Keep or pull tree

[k3am]

We have a big, beautiful elm tree in our back yard. It’s currently about 3 stories tall, in good condition, and provides a ton of shade.

It’s also terribly placed maybe 10-15 feet away from our house. The branches hit the house, they hit the neighbors roof, and according to our arborist, it wants to keep growing. We’ve had it trimmed professionally 3-4 times since we moved in, and it’s not a cheap task, but it’s been worth it.

The arborist was out yesterday and mentioned that it doesn’t need to happen now or even next year, but the tree does need to come out eventually because it’s not in a good location, will require a ton of maintenance, and eventually it won’t be enough.

We’ve lost all the mature trees in the back yard that were here when we bought it that we liked - the birch looked nice but was rotted out, they’d planted a liquid amber directly under the powerlines (every arborist we talked to said to pull it out while it was still small), the neighbors we share a fence line with had to pull all their mature trees for various reasons. We’ve replanted the trees we lost in 2020, but with slower growing varieties recommended by the arborist, and the other mature trees are smaller varieties that don’t provide any quality shade - crepe Myrtle, lemon, orange, fig, avocado, pineapple guava (that I hate and would remove if cost wasn’t an issue)

So would you just suck it up and remove it now? Or keep it going? We have the arborist come out every year to tell us what needs taken care of and he brought it up again. He suggested the possibility of planting something new and giving it a few years to grow before removing, but didn’t think that would actually work based on how shady the area would be - anything that thrives in shade would be really unhappy once the elm is gone.

I asked him to provide a quote for both maintenance and removal, but I’d imagine that the removal cost is $$$ but do is major maintenance for several years, so less concerned with that.

[statgirl]

I come from the land of hurricanes so that colors my response. My husband loves trees— like totally adores having trees everywhere. We had a major hurricane and lost a ton of trees. I think a better answer would be we lost lots of tons of trees by weight. I will never have a tree that is in danger of coming down on my house again. I vote remove.

[CrazyLucky]

If you like having the shade, I would keep it as long as I could. As long as the tree is healthy, there isn't a big chance of it falling on your house or your neighbor's house. But when you do get the tree removed, get a few quotes. We got quotes on removing a tree (weeping willow) and they ranged from $800 to $2400.

[simpsongal]

Tough one, I'd definitely plant the largest shade tree you can in a better location and get that going now. I feel your pain, we've lost so many trees in the back. I'm thankful we planted a decent sized oak 12 years ago, but it's still very much a mid size tree, not a shade one yet (prob 30 ft tall).

As for the elm, I think it would depend on the maintenance costs and landscaping the tree-less area. If you can keep it going for minimal expense, go for it. OTOH, if you'll need to relandscape b/c of the lack of shade after it's gone, I might be more inclined to cut losses now and get the new plantings in the ground.

[bittybomb]

We have also had a large seemingly healthy tree come down on our garage during a hurricane. I would not be comfortable with a tree that large anywhere near anyone's bedrooms. The tree did some major damage to our garage, and we were lucky that was the only tree that came down on our property.

[cap]

I would worry about your foundation.

[nicolewi]

I would hate to do it but I think I would move forward on taking it out (and immediately plant something else in a better location).

We have woods near us and I am SHOCKED by how many trees are always coming down. I had no idea. We had just had several trees removed in May or June last year at our cottage (wooded area) that were having issues or in bad locations. That September, a large pine that the tree people said was fine fell down in a storm and landed on part of our roof (nobody was there and the roof dented but didn't fully cave in; it was fine but just so surprising that it happened). I'm now very leery of big trees close to houses!

[treedimensional]

As a Board Certified Master Arborist specializing in tree risk assessment consulting and pruning, I recommend you hire a Tree Risk Assessment Qualified consulting arborist, ideally, one who is strictly an independent consultant (not affiliated with a tree care company) come out to assess the tree. To say/imply that it's only a matter of time until the tree *has* to be removed reeks of money-grubbing scare tactics. Fear is the #1 reason (by far) that trees are removed. I am frequently hired by clients who want an impartial opinion because I do not removals and I stand to gain nothing by condemning a tree. That's what you need. www.asca-consultants.org/search/custom.asp?id=3818

[k3am]

treedimensional , I'm definitely inclined to believe him. Beyond multiple arborists over the years telling us it will eventually need to go, every single pest abater that came out for our rat problem told us it needed to be cut back so that we don't risk squirrels getting in. (Apparently rats and squirrels use completely opposite techniques for getting rid of them? I don't remember exactly, but DNW more critters in the house)

But from what the arborists have said, in order to cut back the branches from growing into the house, is a really aggressive job that will leave the tree off kilter. (When we first moved in, DH had the gardener trim - aka butcher - the trees and we ended up needing to remove two, which I didn't want to do, so I ended up getting multiple arborist quotes so we didn't screw it up another time.)

Here's the before and after. In the after, you can really see how much of the tree's branch structure extends on the right compared to the left. The arborist says that this tree still probably wants to grow another 10-20 feet upwards and continue growing width wise as well. 

[treedimensional]

k3am, is there any chance you're in FL?

[k3am]

treedimensional, CA