Moved to new house in October, nothing seemed wrong with the tree until I walked around the back and saw the bark missing from a large section. I guess the leaves fell off the right hand (left in first pic) side a little faster. There’s also a crotch where I’m guessing it may start to rot. It’s not threatening any structures besides that shed that already needs a new roof, so I’m not stressed about taking it out, just curious how long I might have the thing about a replacement/if I should plant another tree close by. Bonus points to anyone who can spot the dog poop bag one of the kids who used to live here must have thrown up in the tree last summer.
by hipppppppppp
2 Comments
You’ll probably get a wide range of opinions on this one but the bottom line is that it’s substantially compromised and if you want it to come down in a controlled manner you should hire a professional sooner than later. I don’t even want to give a time frame because so many factors could influence the situation.
Not an arborist, but I know how to take down trees. This should be cut down asap, that is quite a lot of growth and almost all the bark has fallen off of the dead part, so it has been like this for years. This is not a problem you need to take care of immediately, but as soon as you can. If you want to have a professional do it the sooner the better, they don’t like sketchy dead trees, but if you have some room to get stuff back there, I recommend renting a manlift from Home Depot to do it yourself. They are electric so they aren’t annoying and loud, and you can easily cut this whole tree down in a day safely in small pieces, and then you can take your time clearing it later, you should only need the 35ft manlift.
I say 2-3 years at the longest, but the sooner you do it, especially in the winter, the easier it is to give away the “firewood” for free on marketplace or something like that.