PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

Before you think trees have to come down or that you should call a landscaping company, please read this.

I have about 10 mature trees on my little 1/4 acre. Two of them are huge and dwarf the house, the others are smaller trees that are more manageable.

Instead of calling a landscaping company who stands to make a lot of money (thousands) from taking some "problem" trees down, I called a certified arborist - North Country Tree and Landscaping on 25A in St. James. Just like other companies, they offer free estimates.

I had already gotten a call from the landscaping company who worked with the previous homeowners and described my tree problems. He immediately uttered the dreaded phrase "remove the trees" for a few thousand. I decided to get a second opinion because the person I talked to had never even seen my trees, yet was telling me that I should take them down!

An arborist for 19 years with North Country Tree came to my house this morning and spent an hour with me, touring my plot and talking about everything. He didn't rush me, he didn't talk down to me, he identified every tree on my plot, and gave me some GREAT news.

Not only is he quite sure that all of my tree problems can be treated, the initial estimate is ONLY $600. He will get me a written estimate on Monday. That includes pruning 8 trees, fertilizing, removing a girling root, special root treatment for one of the worst trees, removal of about 15 feet of privet, removing a large arborvitae, and grinding and chipping all the stumps.

Meanwhile, removing just one of these trees would normally cost over $800.

My favorite tree, and the one with the worst damage, was my real worry. I have a beautiful Japanese Maple tree that is the centerpiece of my backyard and it has been suffering for years. There are splits in the bark that it has been trying to recover from and a lot of dead branches with fungus on it.

Turns out that these problems are being caused by what's called a "girdling root". You can see it at the bottom of the trunk in this picture:



It goes from left to right and has grafted with the trunk of the tree. It's causing those cracks that go all the way to the ground. Essentially, the root is like a noose, strangling the tree and preventing it from getting the nutrients it needs to the canopy.

Clear case of a tree that needs to be removed, right? Wrong. They're going to cut the portion of root that isn't grafted onto the trunk and take off the dead branches, then treat it. We could get another 5 to 10 years out of this tree now, and maybe more depending on how it responds to the removal of the root.

But to an untrained eye, you could be convinced that the damage was irreversable. You could be told that all the weird looking bark was bad - meanwhile, in reality, the weird bark is the tree actually healing itself.

What I'm trying to say is, if you're going to get an estimate, go with someone who cares about trees. Someone who has a vested interest in keeping trees healthy and in place instead of making a quick thousand by taking it down.

I leave you with these pictures of these gorgeous trees that I was told needed to come down. Shame on them for wanting to kill decades of nature in the name of money.

Message edited 3/12/2008 7:36:35 PM.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

OMG GORGEOUS TREES!!

such great information!! thanks for sharing!!!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

Thanks

Everyone knows I'm a treehugger and will always try to keep them. But even if you don't particularly like trees, maybe the money situation will convince people.

Oh yeah - and by the way - getting this done NOW instead of when spring starts is saving me hundreds. Everyone's prices go up in about a month or so. So if you're going to contact someone, do it now.

Why hire an arborist?

Where do I find a certified arborist?

I'm not saying all landscape companies are bad, or that they all want to chop trees down. I'm saying that if they have certified arborists on staff, that's one sign that they may have more of an investment in treating tree problems rather than simply removing them.

I'll update when the work is done with before and afters also, if anyone is interested.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

This is a BIG issue we need to deal with this year. We have soooo many fully grown trees on our property & HATE to cut them down, but we have NO SUN, moss all over our roof & fear the weak trees will come crashing on our home during a strong wind.

It is sooo good to know there is someone out there who will take the time to do this correctly! THANK YOU!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

Thank you for the helpful information! I'll tell my parents and keep it in mind for the future when we buy a home.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

Thats pretty interesting... we are calling around now to take out a number of "problem" trees. But I'm open to suggestions from an arborist.

I'll call to see what he says.

Thanks for the info.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

Hey Tricia... Did you happen to see our favorite show this morning? Paul James had an arborist on....talking about this exact thing. DH is sold! We're calling this week! Thanks so much for the tip...this is so huge for us!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

I just got an estimate too, we aren't taking any trees down, just trimming huge branches that hang over our house & create too much shade where my garden is. We are paying $550.
Next year if we decide to do solar panels on our roof we'll have to cut a few of my neighbors huge oak trees down. We are factoring that & the cost of replacing them with smaller trees elsewhere on her property.

Beautiful trees Tricia!!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

I am ready at 7:30am every Sunday with coffee, breakfast, and a pad and pen, ready for Gardening by the Yard. I swear, sometimes he reads my mind. I was just thinking about the flagstone patio we want to put in and what aquatic plants I could get away with in a small whiskey barrel water garden.

It kills me that they don't have more real gardening shows on. I was hoping with the housing slump that they would have less shows on how to buy/sell homes and more on improving what you've got. But so far, no new shows that I can see.

Both of you sound like your situation can benefit from creative pruning too.

We are also pruning that big red pin oak to allow more light to the holly tree that's under it. You can't really see it from the picture because of the Japanese Maple that overhangs the deck. But the holly is a little sparse on the inside.

And there's one branch of the oak that hangs over the house that they're going to cut too. My main concern with the oak was that it had all of the roots on one side cut when the cesspool was put in. You can see the trunk behind this guy digging the hole -



But even after that, the tree has buds all over it. I'm amazed at the resiliency of nature sometimes. We're going to treat the roots to stimulate new growth on the side that's rootless and if the tree is showing signs of stress by June/July, we will have to come up with a new plan. Although the fact that it has buds, even on the lowest branches which typically die back on oak trees, is a very good sign.

Should it survive and thrive, I want it to become a focal point - I was thinking of getting one of these:





Can't wait for spring!!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

I love Paul James too! I DVR him!

Do you remember last year he had a huge tree fall in his yard - maybe struck by lightning? It fell into a Japanese Maple and he was able to save it. I don't remember what he did (something with saran wrap?), but in a later episode he followed up and it was working.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

Your trees are stunning and I would not remove them either.

Unfortunatelly mine were really in bad shape/borderline dangerous because of the previous homeowner's prunning.

I have 2 huge trees in my front yard that I love but they are very old and deceased. Maybe I will call an arborist and see if we can save them.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

Erica, yes I saw that show! They were actually taping at the time and it was a really windy day. One of his huge trees fell on the producer's car and his Japanese Maple! Thank God no one was hurt, can you imagine?

I'll be getting the estimate any minute and there is another company or two I want to contact, friends of family, to see if they can do the same and beat the price. If not, I'm going with this company.

Sophie - do the trees have any leaves on them in summer? If so, there is probably a lot that can be done, unless the disease is beyond saving and posing a hazard. At least this guy was honest with me about my oak and said we can treat it for about $100. but if it's showing signs of stress by about June, we may still have to take it down. At least he warned me.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

Thanks for the great info Tricia! Your trees are beautiful.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done

So I came home to some freshly pruned trees tonight! I started to get nervous thinking about it and had asked them to call me when they got here. I wanted to make sure they weren't going to just prune a couple of branches, because I knew they needed some major work.

Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. When I got home, they had waited for me. The arborist I originally spoke to (Kevin Salustro) was here along with his crew. He walked my property with me, showed me what they did and took his time. When we made the full circuit, he asked me if I was satisfied, I told him I certainly was, and only then did he tell his crew they could leave.

Not to mention they cleaned up a lot of my leaves! I said wow, that's some great service. He said, as long as they were cleaning up the tree debris, why not pick up the rest?

I did get one piece of bad news. But onward to the before and afters...

Pin Oak Tree that had lots of branches overhanging our house:

BEFORE



AFTER



You can see a lot of the cuts were on the house side. They also thinned the side branches off the main branches to allow more light to the Eastern Holly underneath it.




Our corner before:



After:



Those bushes were a real hazard for people driving up to that corner. It's not a 4-way stop. It is a bus stop for children. I'm going to mulch around that tree, some flowers and maybe put a bench there for the Moms and kids while they're waiting for the bus.

The tree there was severely pruned and I told him that I wasn't happy with that. He reminded that the tree, a Black Cherry tree, is diseased. When they "scratch" the bark to see the health of what's underneath and don't see green, they cut it. There was a lot of dead wood on the bottom not to mention it was growing through the utility lines running to my house. I understand why they did it and he said it will start new growth, not to worry.

This is my other problem child, the Norway Maple that is technically owned by the Town of Smithtown because of it's proximity to the street:



Almost all the cuts have dead centers. That big one on the bottom used to hang right over my driveway and my CAR. I'm SO GLAD we didn't wait to do this. With the wind we've been having, it would only be a matter of time until that came crashing down.

Now for the bad news.

My beloved Japanese Maple, which is about 10 to 11 years old from counting the rings, is dying. We thought the girdling root was choking it but it turns out it has a disease called Verticillium Wilt. A death sentence for any tree.

This is a picture of what Verticillium Wilt looks like that I found from an educational website:



And these are the pruning cuts from the JM:





Looks like it got sick about four years ago, from the looks of the rings. It's such a shame.

Now I have to seek out the Japanese Maple saplings that are buried inside a huge hedge on the side of the house and see if I can save them and train them to be upright and strong.

Well that's about it for now. Suffice to say, this was a successful endeavor. They will be coming back to treat the roots of some of the trees in about a month. They originally wanted to treat them with a systemic insecticide called Merit but I refused. We currently don't have evidence of pests and I don't want that stuff in my ground if it's not absolutely necessary. Not to mention, Merit is controlled in Nassau and Suffolk because it is a danger to our groundwater and aquifers that supply us with our drinking water.

Whew, that was a mouthful. Sorry for the lengthy post but I already know one person who has contacted North Country tree based on my recco and I take this very seriously as you can see! My reputation as a good recommendation giver is very important to me.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

wow, glad to hear you found a great company to work with to save your trees!

I love my trees too...that's what attracted me to my house, it actually has trees in the backyard

That really tall tree is a Japanese Maple? Gorgeous! I've only seen the dwarfed ones in person and they are beautiful as well but I LOVE tall trees!!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

The really tall tree is a Red Pin Oak tree. I do have a Norway Maple that is very tall but looks nothing like a Japanese Maple. One of the things I love about JM's is that they really do stay small.

My house is small enough, I think I'm sticking with trees that won't get that big from now on!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

I'm so sorry about the Japanese Maple! good luck with the saplings!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

glad to here the pruning went well Tricia! But sorry about your JM. Hopefully the little ones will do well for you.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

looks GREAT and good for you vfor doing some research instead of just "clearing the area"

We had 4 trees taken down...they were sap pines that were growing too close to our house and the neighbors house. they were in bad shape and we were afraid that they were going to come down in a big storm.

After we took them down. we then planted 2 trees in their place but put them far enough away from each house that they can grow and not cause any damage in the future!!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

What great info and what absolutely gorgeous trees! Thanks!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

Really great and interesting info! Thanks for sharing!

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

Posted by greenfreak
Sorry for the lengthy post but I already know one person who has contacted North Country tree based on my recco and I take this very seriously as you can see! My reputation as a good recommendation giver is very important to me.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

Wow, I didn't know Terry was the owner! I'm writing a blog on my site about the work they did with all the pictures and I'm going to let them know about it.

Just got an FM of someone else who may contact them for an estimate... I can't tell you how happy I am!

On behalf of the trees, I thank you.

I'm at peace with the Japanese Maple now, it's sad to lose it but at least I wasn't the cause. I'm looking around at everyone else's and mine is really unhealthy looking.

I'm probably going to just enjoy it this season and plan to remove it next year. The disease is in the soil, so I don't want to continue to cultivate it and I won't plant anything in it's place, at least not for a while.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

Our appt is next Friday! I'll be sure to update you & everyone w/pics & details! We're soooo excited!

Message edited 3/19/2008 7:07:34 PM.

Re: PSA - getting tree/shrub work done *Update 3/12*

Cool! Is everything staying? They're going to prune them? I hope everything goes well!

Will you take some before and afters? LOVE before and afters.