The Willow (?) Oak In My Front Yard

Factual Questions
1

We have a large (35-40 foot?) Willow Oak in our front yard. The Oak is 4 feet away from the house and needs to come down [potential foundation/plumbing problems]. Large trees like this are supposed to be a minimum 15-20 feet away from large structures. Why this tree was planted 4 feet away in beyond me. In fact, our neighborhood (townhouse development) is filled with large trees ~4 feet away from the front of houses. :confused: Several people on our side of the neighborhood have recently taken down their “trouble” tree, and now it’s our turn.

I have several questions:

  1. Several people have told me that the tree is a Pin Oak. Until recently, I always assumed that it was a Pin Oak. The name makes sense. Slender leaves = Pin. In researching the removal of the tree, it appears that our tree is a Willow Oak, not a Pin Oak. Our tree has the slender leaves of a Willow Oak. The only other Oak tree that I have found that has these slender leaves is the Shingle Oak, and it’s leaves are slightly rounder.

A Pin Oak has completely different leaves. Our trees leaves look nothing like this. Why are so many people calling our tree a Pin Oak? What am I missing?

  1. Several people have told us that Pin Oak’s can be closer to house’s than most trees without causing foundation/plumbing problems. Something about a shallow root system. Well, my research says otherwise. Pin Oak, Willow Oak, it doesn’t matter, it should at least 15-20 feet away (30-40 feet preferred) from a house. Am I right?

  2. Our Oak tree is half on my property and half on my neighbors property. That is, half of the trunk is on my property, and the other half of the trunk is on my neighbors (townhouses, obviously). Breaking out the measuring tape, it’s actually 58% on my side, 42% of his side.

Anyway, my neighbor (the owner of the property- the house is rented) refuses to split the cost of removing the tree, which is around $2500-3000 dollars total. 50/50, 58/42, 80/20, 90/10…He flat out refuses to pay anything. He doesn’t feel the tree needs to come down.

What options do I have at this point?

2

As far as I know, the owner of the property has the final say. If you take down the tree without permission, you’re gonna get in trouble. If the landlord doesn’t care one way or another (and is willing to put it in writing) and you really don’t like the tree, then you’ll have to foot the bill.

Your recourse is to send him a letter saying “FYI: I think this tree is a potential hazard to the plumbing and foundation.” Then, when the plumbing and foundation are damaged, send him the bill and a copy of the letter.

3

Suely not a pin oak (pin oaks don’t round off like that and don’t have those leaves).

Root system of a pin matches it’s top, so it doesn’t ahve the wide spread. Generally, the roots extend in proportion to the top growth.

Where I live, it’d cost 'bout 750 US dollars to take that sucker down.

There is a chance that a local ordinance calls for removal of certain trees that are in certain proximity or pose a certain danger.