the hole. I guess they spent all their money on the backhoe. They had no other trees in the front yard and then they moved about a year later.

I sometimes drive by a house I used to own where I planted a live oak and a red oak in the front yard almost twenty years ago. A few years ago I noticed the current owners had added an Arizona Ash/Arizona Trash. The yard is not that big and the oaks were already pretty good-sized. I'm torn between knocking on the door to ask why and sneaking over some day to chop it down.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by Snowglobe

People definitely have different tree philosophies that I do not understand. We had neighbors who apparently hired someone with a huge backhoe-type piece of equipment to take out a big palm tree in their front yard. What did they then plant in the huge hole that was left? Nothing--they just covered up the hole. I guess they spent all their money on the backhoe. They had no other trees in the front yard and then they moved about a year later.

There's a house in my neighborhood that was undergoing renovations for an obvious flip. Had two gorgeous mature trees in its small front yard but they provided a lot of shade. They were torn out. I have no idea why. It looked awful and they didn't do a whole lot to landscape before it was flipped other than make the stumps as flat as possible. I kept thinking how sad it was to lose the trees.

Alas, the house was finally sold and the new owners did a stunning job of landscaping - no grass, lots of large native/drought tolerant plants + mulch. Looks beautiful. I don't even miss the trees.

All made me realize though, that maybe there was a valid reason for taking them out - like disease. Still, I'm always a little skeptical of flippers

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by fierce_flawless

The hackberries drive me MAD.

I understand the reasons why some trees have got to go, but I also live in an older part of the city and I'm amazed that there aren't more trees. Especially lining the streets. I love "tree lined streets".... and wish we had that look here. I've planted a couple in that space between the sidewalk and the street but there are many houses here where that section is bare, of filled with rocks/mulch/cactus.

This is why some folks applied for local funds to put new trees in. We have a lot of mature trees on residential properties, but not along the major streets. The new trees are small now, but the residents in 20 years will be thankful.