Trees

I had a brief discussion the other day with one of our neighbors concerning a tree that they had cut in their back yard. She explained that she preferred a wide-open yard around her house and had asked her husband to cut the tree so that they could expand their lawn.

There are pros and cons to eliminating trees and having a wide-open yard, just as there are pros and cons to most other things.

Last fall we cut a number of trees in our yard near our house, including an apple tree just outside the dining room window that had been a wonderful, fruitful tree for many years. It wasn’t without some deliberation that we cut these trees. On the one hand, we enjoyed the shade and shelter that the trees provided the house since we moved in 20 years ago. On the other hand, we did not like the possibility of a limb, or worse, falling onto the house. In some cases the trees were within 15 or 20 feet of the house, which was exceeded several times over by the height of the trees.)

As a consequence of the shade that the trees provided, the sun didn’t penetrate beneath them, leading to moisture and dampness, which promoted the growth of moss, mildew and similar on siding, shingles, etcetera.

We also had occasional problems with tree branches that fell or were blown by the wind causing abrasion damage to the house roof.

Ultimately we decided that the cons of having the trees so close to the house out-weighed the pros, and cut them down.

You may want to consider a similar approach if you have large trees close to your house. Obviously winter ice storms and winds take their toll on trees. If the trees are close to the house, you run a risk of the tree itself toppling onto the house or limbs and branches snapping off the tree and damaging the house, roof, gutters, windows, etcetera.

In addition, you run the risk of having moisture build up on the outside of your house thanks to the trees providing shade and the shelter from the hot, drying rays of the sun.

Finally, with trees close to the house, you not only have to rake leaves from the yard, you also wind up removing leaves from gutters, downspouts, etcetera.

On the other hand, having trees around your house can provide a windbreak, and shelter your house from winter storms while providing a cool haven from the heat of the summer.

Many of these considerations eventually come down to personal taste. It is helpful to consider these pros and cons when deciding whether to maintain or remove existing trees as well as whether to plant new trees around your house.

Despite the benefits of protecting the house, I’m certainly going to miss the apple pies that could’ve been baked with the apples from the tree outside the dining room window!