Should the Trees Go?

Last week, Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc along the east coast with its wind, flooding, and chaos from downed trees and wires.  Lives and homes were lost, schools were closed, and cleanup cost millions of dollars.  Last year there were two other major storms, which also caused grief; Hurricane Irene in August and Snowtober in October, which dumped a boatload of snow on the leaves of trees.  Each of them also caused downed trees and branches, resulting in power outages for over a week in many communities and also a loss of a week of school.  Lots of criticism was made about slow response time, lack of preparedness and resources, and decisions made.    I am not looking to criticize any of those areas; I would like to talk about the trees.

Much of the damage in the storms is caused from the high winds, flooding, and downed trees.  There is nothing we can do to control the wind or the water, but we can do more about the trees.  Whether trees are ripped out by their roots or severed in half, they have landed on cars, buildings, and electrical wires.  They have blocked roads and caused long detoured rides to work.  The electrical outages make life unsafe, close schools and businesses, and cause people to be cranky when they have to live like a pioneer. 

Everyone loves trees.  What’s not to like?  People enjoy their shade, their rainbow of foliage, and their flowers in the spring. Trees provide beauty to our landscape and line our streets with character.   People get upset if their town has plans to take down trees, especially if they are old.  I love trees too, but I think those of us who live in the country need to rethink their boundaries.

I’ll start with our property.  Our house sits on just over an acre of land.  We have some trees on the borders of our property and a few on the lawn.  There are trees that have come down, both by storms and by us, over the last 22 years.  When it was our decision to take down a tree, it was because of its close proximity to the house.  There is only one large tree left that we fear, an old hickory.  It is 12 feet in circumference and towers about 100 feet high.  It is about 20 feet from our road and leans slightly toward our front yard and corner of our house.  We have left it there because of the characteristics mentioned earlier: beauty, shade and character.  But we have decided it needs to come down.  Each time we heard another crack or howl of wind during this last storm, fear ate away at the inside of our stomachs like a hyena cleaning a carcass.  We don’t want to go through that again. 

There are many things I would rather do with $3,000, but I know the responsible thing to do is to take it down.  Maybe it is time for others to take inventory of the trees that remain on their property, assess their potential danger, and create a timeline and budget for the ones that should be taken down.  This action could bring peace of mind and could also eliminate possible future insurance claims.   By no means am I suggesting that we all strip our properties bare, but as I drive around town, there are many trees that are a disaster waiting to happen.

Certainly cost is a factor in taking trees down.  In our town, if a tree is 12 feet from the street, the town is responsible for it.  If the tree is diseased or is at risk of falling, it will be put on a list to be removed if you let the town know.  We had one such large tree what was struck by lightening and was taken down years ago.  We certainly breathed a sigh of relief at not having to foot that bill.

But the decision to take down any other trees on our property is ours, as is the cost.   The hickory is now in our budget.  Perhaps it is time for others to create a budget and timeline for taking down some of the trees that jeopardize their homes and neighborhoods the most too.  Being proactive is generally better than having to be reactive after the tree comes tumbling down and does its damage.  Food for thought.

Hurricane Irene took down several trees on our neighbor's property.  This shows the root system of two trees.

When storms can knock down trees of this size, we need to be vigilant.