Trees add incredible value to your property, ranging from increased curb appeal to reduced energy bills. They’re also beautiful and help elevate the aesthetics of almost any yard.
But unfortunately, trees can sometimes experience problems that make them less desirable. This leaves homeowners wondering whether they should consider removing a tree or leaving it as-is.
This question can be a bit complicated, but we’ll try to provide some general advice for when you should consider removing a tree below!
Tree Problems That Are Often Correctable
There are a variety of tree-related problems and issues that cause headaches for homeowners, but many can be addressed. This may alleviate the problem and allow you to continue enjoying your trees for decades.
Your Tree Is Creating Access Problems
As trees grow, they can occasionally reduce your access to various property features. You may, for example, have to fight your way through branches to get in your car, check your mail, or reach spigots around the house. But these kinds of issues are often easy to address via a little corrective pruning.
For example, a technique called crown raising involves the selective removal of a tree’s lower branches. This often provides an easy way to restore the access you need without having to remove the tree entirely.
Your Tree Is Blocking Your View
Even if your tree doesn’t have branches that are preventing you from physically moving around your property, they may block your view. You may not be able to see your pool from your kitchen window or the street from your front porch.
But these types of problems can also be addressed via corrective pruning or crown raising. In many cases, we can help restore your cherished sightlines by making just a few strategic cuts to the tree.
Your Tree Is Declining in Health
Trees may suffer from a variety of stressors that can reduce their vigor, leaving them in poor health. Pests, fungi, bacteria, or diseases may attack some trees, while soil deficiencies, insufficient irrigation, and other types of abiotic factors can also harm a tree’s health.
But fortunately, many of these problems are treatable. Pests and pathogens can often be treated via cultural controls or the careful application of pesticides or horticultural oils. Similarly, things like soil deficiencies can be treated with fertilizer applications, while water deficits are usually very simple to address.
Your Tree Isn’t Growing Quickly Enough
Sometimes, we hear homeowners complain that their trees are not growing quickly enough, which is causing them to consider removal and replacement. But this, too, is sometimes correctable, as there are a few different things that can help speed up the growth rate of trees.
Fertilization is typically one of the first ways to help encourage your trees to shoot up into the sky, and mulching can also support a tree’s overall health, thereby encouraging more rapid growth. Even pruning may help in some cases, as it will allow the tree to allocate more of its resources to growth rather than maintenance.
Your Tree Is Losing Its Leaves
Defoliation can be a disheartening issue, as it leaves your tree partially or completely bare and generally pitiful looking. And aside from the aesthetic problems caused when a tree sheds its leaves prematurely, you’ll also stop enjoying the shading, windscreening, and energy-saving benefits healthy trees can provide.
The good news is that trees can often withstand defoliation and come back healthy, unless the problem occurs several years in a row. The trick is to have the cause of the defoliation identified and treated. This may include things like pesticide or antifungal treatments, or you may simply need to provide more water.
Your tree Is Preventing You From Growing Grass or Plants Below
One of the most common issues we hear about from our customers relates to the inability to grow plants or a carpet of lush grass beneath a tree. Often, this is simply due to the tree shading the area below, and preventing the plants or lawn from getting enough sunlight.
But in many cases, this can be addressed by removing individual branches or carrying out something called crown thinning. To thin the crown of a tree, our arborists will selectively remove some of the branches, which will allow more sunlight to reach the ground below.
Problems That Often Require Tree Removal
On the other hand, some tree-related problems are difficult to correct – no amount of pruning or pesticide application will correct them. In these cases, removal and replacement may be the very best option.
Your Tree Is Creating a Safety Risk
Trees that represent a bona fide safety hazard should usually be removed. This not only includes trees that may fall over on your home but also trees that may fall onto high-traffic portions of your property.
It is sometimes possible to support trees that are at risk of falling (or dropping large branches), but it is difficult for homeowners to know when this is possible. You’ll simply have to have an arborist inspect the tree and assess the likelihood of failure.
You Have a Dead Tree
While there is something to be said for retaining dead trees for the wildlife value they provide, this isn’t usually safe unless the tree is located far from people and property. However, in most cases, dead trees should be considered hazardous and removed and replaced.
Aside from the potential risks they present, dead trees don’t provide any of the benefits (aside from wildlife habitat) that living trees do. They don’t shade your property, absorb excess stormwater, or increase your property value (they’ll actually reduce it in many cases). So, you’ll generally want to remove it and replace it with a live tree that provides value.
Your Tree’s Roots Are Causing Problems
Trees – especially willows, poplars, and a few other species – can have invasive root systems, which may widen cracks in your foundation, infiltrate water pipes, or lift driveways and other hardscapes, causing them to crack and crumble.
These types of problems are rarely easy to address or prevent. Root barriers can be useful in some cases, but they aren’t always practical. Some people try to cut the problematic roots, but this often results in a dead tree. Instead, trees with problematic roots should usually be removed.
Your Tree Was Improperly Planted
Trees must be planted properly to have a real chance at thriving over the long term. Those that are planted too deeply, installed in a hole with soil amendments, or inserted in the ground without removing the top portion of the wire included with some balled and burlapped trees may never reach their full potential.
There’s not much you can do about any of these problems, so trees that were installed incorrectly will usually require removal and replacement. And because existing tree roots take a long time to break down (and therefore make the location unsuitable for new tree installation), you’ll likely want to throw in the towel and make the change sooner than later.
Your Tree Was Poorly Selected for the Space
The single most important thing you need to do to ensure the long-term success of a tree is to select the right species for the planting location. You can’t, for example, change the amount of sun exposure the site receives or the type of soil present.
But the most common way this problem becomes evident is when a large species is planted in a small space. While you may be able to reduce the size of a tree slightly through deliberate pruning, there are limits to this practice. And unfortunately, most large trees planted in small spaces will require removal.
Grey-Area Cases: Trees That May or May Not Require Removal
There are also cases in which the need for tree removal isn’t cut and dry. These cases will require assessment on a case-by-case basis.
The Tree Has Suffered Root Damage
Tree removal may be necessary if there has been a lot of root damage — especially if any large roots have been cut. A tree’s roots not only allow it to draw water and nutrients from the ground, but they also serve to anchor the tree, keeping it stable and upright.
Trees that suffer from root system damage often go into decline, and they may even start to physically fail. So, always do everything you can to protect a tree’s roots, and consult the tree-care professionals at Elion Landscaping & Tree Service if you notice damaged roots.
The Tree Has Dead Branches (Especially Large Trees)
Falling tree limbs are an underappreciated hazard that you should never ignore. And while live branches rarely fail in calm weather, dead branches can fall at any time and with no warning whatsoever.
Dead branches can often be removed carefully via pruning, which will help to reduce some of the risks presented. However, dead branches may also indicate an underlying problem. For example, dead branches are quite common in diseased trees and those that are suffering from soil compaction. So, it’s important to have these kinds of trees assessed promptly.
The Tree Has Cavities in the Main Trunk
While trees can often seal off problematic portions of the tree (something arborists call “compartmentalization”), tree cavities can indicate significant internal decay at times. This means you may have to remove a tree with a large hollow trunk in some cases, whereas others may retain their structural integrity and be safe to leave standing.
Typically, small cavities are not a big deal, as long as they’re not accompanied by other troubling signs, such as vertical cracks in the tree’s trunk. Fungi growing on the trunk or tree limbs may also be a sign that you need the tree removed.
Your Tree Is Shedding Small Branches
It’s always important to have a tree assessed if it begins dropping branches, as it may represent a safety hazard. However, healthy trees often shed branches as part of their natural lifecycle, so removal is definitely not inevitable in these cases.
Often, you can mitigate the problem via pruning – especially a technique called crown cleaning. This involves the removal of all dead, dying, or damaged branches within a tree’s canopy. This helps to eliminate the potentially hazardous branches in a controlled manner and reduces the chances of additional branch shedding.
FAQ: Do You Need Tree Removal Services?
Still have questions about your tree’s condition? Wondering if you will need a tree care professional to remove it or if corrective tree care will suffice? We’ve rounded up some of the most common questions below!
Do dying trees require removal?
Not always. Some trees that appear to be dying can be saved with corrective tree care. So, be sure to contact the tree-care professionals at Elion Landscaping & Tree Service anytime your tree shows signs of failing health.
Should ash trees always be removed?
No. While ash trees are susceptible to attack from the emerald ash borer, there are preventative treatments available that’ll protect your trees. However, if you have dead ash trees on your property, you should have them removed for safety reasons.
What tree species are most hazardous?
Any tree species can be hazardous if it sustains extensive damage, has multiple trunks, or suffers a lightning strike. However, a few species — including Bradford pears, box elders, and water oaks — are often at high risk of failure.
If a tree is sick, will it infect nearby trees?
It depends on the reason the tree is sick, but in many cases, the answer is “yes.” Especially if the tree is being attacked by an insect pest, bacteria, or fungus.
Are tree diseases treatable?
Many tree diseases are treatable, but it’s important to start treatments quickly, before the tree becomes severely stressed.
Do leaning trees require removal?
Some leaning trees do require removal — particularly if the lean is sudden. However, many trees survive for years while exhibiting a slight lean. This is often the tree’s way of accessing sufficient sunlight.
Contact Elion Landscaping & Tree Service Today
Whether you think your trees are creating more problems than they’re worth and require removal and replacement, or you think they still have years left and could benefit from some structural pruning or mulch application, Elion Landscaping & Tree Service can help.
Simply head over to our contact page to receive a free quote and make an appointment. But it is important to do so soon – some tree problems can become untreatable within a matter of weeks, and hazardous trees can topple over at any moment.
