I am generally extremely loathe to cut down trees, but I do distinguish between quality and crap trees - and silver maples fit firmly in the latter category in my book. Can’t open the pics at work, but don’t be so sure about it being 200+ years old. (Curious that an arborist offered an opinion but did not even identify the species.) Silvers are planted by developers b/c they are cheap and grow quickly. A silver can get extremely large in just a few decades. However, they also have extremely weak wood, and are extremely messy.
I have had extremely large silvers near both of my last 2 homes. The previous one we cut down and replanted 3 nice trees - a locust, a red maple, and a red oak. At our current home three of them are on our lot lines and our neighbors will not allow us to take them down at our own expense, so instead we had the largest branches that overhang our garage trimmed.
If I moved somewhere with a silver maple, mulberry, willow, buckthorn, etc. in an undesireable location I would not hesitate to cut it down and plant something nice in a better place. And I would do it quickly upon moving in to increase my chances of enjoying it once it has grown some.
I think your offer of splitting the costs is extremely fair. If nothing else, it will show whether it really bothers your neighbors enough that they are willing to put their money where their mouths are, or if this is just good-natured ribbing.
They sell these little screen and cover things for gutters that can solve that problem. They come in a variety of filtering sizes. You can also get a foam that lets water through but stops all debris from entering the gutter.
The term for helicopters joined in a pair (which is how they form), are called Schizocarps And the “arborist” already offered the opinion on species id in post #33. I guess I should have included it again for those that don’t read the thread.
I also said in my other post "(the example here includes red maple - a stronger more structurally sound tree than silver maple)
Sorry to see that it is a Silver (Acer saccharinum). That tree has no business being right there - or the house has no business… one of the two needs to go unless disaster is appreciated and expected. Honestly. And there is no way it is 200 years old (as others are saying). I would guess at more like maybe 100yrs - if it grew VERY slow and was atypical - but could be less than 75yrs easily. Silvers are pretty much the fastest/tallest maples (overall) and are great for out in the fields or away from structures. They do not withstand weather’s ‘anomalies’ at all, though (as noted elsewhere so well). I could post innumerable pics of fractured limbs/trunks from a recent ice storm here, and too-numerous-too-count ‘healed’ Silvers that show scars where they dropped big limbs in the more distant past.
Some folks will ‘top’ the silvers and allow smaller branches to regrow, but (imho) those always look kinda cheesy and never quite look right afterwards. Commonly done after storms, though, when 1/2 of upper trunks break off and tree is lopsided
There is a small possibility that you have a hybrid silver/red maple (think they are called Freemanii) that are not quite as tender of wood, but it would take much more detailed examination to see if it might be a hybrid. I bet it isn’t though, seeing just how narrow those middle lobe’s ‘waists’ appear to be. Really looks ‘classic silver’ to me, fwiw - and I have grown bonsai-starter maples of almost all varieties (with silver being considered worthless).
I am not too quick to refer outside of SDMB, but you might check out ForestryForum for a higher- % of ‘expert tree’ posters. Them guys know their trees, and could more accurately answer any detailed inquiries. Its a free Forum (iirc), but I have not looked around there in a while. Just sayin’ is all
The 200 year old estimate came from the first arborist I called to clean up a snapped but still dangling, storm damaged limb. He did a little bit more of light pruning (although more is clearly called for). He then gave me one estimate for removing that one worrisome limb right over my house and another estimate for >$1,000 for removing the whole tree. I wasn’t smart enough to ask at the time what species it was at the time, not being aware that it made much of a difference. Clearly that age estimate is incorrect. Fair enough, no argument here. The only way I’d be able to estimate the age of a tree is to cut it open and count the rings.
Unfortunately, cutting it down seems to be my smartest if not best option. I knew the tree’s location was problematic from the start. Now that I’m aware of how fragile silvers are, it just makes no sense to wait until something bad happens.
Many thanks for all the replies and information. Time to find another arborist that didn’t get his certification from a box of Cracker Jacks and say goodbye to my big leafy friend.
You have a lovely, tidy-looking house; if you do decide to cut the big tree down, my recommendation would be some more proportional shrubs and flower beds planted around the house. I’m not sure I’d even go as large as a full-sized lilac; you really don’t have a huge house and yard.
No way would I cut down a beautiful tree like that. Sure, it’s a hassle a couple times a year, but life’s a hassle and we don’t all kill ourselves.
I have several large, beloved trees in my yard that are at least 40 + years old. One drops a huge amount of fuzz balls all over my car and yard every spring. Another drops spikey gum balls that can hurt your feel. I just clean that mess up from time-to-time. No big deal.
The only reason I would consider removing this tree is if I were wanting to replace it with fruit or nut trees.
To Dinsdale, I knew you were right about the samara, should have made that clear in my post. I get on the defensive a bit too easily these days, felt as if credibility was being challenged for my lack of tree id. Which I had already given. See, there I went again. :smack:
No worries, cashew. We’re basically on the same page here. And I think when I wrote my first post I had missed your stating of your qualifications.
I love gardening - and trees. But having bought 2 houses, each of which had what I consider to be “undesirable” trees, I’m more convinced than ever that when and if I ever move into a new home I will view the trees extremely critically, and replace any I wish to earlier rather than later. And I HATE silver maples. Given the phenomenal number of alternatives, it truly is a shame that anyone plants those.
Of course, I greatly prefer silver maples to the buckthorns both of my immediate neighbors are cultivating… :rolleyes:
Wow - pretty strong conviction, and I am not calling ya out on it as I do respect love of nature, but that tree is, and will continue to be until removed, a clear hazard to property and person. Its a risk-v-benefit thing mostly (imho). There’s a near-100% chance that property will (eventually) be harmed with risk of personal harm being above 0 and hard to calculate, and the repair would require the cutting/use-of another tree from elsewhere for the re-construction of roof, etc. You could look at the removal of that tree saving a different tree from being required for repairs, plus all the ‘energy’ it takes to get said lumber to the OP’s damaged house in proper form.
To me, cutting that particular tree out is a win-win for everyone involved, it seems, even if some of the neighbors’ complaints were possibly unfounded or irresponsible or whatever opinion is held.
Also, I have seen some pretty neat things done with stumps and larger shorter trunks left standing (instead of pulling out the stump post-cutting). It may be LOTS easier to do something ‘artsy’ with stump rather than wrestling it out of ground. Just an idea to chew on - stumps are a royal pain and often costly, trust me. CatWhisp has good idea with the shrubs/lilac mentionings, imho. Even different species that bloom progressively through the year - choices are immense no matter the taste of the owner(s).
The tree was there when they moved in, they can leave if they made a choice they don’t want to live with. At least one of your neighbors needs someone to abuse and they’ve picked you.
Would you move next to a slaughterhouse and then bitch to the owner about the smell? Same thing.
My neighbor has an enormous tree that dropss leaves in our gutters and on our lawn. I just rake up the leaves and clean the gutters. It’s no different than if a city-owned tree dumped leaves on my lawn or the sky dropped snow on my walkway.
However, our neighbors across the street have been having issues with their apple tree. That thing drops cranium smashing bombs every fall which the draws all sort of local wildlife (the pesty kind like raccoons) to eat the apples. They’ve had to cut back a lot of the branches because the falling apples were damaging gardens, staining patios, and hitting Cellphones on the head.
Sure, there’s a risk, but I think the question is “Is it worth it?”
My neighbor has a big, nice, but sickly tree. I shades my bedroom and I live in a very hot part of the country. I followed a red bellied woodpecker family (or, more likely, several families) in that tree for years. They dug a nice, big hole over the course of two or three weeks and raised several families in that hole.
Last year, during the hurricane, the tree broke right at the woodpecker hole and it fell on my roof. It could have fallen into the neighbors yard or on the fence or on his shed, or any place in between but it fell onto my roof. That was surely a hassle, but we are both insured, I got a new roof and enjoyed the bird families for several years. So, to me, the tree was worth it. I can certainly understand if you wouldn’t think so, though.
Another vote for having it removed. I would be extremely nervous having that tree looming over my house like that, given silver maples’ apparent propensity to drop limbs. I also agree that it’s too big for your property - it would look much better if you had something smaller planted there.
It’s your yard, it’s not the Amazon rain forest. Trees in residential lots are for ornamentation. If it causes more annoyance than prettiness, and there’s no historical/sentimental value, get rid of it.
If your neighbors are on your case to get rid of a tree that annoys everyone, it’s a far better situation than you wanting to get rid of a tree that everyone else likes. Mull over how you truly feel about the aesthetic value, and if it’s not that great, chop it.
Edited to add: on reread, if there’s a hazard to person or property, then there’s not even a question.
