Hi all,
We had some big branches break during a windy night. My landlord brought out an ISA arborist (who provides tree services) to come out and take a look. He says the tree is nearing the end of its life and that branches are going to keep breaking. According to him, the tree will have to come out soon- if not now, then within the next few years. If true, it will be more cost effective for my landlord to take out the tree now rather than keep dealing with broken limbs and then removal shortly thereafter.
Is he correct that the tree is going to need removal within the next few years?
I'm very attached to this beautiful ash tree and am looking for reassurance that this is the right thing to do.
Arborist came out to look on Tuesday. Removal scheduled for Friday.
Location: California, Northern Central Valley. Zone 9b.
Other info: It's got some bugs in there. I've seen woodpeckers working on it and it has woodpecker damage. As far as I know, there aren't any known emerald ash borer infestations in California.
I tried to get pictures from a lot of angles but I can take more if needed.
Better quality photos: https://imgur.com/a/Ftjh9DG
by pingpong_bingbong
15 Comments
I’m in New England and EAB has absolutely ravished my area. It looks like you’ve got some early signs of blonding here (woodpeckers peeling off the bark to get to the insect feeding galleries) and based on that plus your description, it seems like EAB is a possibility.
I looked a little bit and I was able to find some reports of EAB in Oregon from 2022; 3 years later now.. its entirely possible they have made their way to California.
Damn. What a beautiful tree. Im not an arborist but my next door neighbor in Virginia had a similarly beautiful ash with a somewhat similar seam down the middle between the main leaders and it split catastrophically during a storm and fell and almost destroyed our two homes but miraculously damaged neither. If half of your tree falls it looks like it’ll fall on the house.
Damn, please keep that tree. But I also think the landlord’s concerns and calculations are quite reasonable.
There is no reason to remove that tree. Any arborist saying that tree needs to be removed doesn’t have enough skills at tree work to call themselves an ARBORIST.
Looks like some heavy cuts were made in the past, the new growth that started at these cuts now suffers from the rot of the heavy cuts, thats why these big limbs are failing. So yea, it’s probably best to cut it down and plant a new tree.
There is plenty that can be done to this tree before considering removal. There seems to be a few weak unions so I would probably recommend cabling the tree to add additional support. Perhaps a weight reduction prune and treatment for EAB if there are signs of an infestation. Speak to another arborist about options.
Arborists that cut trees make money from cutting down trees, of course they said that.
Get a certified arborist to give a quote
There are some concerning things here but I’m not sure I would condemn it. No one here can really give you valid advice based on photos but I always consider it a red flag when someone says “it’s nearing the end of its life “ or “it’ll die in a few years”. It’s a pretty subjective statement and doesn’t sound like it’s based on actual evidence. Again this arborist actually looked at it I did not so not saying they are unethical or incompetent definitely some concerns based on just the photos.
If they are doing tree risk assessment I’d make sure they are TRAQ qualified and I’d be very curious to see their tree risk evaluation form. It seems like they may be working out of scope.
It’s a great old tree.
Your landlord owns it, is tired of cleaning up after it, and doesn’t want the liability of a branch hurting his real estate (the house), or a person.
Sorry to be so blunt.
Not an arborist but my biggest concern is that prior limb cuts don’t look good and it’s possible that it has gone downhill since then. I’d suggest asking the landlord if you can get a second opinion to see and offer to pay for it.
For the landlord, a tree like that adds to value and not having to cut it down is cheaper. The landlord may not be the villain more so if their fear is coming down and hitting the property.
It looks like it was previously topped. The biggest branch unions don’t look super strong. With the proximity to the house, I definitely see why they recommended removal.
Hire your own arborist. Sounds like the landlord wants this tree gone and is either intentionally misinterpreting the arborists recommendations, or lying.
Are those big clumps of dead leaves throughout, or is that something else?
Seem hasty to remove this tree as so many ash have died all across the continent, a small trim will prevent and branches from damaging nearby structures and promote the growth. Your arborist is looking for work and so removing it will give him more that’s the only advantage to removing sooner rather than later.
Not yet. Does not appear to be impacted by emerald Ash borer, so that’s a great sign.