My wife and I bought our first house this last year and we have this 100+ old shade tree that we love in the summer. The top half of the branches don’t grow leaves in the summer, but the bottom half does and our kids love to play under the shade.
We know the tree has a ton of diseases, and we’ve reached out to companies to consider cutting off the top half. Someone came out today and said it’s too dangerous to keep it and they’d need to turn it into a stump (like the one in the foreground of the first picture) for several thousand.
Maybe it’s the utility factor of the shade and the aesthetic in the summer, but we don’t want to turn it into a stump. Should we give up on the idea of keeping it?
I don’t know anything about trees, so we weren’t sure if it’s a tactic by the salesman for an upsell, or if there’s actually a risk of it tipping / breaking even if we cut off the top half and kept on the first half that still has a lot of leaves? (Up to where the trunk on the right half starts to go diagonal in the first image)
by Ausboss4
6 Comments
Hope you find an answer. i am no arborist but it looks like it might be covered in vines? Are you sure it’s not the vines blooming and not the actual tree?
This tree has been topped before, or at least improper cuts were made. If the top half isn’t growing anything, and its not just 1 isolated dead stem, it’s whats know as crown die back. Basically means that tree is on it’s way out.
As always, please contact an ISA Certified Arborist to look at this. Better yet, get something with a TRAQ (Tree Risk Assesment Qualified) to inspect this and do a tree risk assesment on it.
It’s hard for us on the internet to really tell without being there and especially with no foliage. I can almost guarantee the guys that said they would turn it into a stump aren’t, unless that was something you specifically asked about.
i don’t like when people cut down trees but this one is really dry. cut it if it bothers you
What is the danger? If it’s not hanging over the house, I’d keep it. Your family enjoys it. I have sever acres of trees like this. Branches fall during serious windstorms, so i don’t hang out under them in those conditions. Simple.
got to consider what the hazard is. is it leaning over house, driveway, kids play under? if there are major signs of decay you may want to bring it down to a manageable level that it wont break from any major points of decay. It’s hard to say from a picture but bringing out multiple certified arborists and experienced companies you will start to get a better picture of your options or what people are comfortable cutting/leaving. I would start by weight testing the limbs, knock out some dead to see if the tips are alive or not. Then go from there, have someone climb to see where the decoy points are and bring down to a safe size. Shade is defiantly important but not at the cost of hurting life or property.
good luck.
I’d take off the dead top to reduce immediate hazard and then leave it unless there’s something expensive and immobile underneath of it. Once trees start to die back is when their really cool qualities as habitat features start to shine, if you can leave it up then you should do so, just don’t put swings on it or play underneath it during a windstorm.