Maple root girdling an ash

This is nothing earth shattering, but while I was cutting down the maple noted in another thread, and then cutting down an ash right next to it, I noticed how efficiently the maple was laying waste to its neighbor.


Scott

Fight! Fight!

:-)

Nifty!!!!!!! Took me a few minutes to figure it out, but now I see it. I must be going to all the wrong places, I never get to see cool stuff.

At least this time it's not committing suicide by girdling itself (which is so common).

Tell me more about this girdling... I have a beech growing right next to a tulip poplar in the backyard. (I think I should have had one or the other taken down years ago.) The beech roots are almost circling the tulip poplar on the surface. The tulip poplar is huge. One tree removal person told me 200 feet tall but I don't think that big... definitely over 100 feet though based on another near it that I had taken down. One reason I had the tree person look at it is because my house is a likely target if it falls. The removal estimate was $10,000, so I decided that I would just let limbs fall (which they are doing, a few a year, and pretty big ones) and hope the wind was blowing away from my roof.

So could the beech roots be girdling the poplar? How do I know for sure? How do I estimate how many years I have?

You should have told that guy he was crazy. There is no way it should cost $10k to remove a tree.

I agree, that is crazy. I had 8 trees removed, including a huge tulip poplar that required a crane, and stumps ground for around $9K. My poplar had a trunk 6 to 8 feet across. Get more estimates!

I thought it was high, too. It was one of the larger companies in the area that have a crane. They were next door removing a big tree that fell on the neighbor's house.

I've found prices can vary according to how busy the companies are. This guy didn't remember removing two large poplars for me that were way close to my neighbor's house on my side yard. If I recall correctly that was around $4000 about 8 years ago. Not nearly as big but still needed the crane.

I've had other large poplars removed over the years. Just too close to the house. Prices of course keep going up. I always hated the idea of killing healthy trees, didn't really like taking down some badly diseased oaks either. What I have learned, too late, is that those average sized trees will grow quite a bit in 20 years and they might as well come down when smaller if they are close to an expensive structure. Also, I'm probably not the only home that had big roots growing in the French drain around my basement!

I love the way the builder of this neighborhood left so very many trees on the properties 50+ years ago instead of stripping the land, but the ones near many of our homes are now too close and quite large.

I think I need to pay for an opinion from a trained tree person. Someone who can tell me the health of this tulip poplar and whether it's really being girdled. Maybe whether some limbing would make it "safer". (I can see some dead and dying very large limbs.) Or whether the beech should come down instead of the tulip poplar. What would the qualifications of that kind of person be? I do believe that most of the tree companies, large and small, employ people who know the mechanics of tree removal (hopefully) but not really anything about trimming/limbing to preserve a tree - or whether it should be preserved. One guy from a small company said he could cut the top off for $3000. I asked whether that would kill the tree and he just shrugged his shoulders... (I think it would kill the tree, wouldn't it?)

It wouldn't kill the tree if it was done during the winter, but it would create a large wound which will eventually start rotting. Look for the companies in the phone book with the little logo that says "certified arborist".

I forgot to add when you do find a arborist, tell them you are interested in reducing the wind load on the tree. They can often do it by removing smaller branches throughout the crown. It's called reducing the "sail".

Thanks very much escambiaguy. For the tip about "sail" too. It would ease my mind to have the "sail trimmed" if the tree is otherwise OK.

You can find an ISA certified arborist at their website located here: http://www.isa-arbor.com/findArborist/findarborist.aspx

I think in a case such as yours, an ISA certified arborist should be a must.