Bless my poor green heart...

[badunnin]

They are taking down several trees from my front lawn. Nice, big, mature trees that always gave our street this leafy, covered avenue look in the summer. It makes me cry to think of all the trees that are being removed in the subdivision (about 40 on my street) because of the emerald ash borer. *sob*

[donleyk]

It is sad. There are too few trees already.

They are taking trees down in my area because of an oil pipeline. That makes me sick.

[lindrusso]

It's so sad when big, beautiful trees have to go. Our town goes around and massacres our trees to clear way for power lines overhead. Understandable, but sad nonetheless.

I just shook my head in disbelief when my FIL told me they were having ALL TREES in their yard removed because he was tired of cleaning up the mess. :( Trees can be a pain and do create mess, but I'd rather work a little harder than have no trees! Of course I guess he doesn't care one way or the other since he's not one to spend much time outside (if we eat dinner outside on the patio, he stays inside by himself :rolleyes: ).

Are they going to replace them with something else? Or can you plant your own? I know it's not the same since they take so long to grow..........nothing like a big, mature, shady tree........but it's a start.

Alysha :)

[badunnin]

Originally posted by lindrusso

Are they going to replace them with something else? Or can you plant your own? I know it's not the same since they take so long to grow..........nothing like a big, mature, shady tree........but it's a start.

Alysha :)

Haven't heard yet about replacement. They are all on the easements, so I'm sure they will. They will need to remove the stumps, first.

They are making quick work of them - 20 minutes and it's gone. Unbelieveable. I knew this was inevitable - the trees were all infested, and the problem is spreading like wildfire. I just never realised there were so many ash trees on the street. We have 4 remaining trees, all aspens, that will stay (only the ash tries are affected.)

I will never understand people who will intentionally, and without reason, remove trees. *sigh*

[tamawrite]

:( How depressing. Maybe they'll plant maples or something else with good fall color to help replace the dramatic feel of those older trees.

[wallycat]

Oh that is so sad!
I'm sorry about your lovely trees.

I think the Birch around here are dying too.....of course, with Birch allgeries I'm not nearly as upset :o

I hope they replace them with nice ones. Older trees can certainly make the neighborhood and give a homey feel.

[RobinC]

It make me sad to see big, old, trees taken down.

We live in a new development with almost no trees. I did my part and planted 6 in our backyard.

[Canice]

Oh, that would make me very sad indeed. Big old trees sure do make a neighborhood look homey.


Originally posted by badunnin
I will never understand people who will intentionally, and without reason, remove trees. *sigh*

Imagine how I felt when I saw DBF's neighbor pull up his front yard and lay in cement! :eek: :mad: :(

[slknight]

Sing it with me -
They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum.
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em.
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

[imloulou]

What is the Emerald Ash Borer? Sounds as bad as our own Hurricane Ivan...WOW...the skies sure are blue now!! We lost so many trees....it really is sad no matter what the cause!

And for slknight:

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that D.D.T. now
Give me
Spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.

[HejazSunKat]

Originally posted by slknight
Sing it with me -
They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum.
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em.
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.



No! No! No! :eek: Joni Mitchell has now taken up residence in my head! :D

[boisewinesnob]

Originally posted by HejazSunKat


No! No! No! :eek: Joni Mitchell has now taken up residence in my head! :D


:confused: you say that like it's a bad thing ;)

I love that song!


Sorry about the trees. I don't like it either. I went to a junior high which was about 90 years old....big brick building with huge paned windows and all. About 10 years ago they tore it down and all the big maple trees in front of it which were probably just as old :mad: . And then built an Albertsons in it's place :rolleyes: . To this day my dad won't shop there because he's still holding a grudge about them ripping out those trees.

[aggie94]

I hate to admit it, but I pushed to have a 50+ year old oak tree cut down from our backyard in Austin. Luckily for the tree, I didn't win. The tree was right on the fence line. The tree was planted on our side, but then the trunk took a 90° turn through the middle of the fence into the neighbor's yard, where it grew up from there. The canopy hung over both our houses. The people who had put up the fence years ago built it around the tree, but the trunk was obviously outgrowing the hole made for it and the fence needed to be rebuilt again. For me, it was just a major PITA and I wanted to get rid of it. I was worried about roots affecting the foundation, and the branches were constantly growing onto the roof. Reluctantly, DH finally agreed. We told our neighbors, and they were upset about it but didn't put up a fight.

The morning the guy showed up with a chainsaw, our neighbor saw what was about to happen out her kitchen window and ran out of the house crying. That's when they decided to put up a fight. We ultimately decided it wasn't worth it to make enemies of our neighbors and sent the guy away.

I feel bad about it now, but at the same time, I'm not sure I would have had any regrets had we gone through with it. Except maybe for the fact that we didn't end up staying in the house more than a few months after this all took place.

[VictoriaL]

Originally posted by badunnin
I will never understand people who will intentionally, and without reason, remove trees. *sigh*

Me neither. DH and I have planted almost 200 trees on our property in the past 20 years. While a lot never made it past the deer-eating problem, so many of them are now large and mature and gorgeous.

Yep, Joni Mitchell's singing in my head now, too! :D

Trudy, I hope that they are replaced with large, uninfestable (???) trees next spring.

[ChristieinMB]

I believe most cities around Los Angeles County do not allow the free removal of oak trees, you must obtain a permit with a very good reason. Oaks are special here, I think other types are okay to tear down. Do other cities have special codes for certain trees? The city I lived in Mexico, also did not allow tree removal, late night tree cutting (and sneaky haul away) was common. The tree fights there got quite nasty.
Christie

[tbb113]

And I know have The Counting Crows version going through my head. I love big trees when they grow on both sides of the street and make a canopy. Just doesn't happen enough here with all the new building going on.

[badunnin]

Originally posted by imloulou
What is the Emerald Ash Borer? Sounds as bad as our own Hurricane Ivan...WOW...the skies sure are blue now!! We lost so many trees....it really is sad no matter what the cause!


Emerald ash borer is a beetle that affects ash trees. Here (http://www.msue.msu.edu/reg_se/roberts/ash/) is a link on its effects. We live in a quarantined area, and you can't take wood, fire or otherwise, from this area out of the area.

[Clover]

Originally posted by badunnin




They are making quick work of them - 20 minutes and it's gone. Unbelieveable. I knew this was inevitable - the trees were all infested, and the problem is spreading like wildfire. I just never realised there were so many ash trees on the street. We have 4 remaining trees, all aspens, that will stay (only the ash tries are affected.)

I will never understand people who will intentionally, and without reason, remove trees. *sigh*

This makes me think of this poem, The Trees are Down. (www.spondee.net/CharlotteMew/trees_are_down.html)

[Wendy w]

It is definitely sad, Bethany. We need trees for so many reasons. One of the very few times that I saw my Mother cry was the time that my chainsaw happy BIL cut down her apricot trees in the backyard. He came over to hack something else and did that without her permission. His argument was that they were full of bugs. I personally saw nothing wrong with them, just thought that it was one of those macho things that required a chainsaw. :rolleyes: My friends,sister, and I concurred that he was full of another matter at that time. I am really sorry as the earth is in need of trees and some (I mean many) just don't get it.

[lindrusso]

Originally posted by aggie94
I hate to admit it, but I pushed to have a 50+ year old oak tree cut down from our backyard in Austin.

Oh I think there are definitely times when cutting down trees is appropriate. If they endanger your house or cause other problems, then you have to weigh the benefits and disadvantages. Some yards simply have too many trees, not allowing for you to use it as a proper yard with room to run/play for the kids and dogs. We looked at a house recently that had a large, unattractive evergreen smack in the middle of the yard. It was neither aesthetically pleasing nor was it practical - I would not have had a problem cutting it down - and the rest of the yard had plenty of trees. What I would not do is cut down our pretty maples out back just because they creat a big mess in spring AND fall. We may grumble when we have to clean the buds and helicopters out of the gutters and then do the same in the fall with the leaves, but we enjoy them. :)

[Kay Henderson]

Perhaps you, your neighbors and your city can work together to choose appropriate trees that will last for decades.

In the Central Valley of California, the Modesto Ash was a commonly planted street tree during the mid-twentieth century. Betweeen being fairly short-lived to begin with, and being subject to massive infestations of mistletoe, many now need to be removed and replaced with other trees. It just doesn't make sense to nurse them along. My mother, for instance, had the mistletoe removed repeatedly and it always came back. She was sad to see her half-century tree go, but the now four-year-old maple which replaced it is strong and healthy and already showing the fall color that will someday make it a specimen tree.

The same thing happens in forests. I have driven Highway 50 from South Lake Tahoe to Sacramento through the American River canyon hundreds of times and presently make the trip weekly. A few years ago, I was very sad when there were some major fires, for I realized that it would never look the same again in my lifetime. What I did not know was that succession has its own beauty. The deciduous shrubs and trees which come before the conifers have been a riot of color each fall for some years now.

So I guess I would say, grieve for your leafy friends but work together with neighbors and your city to plan an urban forest for your street that people will enjoy for generations.

Kay

[fldivegirl]

Originally posted by ChristieinMB
I believe most cities around Los Angeles County do not allow the free removal of oak trees, you must obtain a permit with a very good reason. Oaks are special here, I think other types are okay to tear down. Do other cities have special codes for certain trees? The city I lived in Mexico, also did not allow tree removal, late night tree cutting (and sneaky haul away) was common. The tree fights there got quite nasty.
Christie

In the "city" of Gainesville you have to replant a tree for any one that you have taken down and they make you put in a pretty big tree which can be pretty costly. I have noticed twice that a huge oak was taken down at night on commercial property. I talked with a tree guy once and he said they contract to do this at night for multiple reasons but one is so there is less uproar over the removal of a mature tree. I live out of town on 2.5 acres and we have a fungus in North Florida that is killing our oaks, live oaks are less susceptiple to it but we have so many other types of oaks. My tree guy said we are in a "pocket of fungus" in our area. This fungus is spread by birds and other wildlife like squirrels. I have several trees that have it. Too bad the hurricanes didn't take out those and leave the healthy ones upright!

Speaking of hurricanes...the county and FEMA are burning the tree debris less than 1/2 mile from me. It started Wednesday and is expected to take FOUR MONTHS! This is round the clock burning at high temps aided by high tech fans to keep the temp of the fire really high. This helps burn more effeciently and cleaner. So far no ash, no smoke and no smell! There have been several articles about why not turn into mulch. Well, there was enough tree debris just from our county that it would fill the football stadium at UF 60 feet deep. That much mulch lying around would be a fire hazzard as well.

I hope you get some beautiful replacement trees, it is kind of fun to watch them grow up if you are there for a long time.

P.S. Imloulou, how it going up there in Pensacola? I too remember after Hurricane Andrew in Miami standing on our roof and hardly a tree left!