How important is tree trimming/pruning?

[Deleted]

We have two decent size trees in our front yard. Both are taller than our house, one being significantly taller. I think they are both Maples maybe 50-75ft tall. The bigger one drops a lot of branches, so that is the main things my husband is worried about, he wants it’s trimmed down and pruned. He says we might as well do the same for the other tree. Is this something that you normally do? I always thought that you kind of just let trees be trees. Plus, I’m having a hard time swallowing the potential cost of getting this done.

[k3am]

treedimensional could probably give you the official answer.

I would have an arborist or two come out and inspect your trees and see what they recommend. I want to say that all of the ones who came out recommended having our trees get a visual inspection anually and then going from there.

[redheadk]

We have our trees trimmed about every 2 years but should probably have them out yearly. Who knows. Ours JUST reached maturity so we were having shaping done, the little branches removed, etc. I dunno. I found a great arborist and just let them go at it. We have 3 oaks, 2 different types. The one in the backyard grows a has a bend in the main trunk so I am extra careful with that one to make sure that it is properly balanced. We get A LOT of spring rains plus hurricanes. When the ground is saturated enough, the trees can topple and a fallen oak can do significant damage so I try to keep them maintained.

[statgirl]

We went through Michael (Cat 5) in 2018. My home was heavily wooded (emphasis on was). We lost over 100 trees on our property but because we had maintained them and spent a lot of time and money trimming and cutting down the potentially dangerous ones, our house was spared. Same for my in-laws and parents. I cannot say the same for the rest of our region. We took down 8 trees the day before the storm just in case—6 of them would have been on the house. We did have one fall on the house during the storm but it was minor. Same for my in-laws. It could have been much worse. I will never again live with trees that can reach my house. I love them but they are attractive nuisances.

[doggielover]

We have ours trimmed back every 2 years. I think for us it's around $700 to have 2 huge ones cut back - I think they're probably 100ft tall but it's nice because then we don't get the random branches all over the yard and less hits the roof. We have an arborist come out and inspect them and then they give us the estimate on the spot.

[Deleted]

Well, I just spoke with the first arborist that I had come out and they are actually recommending that one of the trees be removed, so that's a bummer, I only have 3 trees on my entire property. I have another one scheduled to come out this afternoon, so we'll see what they say.

[treedimensional]

Feb 13, 2020 17:18:04 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

We have two decent size trees in our front yard. Both are taller than our house, one being significantly taller. I think they are both Maples maybe 50-75ft tall. The bigger one drops a lot of branches, so that is the main things my husband is worried about, he wants it’s trimmed down and pruned. He says we might as well do the same for the other tree. Is this something that you normally do? I always thought that you kind of just let trees be trees. Plus, I’m having a hard time swallowing the potential cost of getting this done.

Maintenance requirements vary by species. Oaks and pines are lower maintenance trees, maples are high maintenance. I begin pruning maples AT PLANTING. A young maple requires a lot of developmental pruning to mitigate it's natural growth habit, which otherwise results in a tendency to split and break under stress of wind or snow (let trees be trees).
The fact is that trees are a "pack" or "herd" organism; they naturally live in forests surrounded by their kin. People don't live in forests, we remove trees and cut them up to make shelter, then replant a few trees, but isolate them in lawns and sidewalk pits. 
To live near trees is to accept some level of risk. Trees pose a very small risk, driving a car involves a lot of risk. As some people have said, tree risk can be mitigated through regular maintenance. Beware of having an unqualified arborist assess your trees. It is more lucrative for the company to remove a tree than prune it. I'm curious to know why one of them was recommended for removal. There's an old saying: If a hammer is your only tool, then everything looks like a nail. You should hire a consulting arborist who is tree risk assessment qualified (TRAQ). 
You can find a TRAQ-qualified arborist here: 
www.treesaregood.org/findanarborist/findanarborist

[Deleted]

treedimensional I was told that both are Maples. The person who looked at them is an ISA Arborist, but admittedly I know nothing about the certifications. He said that it is half dead. This was via text message, I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet. The second Arborist I had out agrees that the smaller tree should be taken down. He also showed us a few issues with the bigger tree and said that we can most likely save it, but all my H heard was “infestation” and “rot” and now he wants to take down both trees. I’m fighting to keep the bigger one. Here are some pictures:

[treedimensional]

How did he determine that one of the trees is half dead? Did he see more images than what I'm seeing here?
I wish I could see more, like the root collar around the base of the tree, and the branch attachments at the trunk (these images are too dark).
Having said all that, these are maples doing what maples do: send up multiple uprights (trunks and branches), with tight, V-shaped crotches (attachment unions) that rot inside and split away from the trunk in storms. This makes maples (and any other species that develop this structure) more hazardous. Overcoming this structure takes careful developmental pruning, but it can be done. If the trees do not receive early intervention (regular maintenance), a lot of the time, it's kind of too late, because older trees can't be aggressively pruned the way young ones can.
I can see V-crotches on both these trees, that is expected on maples that have never been serviced. I also see bark missing at the base of one of the trees, but I can't say from looking at the photo how much longer it will be until the risk becomes intolerable. A risk assessment (provided by a TRAQ qualified tree risk assessor) should help you make that decision. Remember it is YOUR decision, and remember removals are more lucrative than pruning (by a LOT).
Cautionary notes: finding well-educated, well qualified practitioners is difficult in ALL professions. Some people advertise themselves as "experts" in areas they AREN'T. It is really hard to weed them out because you probably don't know what kind of questions to ask to trip them up, and they can easily convince most laypeople that they know what they're talking about. For perspective, In private practice, I am primarily a consultant. I don't remove large trees, so I am very commonly the 2nd, or 3rd opinion on tree assessments, because my customer knows I stand to gain nothing when I recommend removal. Many people call me for that specific reason. Be careful, I'm happy to answer more questions if you have them (when I visit GBCN).