Cutting down *all* the trees in your yard

[canpakes]

It spent most of the summer putting out typical, fairly dainty aspen leaves but was nearly defoliated during a late-season wind storm (the town next door recorded winds above 90 mph).

That windstorm took out a huge number of trees ... the Capitol grounds looked like someone had pulled down half of the conifers. We lost a few branches off of our own maple. I was worried that a blue atlas cedar next to it was going to let loose ... it was hard to watch that thing dance in the wind for hours.

Our area of town lost power for about 4 days. The neighbors report that multi-day outages aren’t too unusual when the weather gets rough. Lesson learned; we own a generator now. : )

[Jersey Girl]

That windstorm took out a huge number of trees ... the Capitol grounds looked like someone had pulled down half of the conifers. We lost a few branches off of our own maple. I was worried that a blue atlas cedar next to it was going to let loose ... it was hard to watch that thing dance in the wind for hours.

Our area of town lost power for about 4 days. The neighbors report that multi-day outages aren’t too unusual when the weather gets rough. Lesson learned; we own a generator now. : )

That is crazy! In the front of our house are very tall and thin pines. I'm going to say they are about 100 ft. but that's just me eyeballing them--looking at them right now. When there is a blizzard and they start rocking and rolling, I always think one of them is going to come crashing right through the big windows in front! So far so good...

Wow that storm must have been intimidating!

[huckelberry]

Oh, it’s definitely an aspen leaf. I own the young tree that it came off of. It spent most of the summer putting out typical, fairly dainty aspen leaves but was nearly defoliated during a late-season wind storm (the town next door recorded winds above 90 mph). At that point it kicked out a few of these whoppers before settling into fall dormancy. It’s actually not unusual for aspens to react to these sorts of circumstances by putting out ‘larger than typical’ leaves ... but these surprised me.

canpakes
thank you for the fill in information. I will adjust my leaf categorization accordingly

[Analytics]

Our next door neighbor has cut down all the mature trees in his yard, with the last one, a beautiful tree, on the chopping block right now.
Can someone tell me what possesses someone to cut down *all* the trees in their yard?

[canpakes]

Given the current crisis we face in climate change, do you think maybe there should be a law against people cutting down trees in their yard?

Nope. Not unless your tree is a lawfully protected species. Otherwise, it’s your land, and your tree, and you get to do with it what you will.

I do believe that we should generally be mindful of activities that push ongoing climate trends in the wrong direction, but the occasional homeowner cutting down the occasional tree just doesn’t really factor into that equation.

So the shade over 15 years is worth the risk of the tree smashing through your house?

It depends. In Arizona, a tree or two shading your house will literally save you hundreds of dollars a year in cooling costs. That’s a good risk considering the minimal chance that it will fall on your house and do some damage. And that’s just looking at the most utilitarian aspect of trees. But, to your point, maybe there’s a tree too close to your property and it’s not in the best form or health ... then it represents a greater risk, and you might cut it down and secure several cords of wood for yourself, for heating (or if it’s an oak, for your smoker!). Utilitarianism goes both ways, here.

Do you realize that if you ever successfully make a claim on your homeowner's insurance you'll probably never find anyone willing to insure you again?

Were that the case, nearly everyone in the south between Austin and The Keys, and from Oklahoma to the Mississippi Delta would be uninsurable, given the weather there.

But, who wants to partake in that crazy socialist insurance thing, anyway? Better to foot whatever the repair bill is for your own property damage yourself than rely on some communist scheme to share the risk and pool your dollars with the village, right?
: )

I don't think it a wise use of insurance to cover people building houses right next to giant trees in a windy place. It's irresponsible not to cut the tree down before you build there.

Your policy ordinarily covers this sort of damage, usually if wind felled the tree. Ask your agent.

Here’s a reference: https://www.allstate.com/tr/home-insura ... house.aspx

Otherwise, I don’t know that you have any more ground to stand on than someone else if you’re arguing that they should remove older but otherwise healthy trees from their property because it might pose a threat to your own property in a hurricane. You’re basically asking for your fear of potential damage to override what they may perceive as their right to enjoy the aesthetic qualities or increased property valuation that trees contribute to. Well-placed trees in good health can add a fairly good amount to the appraised value of your home. Per the link below, “homes with trees are generally preferred to comparable homes without trees, with the trend across studies being a price increase of about 7%.”

https://www.homelight.com/blog/trees-in ... rty-value/

[Some Schmo]

This is what people never tell you when you buy a home: every tree planted on your property is your newly adopted plant pet. You are now responsible for all the damage and destruction they can potentially do.

You want to know why someone is removing all the damned asshole trees from their property? Because trees are assholes. They do deduction and damage. Trees are fine, so long as they aren't sitting on my property, where I'm financially responsible for their assholish presence.

Do not, for “F”'s sake, cry for asshole trees on your property. Trees are supposed to be in the forest. “F” them and their desire to screw with your property.

ETA: I am all about removing every damned asshole tree from a person's property. All* of them.

*That's right; all of them. They're assholes, and unless you have a desire to be abused by trees, you will show them the damned door.

[Jersey Girl]

So Schmo. Anything else you want to talk about or do you just want to torch up all the threads? I mean, it's okay with me if you do. I'll hang back and wait. See what happens. I did start a Score thread in Prison if you want to use it. I can make you a thread for Current List of Human Offenses over there.

Or just shut my freakin' mouth. Probably that. Yeah. I'll just go make that new thread.

[Some Schmo]

So Schmo. Anything else you want to talk about or do you just want to torch up all the threads?

OK, so that last post probably seems a tad harsh.*

I've just had some bad experiences with trees on my property. Going forward, any property I buy to live on will be devoid of trees. That's for everyone's sake.

I do love trees, actually. I just don't like being responsible for them.

*At the time, it amused me to think of trees as assholes.

[ajax18]

I do love trees, actually. I just don't like being responsible for them.

Do you realize that puts you into agreement with me? Do you care to change your position?

[Morley]

Our next door neighbor has cut down all the mature trees in his yard, with the last one, a beautiful tree, on the chopping block right now.
Can someone tell me what possesses someone to cut down *all* the trees in their yard?

Perfect.