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^^^ We're in our sixth decade, and we're not that elderly...and we have the only house in our cul-de-sac with trees. We've lived in our house for 22 years, and our trees have gotten bigger and more impressive over the years. And yes, they drop leaves in the fall, and they drop cones, seeds and whatnot in the spring. They're messy. Their roots have buckled our courtyard pavers so the pavers had to be removed. But we love every one of them. We've counted 18 mature trees on our SoCal property of 2/3 acre, and since we're the only lot with big trees, we provide a home for all kinds of birds including hawks.
Here's a story about a neighbor and a tree: When we moved in, our neighbor had the most gorgeous big old ash tree in their front yard. It provided shade for our driveway, and privacy for our upstairs windows. But then one day when we came home from work it was gone--they had simply cut it down. Too messy. Of course it was their tree, so they could do what they wanted.
So we grieved for the tree, and tried to get used to the new, empty space. And then...six months later something strange happened: A small seedling appeared in our front yard rose bed, next to the property line. And it grew. And grew. And grew. It spread out its branches--and we noticed those very distinctive ash tree leaves! Yes, it was a volunteer shoot from the root of the neighbor's old ash tree. It had traveled underground from the old stump over to us, a distance of about 15 ft. And since it was on our side of the property line, it had found shelter where it would be appreciated--sanctuary. Our neighbors are long gone, and the new ash tree is almost as majestic as the old one, after 20 years. It was joined by one more shoot, and the two ash trees now provide shade for our driveway, and privacy for our upstairs windows. And they are ours, and beautiful.
We have retirement property in North Idaho, 5 acres of trees. Hundreds of trees. We're getting used to not grieving when a tree has to go...
I just really don't understand it, how people cannot see the correlation between trees and undamaged homes. Trees that have stood for decades are the buffer for damaging winds and are designed to bend and sway protecting a home. Certainly an unhealthy tree is cause for concern, but a healthy tree is taken down for whatever reason is what I can't comprehend. Why don't people understand that if you take down the trees that are homes to squirrels they have no alternative but to seek shelter inside a house's roof?
Is there really a correlation between trees in someone's yards and squirrels inside their attics? If anything, won't trees encourage more squirrels to move into the area, and eventually into the attics?
Is there really a correlation between trees in someone's yards and squirrels inside their attics? If anything, won't trees encourage more squirrels to move into the area, and eventually into the attics?
I will sound wishywashy, but the answer is sometimes yes sometimes no. If there are enough suitable trees to sustain the particular population of squirrels, they will prefer to nest in trees. Nesting material is close by and much better than scratchy insulation if you have the pink stuff. Our attics are a second choice because not far beneath reside predators, meaning humans and their pets, and all their smells and noises. Attics are also less safe because there's usually only one way in and out, and if they have to flee, they are sort of trapped unlike a nest in a tree. Where it can get complicated is when there are enough food sources for more squirrels to move in, but not enough nesting places, then the new squirrels might choose an attic. I'm not highly knowledgeable about squirrels' social life ... they do live in groups, but they can be a bit territorial. They aren't always welcoming to share food or nesting sites with all newcomers. I don't know where or how they draw the line to say to newcomers "keep moving". As an aside, it's a similar situation with raccoons.
Some people are just authoritarian about nature. Now that I said that it occurs that has been the general mindset of civilization for millennia.
It's such a silly mindset as it's obvious the forces of nature ultimately can't be overcome by humans except on a temporary basis. Guess it makes people feel they have some control in their domain.
Individually I suppose we have to find a balance between good ecological practices and human needs. But personally I like to watch nature take care of itself. It's just not always pretty.
Many of us are inclusive when it comes to natural things in our vicinity. If it wants to be here, thrives and isn't harmful to anything here it is welcome.
I feel the same way about people. Just not in the house unless invited. Heh.
Some people are just authoritarian about nature. Now that I said that it occurs that has been the general mindset of civilization for millennia.
It's such a silly mindset as it's obvious the forces of nature ultimately can't be overcome by humans except on a temporary basis. Guess it makes people feel they have some control in their domain.
Individually I suppose we have to find a balance between good ecological practices and human needs. But personally I like to watch nature take care of itself. It's just not always pretty.
Many of us are inclusive when it comes to natural things in our vicinity. If it wants to be here, thrives and isn't harmful to anything here it is welcome.
I feel the same way about people. Just not in the house unless invited. Heh.
I find all you wrote so true.
Laughing (though shouldn't) a little bit about something that happened yesterday reinforcing "the forces of nature ultimately can't be overcome by humans". Many years ago when some water oaks were rather small, a landowner in his "brilliance" ran an irrigation line underground near them. Yes indeed the trees' roots over the ensuing years twisted and bent that PVC pipe and yesterday it broke. The new landowner is not going to chop down the trees ... she is going to cut the pipe and reroute it away from the trees and their roots.
An insurance company could be driving the decision to remove the tree, more than the neighbor. We live near the Gulf Coast of FL and our insurance company wanted pics of the oak tree overhang in relationship to our roof. They strongly recommended trimming branches near the roof before issuing our policy. We hired a company to trim and open up the canopy on the oak.
I gladly pick up sticks and leaves for the beauty and shade this tree provides and any risk from it in a storm. Some people look at a house only when buying and trees aren’t important at all, or ever, and are totally expendable later on.
As my Dad used to say “You don’t buy the viewâ€. So I never count on things staying the same with neighbors, but I understand how hard it is to loose a favorite tree, even when it isn’t yours.
An insurance company could be driving the decision to remove the tree, more than the neighbor. We live near the Gulf Coast of FL and our insurance company wanted pics of the oak tree overhang in relationship to our roof. They strongly recommended trimming branches near the roof before issuing our policy. We hired a company to trim and open up the canopy on the oak.
I gladly pick up sticks and leaves for the beauty and shade this tree provides and any risk from it in a storm. Some people look at a house only when buying and trees aren’t important at all, or ever, and are totally expendable later on.
As my Dad used to say “You don’t buy the viewâ€. So I never count on things staying the same with neighbors, but I understand how hard it is to loose a favorite tree, even when it isn’t yours.
Quite true that insurance companies do sit in the driver's seat. When my daughter bought her house, the insurance inspector required removal of overhanging limbs from a neighbor's tree as a condition of issuing a policy. What the insurance company wanted and what was done was a compromise so that the tree wouldn't become too lopsided and then become a threat to the tree owner's property.
Don't even get me started on this topic. I'm still ticked at what's been going on around here. I moved to the place I live in right now because of all of the trees. We are right in a forest, on the edge of it, with a lake right behind us. I chose this place because of the trees.
And all was well for the first 2 months.
And then, after decades, suddenly there's trucks, chainsaws, and guys outside cutting everything down between my building and the building next door. (Our complex is pretty big and has multiple lanes and buildings, all on the very edge of this forested area, with the lake literally 30 seconds walking distance away).
All of the trees, every last one of them, was cut down behind the building next to us. And then, they decided to cut down 2 trees on either side of that building. One between our buildings, and one on the other side. They completely and totally destroyed the whole seclusion. It's now wide open, and if I had my screened in porch looking out at that nothingness now, I'd be livid.
Then, just when I thought it was all done, we got a notice in our building that they were going to cut down even more trees between the 2 buildings. The notice was for us to move our cars so that the tree murderers could pull in their truck and wood chipper in our spots to kill everything they saw. I was so p*ssed that day. So. Fricken. P*SSED!
They even started to chop a few trees behind my building, and that was when I couldn't stand it anymore. I call the landlord and asked wth was going on. Why is this happening? The whole point of living in this particular complex was because of the trees, and now they're being cut down all over the place.
I was informed that:
1) An apartment complex is going up between us and the road. We all knew this but it had been sitting undone for a couple of years, apparently, and they just picked back up this spring. It's been a concrete slab for a long time. BUT, it shouldn't be affecting our complex. AND, the area between that complex being built and our complex had orange mesh fences put up, and each mesh fence had a sign on it that said "Tree Protection Area" - meaning OUR side.
What on earth is "Tree Protection Area" if you just end up cutting them all down?! That doesn't sound like tree protection to me.
Anyway, I was told that they are waiting to see what the new apartment complex is going to do for their landscaping, and then our complex will redo their landscaping.
WHAT?!
Why are we destroying a part of the forested area for some ugly building that doesn't even need to care about our landscaping, since it's not even on their stupid property!? And was in the "Tree Protection Area"?
No answer to that one!
B) I was told that the huge tree that used to be in front of the building next to us was cut down because the roots were causing problems. I'm just curious why, after all this time, suddenly they needed to do that.
THEN, come to find out, 3 years ago....three. stinking. years ago, they had also cut down a bunch of trees around buildings in our complex 2 lanes up from us. And, I found out, ever since then, those people have been looking a pile of dirt. There are no other complexes being built...it's all forest behind them, so why has there been no landscaping in 3 years after chopping trees down there?
AND THEN, I pulled out of my complex, (so far the lane is still lined heavily with trees.....and now I can't trust that to remain in the future), and as I was waiting for cars to go by on the road, I looked across the road and saw that they had cut down a whole carp load of trees over there, as well.
I'm going to lose my fricken mind. Stop cutting down all of the damn trees! Put your fricken chainsaw down and leave! Why do people insist on cutting everything down? I'm so sick of it. Leave it alone. Leave it. Go find somewhere else to live if you don't like trees. Leave!
Why do some people insist that we all have cookie cutter landscaping and boring complexes with no character? Why must we all look like office buildings with their wood chips and shrubs that offer no privacy, no seclusion, no shade, no charm? Why?
I will be using this to my advantage, however, when the lease comes up for renewal. I'm not getting what I paid for. They do charge more because it felt like living in a forest while still being close to the main highways/freeways that people need. It was like a get away in the middle of it all, and they are destroying it. I'm not paying to look at dirt. I can go get an apartment for way less than I'm paying now if I wanted that.
And, according to our NextDoor neighborhood, so will a lot of other people. They're mad. Some of them have been living here for a long time, and they are ticked off.
What easily captured the higher asking price for these places has just been obliterated. And since we're "waiting" on a complex that is still in slab form to tell us what they'll be doing for their landscaping, it doesn't look like anything is going to be fixed any time soon.
Oh, they promised that they would "add height", but I seriously doubt they're going to add anything that compares to the 30' trees that were just murdered last week.
I never got why people cut trees down either. We had a house that we first rented out when we moved then sold it to the people who had rented it. When we owned it we were on the city's garden tour and had both large mature trees and smaller trees that we had planted. It was all I could do to not cry when we drove by the house a couple of years later when we came up to visit and saw that the new owners had cut ALL of the trees down and had a sterile chemically treated lawn.
The place where I live now is surrounded by large trees and the entire neighborhood is comprised of large yards with big trees.
I think it might be a mentality of preferring a manicured lawn or not liking the cleanup involved with having trees in the yard.
The responses in this thread have really helped me understand the common mentality about trees. It's evident that it's not uncommon for developers to clear cut longggg before a backhoe goes into the ground and for new owners to chop everything down, both creating the Land of the Lorax. But what I also read is that there are many who compromise because they do see value of trees despite the cons.
I did learn from the neighbor across the street who took down a tree (which prompted this thread in the first place) that the "experts" who had declared it was diseased had encouraged them to take down the last remaining tree in their front yard. They said no. And although they didn't say so, I think they now regret having the tree removed ... when it was sitting in chunks at the curb, there was no evidence seen by us amateurs of any disease or decay, just beautiful oak wood through and through.
There are good reasons for taking down trees such as ones precariously leaning and threatening a roof or other trees, or when roots of a tree close to a house are beginning to damage the house foundation. But I think most of us agree that taking down trees because they are simply behaving like trees which makes work for us to clean up their leaves is unacceptable.
It's really all about perspective. We recently bought a house with a pretty view of a marsh. For some reason (and I say yay!) the owner who had built the house had left three tall slash pines and two palm trees where the lawn ends and the marsh begins. Most who come to see our new house, or neighbors who stop by to say hello, express the opinion we should take down the trees because they block the view. My opinion - the trees enhance the view! As well, these people haven't seen the bald eagles who rest in the top of the pines. For that alone no chainsaw will ever touch those trees, and although a royal pain, I will keep picking up the tons of pine needles and pinecones these trees drop. It's all about perspective.
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