up a tree (without a paddle)

[psocoptera]

I need Advice, o people of lj.

The problem: Big 75-year-old linden tree in our backyard is not doing well.

At a minimum, the top and some high limbs are dead and need to come off (and we certainly want to do that before a winter storm sends them through somebody's window or something, we live in a suburb, this is not the place to embrace the natural tree circle of life). Tree guy today thought that with an aggressive program of pruning, fertilizing, and ongoing management, we'd have maybe a 50-50 chance of saving the tree, but it would never be like it was. (In other news, a google image search for "topless tree" will NOT help you visualize a tree that's had its upper trunk and branches removed.)

Nothing we could plant in there is going to compete with a 75-year-old tree for size and shade and gorgeous Big Treeishness while we're still living in the house. (Let's say we're moving out to our retirement condo in 30 years - who even knows but that's not crazy.) On the other hand, if it's going to have to come out in five years anyways, I would sort of rather get a head start on regrowing something new - in *ten* years, I imagine a ten-year-old tree would be much nicer to have than a five-year-old tree. (Plus redoing all the plantings in that part of the yard, since I'm pretty sure that thing's not coming out without taking out half the yard with it.)

I feel torn and unhappy about both options. Anyone have a good insight into how to make this kind of decision?

Comments

[irilyth]

I have no advice but am also torn and unhappy. :^( Poor tree.

[prof-fran.livejournal.com]

I totally understand both positions. I felt bad when we needed to prune back our dogwood in the front yard when the October Surprise storm a few years ago gutted all of its center branches. On the plus side, we lost maybe 2/3 of the tree but it is still alive and growing back rapidly. And the birds love it.

Is money an issue in the choice? Would that determine your course of action?

If it were me, I'd get another opinion on saving the tree (if this is your tree guy and you trust him then don't)--if saving it is an option, I'd try and have it pruned back. Lindens can last centuries and bees love them.

[psocoptera.livejournal.com]

I am already not thrilled about the money we definitely have to spend on hazard reduction, so my thinking about the money at this point is mostly "ugh I guess this is happening".

I guess, thinking about it more, that if we do sink some money into trying to save it, and then we still have to take it out, and that costs about as much as it would to have taken it out without the rescue attempt, I will feel stupid about that, but it wouldn't be like a disaster. (Possibly a long-term effect of the fire, my scale for absorb-able loss has become somewhat warped.)

[glynhogen.livejournal.com]

My condolences.

I would personally opt for removal. We did this with a few trees, for thinning purposes and to take down a pine that was pining for the fjords. More analogous to your linden, we took down a Charlie Brown tree growing at a 45 degree angle (it had already demonstrated it was not going to be coaxed upright) and the maple that dropped a big branch on our roof (the tree guy said it was in decline and not going to turn around), both cases of doing it sooner rather than later.

The impact on your yard may not be terribly severe (although the extra sun may upset whatever you've planted; and I still occasionally do a double take when I see the open space where the maple used to be). Planting something new is nice. Another option is finding somebody to carve something interesting into the trunk. I would definitely have done that with the maple if it hadn't been so close to the house (part of the rationale for removing it was to get rid of inviting rotting wood and the insects it might attract), and some days kind of wish I had regardless.

[rose_garden.livejournal.com]

My condolences.

My dad and stepmom had to put their dog down and it was very hard for them.

[psocoptera.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry for your family's loss.

I don't really "get" pets, but I imagine if I had a dog, I would be making a decision that was primarily about the dog's quality of life, like, was it still eating/being happy to see people/whatever dogs do. There isn't a comparable question of the tree suffering (or not in a way that I can understand - it's been trying to send up a lot of suckers from the base and maybe that's more like desperation or maybe it's more like "wheeeee I'm making suckers!", but either way I don't feel like I have an ethical obligation *to the tree*, exactly. I am interested in not destroying a valuable thing and in the well-being of the local ecosystem, but those are still my interests, not the tree's.)

[eastgategirl.livejournal.com]

I agree that asking for a second opinion is a good idea. I'd also go to a local nursery and see what they recommend as reasonably fast-growing possibilities. While you won't get the height and leafiness of the linden for many years, there are likely to be trees that would provide beauty and shade within less time than you might expect.

[amyprime.livejournal.com]

Can you start a new tree now somewhere else, so that if you have to take the big one down in five years there will already be a five-year-old tree?

[psocoptera.livejournal.com]

I am super intrigued by this idea, thanks! Might be worth consulting with a landscape person who would have ideas about how close a new tree could be planted (both to be able to grow, and to survive the eventual removal).