The Downside of Majestic Trees

They don’t notify you before they fall

by Elizabeth Kaldeck Smith

Our neighborhood is rich with old oak trees, most about 75 to 90 feet tall. When we first moved in more than forty years ago, I felt the trees were embracing us. They were comforting, protective, and stress-reducing, yet seemingly indomitable in all their height and beauty. Even though some were quite close to the house, I never worried about a tree falling. I just put that thought out of my mind.

Introduction to an arborist

In our first year, a storm knocked down one of our trees over the power lines on our street, causing the whole neighborhood to lose power. We shouldn’t have been surprised. In effect, we were living in the woods. The trees were crowded together, fighting for the same nutrients and leaning toward the sun.

We called an arborist to evaluate the rest of our trees. He recommended which trees needed to be removed so that the many remaining ones could thrive. This was expensive and emotionally painful, but we felt we did the responsible thing. I felt it gave us a sense of security.

The big, unwelcome surprise

But life is full of surprises. On a peaceful sunny day, my daughter and I experienced a falling tree hitting a corner of our house, the garage and our car. We were sitting on the couch in the living room in front of a picture window. I was speaking with her, turned sideways. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something directly outside the window. It was a tree on its way down, perhaps a foot away from the window. It made a loud thump when it fell. That was a close call.

I was shocked that this could happen. The tree was about 8 feet from the house, on a gentle downhill slope, and yet it fell parallel to the house on a lovely day. I would have predicted that it would fall toward the street, since it was downhill.

Calling the arborist again

When the arborist/tree remover came to remove the downed tree, he advised us about the twin trees directly across from it. He tried to persuade us to keep them. He commented on their beauty and offered to put a chain around them to keep them from growing apart and possibly falling. We said “no” to the chain. They had to go. One of the trees which he thought to be healthy had visible rot inside! It was sad to see those trees taken down. I loved the way they graced our front yard.

More tree incidents

Trees from the woods behind our house crushed our sheds on three occasions. Two occurred during a storm, but the most recent one happened on a beautiful, sunny, peaceful day in the middle of a summer afternoon. I was sitting at my computer when I heard the loud thump which immediately grabbed my attention. I ran to a window to our backyard and saw that our newly painted shed was crushed into many jagged pieces. It was puzzling. There was no storm, just like there was no bad weather associated with the tree that fell so many years earlier about a foot from our living room picture window.

A visit from the insurance adjuster

The tree (our neighbor’s) which downed the shed looked healthy, but it wasn’t. A large portion of the trunk was eaten out. The insurance adjuster commented that there were so many trees crushing sheds that summer. Insects were attacking the trees and the outside of the trees looked fine in most cases. It took us three months to get a replacement shed.

My husband recalled what the arborist said about evaluating trees. “Sometimes you can’t tell from looking at them. One day a tree can look fine, and the next day, it’s on the ground.”

Now my relationship with trees begins to change

I still love trees, but the 90 ft. tall ones sometimes make me nervous. They no longer give me a feeling of being protected, but I still appreciate their beauty. I look at them more critically now. I notice cracked bark, missing limbs, and leaning so much that the tree is almost parallel to the street. On some streets, the trees are curved so much over the power lines that you feel you are driving through a tunnel. When I look at the tree in the next photo, I wonder how much more leaning can the tree do and still stand up?

Another loud thump

This time, it wasn’t a shed, but a neighbor’s house. Another peaceful, sunny day with the unwelcome sound of a tree falling unannounced. The police, fire, and ambulance were there in record time. My husband and I were watching the scene, hoping that no one in the house was hurt. Fortunately, the ambulance left without a passenger. A large blue tarp was placed on the roof, and a tree service got to work on the removal of the tree.

Fear Prevails

For the next two weeks, our neighborhood was filled with the sound of tree removal. People were scared and the guy from the tree removal service anxious to get as much business as possible. He mentioned that the drought was causing the trees to become weakened and more likely to be affected my insects. A neighbor directly across the street had a tree removed that was hollowed out, much like the one that crushed our shed. I was starting to feel panic.

A surprising call

That panic grew after another neighbor called to say that one of his trees which borders our property has rot on the roots, and would we be willing to pay half the cost to take it down, since it was leaning toward our house. This led to getting mixed up with an aggressive salesman whose goal was to get as many trees cut down to enrich himself. He smelled the fear and stoked it.

He claimed that every tree he cut down in our neighborhood was diseased, “some minimal, some severe”, because of the drought. With the sound of the loud thump from my neighbor’s tree so fresh in our minds, it was hard to hear that.

Anxiety amplified

I tried to get the previous tree guy, but he was no longer in the removal business. If only there were a way of doing an x-ray on a tree to see if it had internal damage from insects, such as Japanese beetles. There is no such x-ray for trees.

My husband and I argued for several days about which of the trees could be saved. We had the trees closest to the house taken down. It still tears me apart and stressing about it doesn’t help. Those trees were with us for decades, and I miss them. We rushed into a decision which makes me sad. I almost stopped writing because I was so upset.

The aftermath

After several weeks, I decided to research which trees we could plant as replacements. This could be a way of dealing with the loss. Planting trees in our old age is something we never expected to do, but we’re doing it.

There is so much to know, such as which trees have invasive roots, how far from the house should they be planted and how far from each other. Then there are issues about disease resistance and tolerance to drought and road salt. Yikes! I better get busy. I’m looking at a possible shade tree for the front yard. The Dura-Heat River Birch is on the top of my list.

©Elizabeth Kaldeck Smith, 2023

There are so many wonderful stories on Reciprocal. Here are two that I hope you will read. “Why Do They Say Beans Are Magic? They may not be veggies, but beans are pretty amazing” by Shareen Bingham; “Fun Gardening Moments! Look at my happy plants!” By Marta Henriques. I find both these stories very uplifting.