I live on a tree-lined street, houses are all at least 60 years old and the trees are probably all about the same age.
We’ve got an elm tree in the front, it’s probably 70 feet tall. The leaves are all lace-like right now, probably the work of the Elm Leaf Beetles that are currently a scourge in Colorado.
There’s lots of bare limbs so we got a tree-guy to come in a look at it yesterday. He says the limbs are dying because of bacteria in the growth layer in the tree bark. There’s 3-4 years left in it if we leave it alone.
If we do a 30% trim on it, we might get 8-10 years from it.
Or we can cut it down.
$475 to trim.
$750 to remove plus $175 to pull the stump (I might be able to do the latter).
There’s a spot next to it, about 10 feet away, where a “sister” tree of this one lived until it died. We’re thinking that if we plant a tree there, then later we could remove the elm and still have a decent shade tree.
It’s sort of a money now versus money later argument. I guess it gets down to, “is it worth $500 to buy 5 more years of tree” 'cause when this tree goes, we’ll still be spending money to get it removed.
There’s no way we’re going to remove this tree ourselves - just too big - so that option is out.
The wife is also worried about it dropping a big limb onto somebody’s (or our own) car. The deductible along would be close to the removal cost.
Any ideas or suggestions? New ways to think of this?
I have an elm that’s also dying, and I’m not sure why. I’m tempted to blame Dutch elm disease, though it’s a little strange, because the progenitor to my tree has been in the neighborhood for the best part of a century, and is in fine fettle. Anyway, my tree is just a weed, albeit one 30 feet tall.
As to yours, I can’t say what you should do. One thing I frequently regret, though, is that trees that would yield a lot of useful and valuable lumber are sent into the chipper and end up as mulch. Elm is beautiful wood, and exceptionally tough. I’m sure someone out there would value the wood of your tree. In a perfect world, that person would take down the tree at no cost to you, just to realize the value of the lumber.
Bottom line, I’ve given you a suggestion that would be extremely helpful to you, if only you happened to live in a parallel universe.
Cut it down and plant something this year. I don’t think you should plant where the other tree was. You’d know better than I if the old root system is still there and a problem. The federal government is going to cut all trees in 100 miles of any Emerald Ash Bore infestation, so I’d skip planting ash trees. Be sure whatever you plant won’t be catching the bacterial infection from the cut elms.
Sal Ammoniac’s suggestion of saving the tree’s lumber for woodwork requires finding that rare individual up to the task, one fraught with expense and no guarantee of reward.
Most sawyers (all, in my experience ) won’t touch street or hedgeline trees for fear of embedded metal. It’s harder to fell boles in congested critical fall areas. Once you start sawing you could find any number of shake defects, insect damage, rot…
If it is truly an elm, it will die eventually from D.E.D. (can’t resist the tacky pun), especially with precursors nearby.
Snag elms can stand for over a decade before there is much danger of toppling, but removal costs will only increase.
Save up and cut it down next year. Hear me out. Cutting it down now is a decent bargain, but if you cannot afford a quality replacement then don’t cut it down until you can. There are already way to many homes with “starter” trees in the yards, and they are useless little weedy things for the most part; providing little shade, habitat for local birds, or visual enjoyment. If you can locate a decent 15-18 footer for a good price then go for it, but if the cost or difficulty is prohibitive then I wouldn’t bother until I could afford it.
If on the other hand, you already have a lot of nice trees in the area, and it won’t be a glaring wound, then go for it.