A huge Bradford pear came with the house I bought. I so wish now that I’d removed it immediately and put a ‘nice’ tree in its place. I lost the majority of it in a storm—missed the house by THIS much!—and have replaced it now, but it’ll be several years before I’ll have shade again.
I put in a red maple. Supposed to grow fast and make good shade.
I hope anyone reading this who has a house and is thinking of planting a tree will take a minute to consider that trees grow…and they get big…and planting that little thing five feet from the house is not going to be a good idea a few years down the line!
I don’t know what kind of insurance you have, but even if the insurance is great, do you want to have to move while repairs are being done when the roof crashes in? Plus, there is something called lightning that could possibly cause more damage if it hits a dry tree.
We had a blank canvas in the backyard when we moved into our house. We went overboard with trees…they were so cute and little and pretty. Now they are all fighting for air space, I am climbing ladders to trim them twice a year, and it was just dumbass stupid to plant them so close to each other! Depending on the type of tree and your local weather, those suckers can grow pretty damn quickly!
Cut the tree completely down and plant another…but this time, at LEAST twice as far away from the house, if not farther.
The wildfire thing is relevant in arid climates. My own area gets occasional Gulf systems; after Ike, I noticed that most of the trees or huge branches felled by the wind showed some kind of prior damage–mostly from disease. Atlanta will probably get the occasional tropical system–or a rogue ice storm. Whatever kind of stress happens in your area–healthy trees will survive better.
Get an expert in. Lose the tree–the variety sounds pretty fragile. Get advice for the best breeds in your area–and about where to plant them.
I see that all the freaking time - people plant blue spruces two feet from their house! These trees get to 50 feet tall and 16 feet wide! Then they skirt the poor bastards ten feet up the trunk.
Um, what was the question again? Oh yeah - tree against house - I’d have it removed, too. Trees don’t just all of a sudden start leaning unless something bad has happened to them.
If one storm did that, she’s done. The roots are holding her now, but it won’t last another heavy storm. Think of this as a chance to be rid of it w/o house damage, an opportunity a lot of people don’t get.
The weight tipping her is from the upper branches. “Top” it by tying ropes to the branch you are cutting and having friends pull hard while you cut the branch at least a foot before the rope. Try not to cut off more than
50lbs of any one branch at a time and remember that you may only get the top down and bagged after a full day’s work. Don’t be surprised if you are exhausted by the end of the day too (this is Really hard work).
Once you are down to the trunk, if you aren’t using a gas chain saw, you’ll want one. Sections of trunk are a LOT heavier than the limbs; pull hard on those ropes & make darn sure no one is underneath each one when they start to go. Tree guys seem to cut them in 18-inch segments (but thats still heavy enough to crush a foot, so be careful).
PS- Check with your town on how they need the wood bundled & when to put it out to be picked up and if you any need permits before you cut down anything; its part of the measure twice, cut once rule.
OP delivers. The first two shots show the tree against the house. The second two show the trunk. Note that it doesn’t look like the trunk split - it’s grown that way.
The last shot is the other bradford pear in the backyard - note how it’s started to lean also. Right now I’m leaning (ha!) towards having them both taken out and replaced with some fruit trees if we have the light.
DMark: the trees are already a good 20 feet from the house… but the idiot builders planted them on a slope! When we put something else it we home to put it at the bottom of the slope, although we already have some pretty large pine trees there. We’ll figure something out - maybe a garden instead of trees.
Cat Whisperer We have a house in our neighborhood that did the same thing, although I think with a different variety. It looks ridiculous, but I blame the builder and not the people who moved into the house years after it was built.
Count Blucher My city actually has an ordinance against topping, which didn’t stop my neighbor but I’d rather do everything on the up and up. I don’t think I really want to go through this again in 5 years, so I think I’m just going to take the bradford pears out and put something more appropriate (and less smelly) in.
In the second two pictures, which direction is towards the house? ETA: to the right? I’d think taking out just that leaning half would be sufficient.
In pictures 3 and 4, the house is to the right. In picture number 5, the house is to the left.
A couple of those photos show what appear to be the classic narrow crotch angles (at which major trunks/limbs branch off) that plague Bradford pears and are responsible for breakage and major damage in storms.
Most tree specialists and aficionados would, I think, recommend removing this tree sooner rather than later (if you want some espcially pointed commentary, post your question in the GardenWeb tree forum, where there are many posters who loathe Bradfords and will delight in urging its execution.
For an open space in a big yard where breakage won’t be that big a problem, Bradfords do have a nice flower display and excellent fall color, but elsewhere they’re problematic. There is a small business park about 5 minutes from where I live which has a long row of Bradfords lining the street. They are spectacular in fall, but virtually every one is deformed from limb loss. I imagine the owners have paid quite a bit over the years to repair damage and remove downed limbs.
There are tons of alternative trees for your area - Google a local university extension service/horticulture department (like this one) for recommendations. My suggestions include redbud, American smoke tree and sourwood*.
*ironically, one of the thumbnail images in that link shows a sourwood planted way too close to a building.
The more I look at those pictures, the more I think that that one trunk needs to come out sooner, rather than later. Taking out the rest of it, and the other one at the same time, is probably for the better as well.
Looking at those photos, I would be scared.
Sorry - but that is one very, very tall tree and those roots in a slanted hill don’t look all that stable. One good wind storm and boom…end of deck and part of roof!
If it were me, I would get that tree out ASAP. And it doesn’t look like it is going to hurt the overall look of the house to get rid of that one tree.
Seriously…I would be nervous having that huge thing just waiting for a big wind gust to come crashing down!
It was a big wind gust that got it against the house. I suppose I’m on borrowed time.
Well, the wife and I talked, and while she doesn’t care much about ‘outside stuff’, we agreed that it’s time for those trees to go - and if I’m getting one out I might as well save myself the stress and take out the other rather than wait a couple of years and need to do it all over again.
Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned “big wind gust”, there’s actual downed trees all over our metro area, so most arbor services are either backed up or price gouging for a week or two. 
But they will definitely be coming out.
I do appreciate all the suggestions for replacements - obviously nothing is going back on that slope, but I think I’ll wait and see what kind of sun the backyard gets before I put something else in.
Sounds good! I agree with your decision to call in the pros, too - we’ve been trimming our maples, and even the smallish branches are surprisingly heavy - I can see taking a whole tree down ending in tears and bloodshed. You’ll probably want someone to take out the roots, too - I don’t know if the same company will do that, or if you’ll need to bring in a specialist.
You can’t rent a chainsaw and take it out yourself, have to get a council permit???
What sort of big brother society do you live in?
The city I live is requires a permit under certain circumstances (size of lot, proximity to the river, and type of tree) which I don’t believe apply to me but I’m letting the arborist know anyway. That’s not really an uncommon ordinance in the area where I live, so I don’t get the outrage.
I do have my own chainsaw, but noting that the tree is already leaning on my house I would rather have a pro take it out than take off half my siding screwing it up myself.
That’s actually a very good way to get yourself (or someone else) seriously hurt or even killed. Taking down a large tree safely requires skills most people don’t have. It’s even more complicated when the tree is located close to structures that could be damaged. Hence the need for permitted professionals to do the job.
Permitted, insured professionals.
You are right, spend the money, have a service do it.
I probably should have been more responsible in my post, which might be seen as a how-to for people who are not handy or who have never done this (or seen it done). I was relying on memories & personal experiences when, as a kid, my Dad and my family and I all got together to take down branches after storms. That doesn’t tell the whole story though, because my father was Incredibly handy and in ways that I just can’t do justice to in words here. While I learned a lot from him, I didn’t learn half of what I could have.
Please people, if you’ve never ever operated a chainsaw you’d really need some safety training before you rent one from Home Depot. Good intentions don’t suspend the laws of gravity and without good planning, careful execution and a lot of people to help,
personal injury & property damage can happen far too easily and far too quickly.
I’d be worried about critters using the Tree-Expressway to my bedrooms.
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StG
