Posted: 6/18/2015 2:09:23 PM EDT
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My backyard abuts several acres of green belt, and I currently have around 15 large (80-100 foot maybe?) trees within a foot or two of my fence. Many of them are leaning towards my house. They're some variety of cottonwood I believe, and they are sending out roots through my yard. The roots are just at the surface, making my yard very uneven and a pain to mow. The roots also have a bunch of little suckers sprouting from them. I cut them off but more and more keep popping up. So now I can't even get into those areas to mow because I have a bunch of tiny trees that keep coming up. Some are on my property, some just outside of it on public land. I live in unincorporated Snohomish county. I've heard from neighbors who had a similar problem that the county's stance is "Feel free to cut them down but we aren't doing anything about them."
I can't really afford to have a professional company come out. Normally I'd just cut them down myself but given how big they are, their location next to my fence/house, and how badly some are leaning in the house direction I'm worried about doing that. Any thoughts or suggestions? |
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Sounds like your stuck.
If the govt says you can cut them down, but you can't afford it, I'd say your stuck with them. If you do it yourself, make sure you know what you're doing otherwise you will/can cause property damage or hurt or kill someone, maybe yourself. ETA: Be very careful as to what you do to the tree as far as pruning, root removal, etc. If and when the tree does come down, it could be disputed by the insurance company that you did something to the tree to kill it/make it fall. |
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I would go to the county with a letter and photos showing the problem. Either get them do cut them down or get an official letter stating they don't care if you cut them down.
Hire someone to do it, even if you have to take out a loan to do it. Not worth damaging yourself or your house. My parents had a similar situation years ago. Trees were in bad shape and on City of Columbus property. My Dad cut them down and removed them. Had a neighbor of theirs cut the trees on the same strip and left them. City came and took pictures of the downed trees and tried to make the neighbor pay for the trees. It was a ridiculous amount. Had to get a lawyer to settle it. |
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Quoted:
Saw the tree, take a few cuts in the stump with your chainsaw, squirt stump with Tordon. 
So the tree dies, weakens, then falls on his house quicker? That doesn't sound like a good idea. I would start with trimming limbs off in sections that a) OP can tie off the falls and b) aren't large enough to cause damage when falling. Once heavily trimmed, you should be able to drop the main portion with more control. |
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Quoted:
So the tree dies, weakens, then falls on his house quicker? That doesn't sound like a good idea. I would start with trimming limbs off in sections that a) OP can tie off the falls and b) aren't large enough to cause damage when falling. Once heavily trimmed, you should be able to drop the main portion with more control. Quoted:
Quoted:
Saw the tree, take a few cuts in the stump with your chainsaw, squirt stump with Tordon.
So the tree dies, weakens, then falls on his house quicker? That doesn't sound like a good idea. I would start with trimming limbs off in sections that a) OP can tie off the falls and b) aren't large enough to cause damage when falling. Once heavily trimmed, you should be able to drop the main portion with more control. I should have been clearer. Cut the tree down first. I have done this hundreds of times. |
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I'd get permission in writing to cut down the problem trees, then I would cut them down and treat the stumps.
Renting a bucket truck or finding a friend with some climbing gear/know-how would be helpful. You will probably need a stump grinder to get the root area smooth enough to mow. |
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Do you think they are tall enough to reach your house if you drop them? If not, I would take as much of the fence down as I could and saw them down, then put the fence back up. If they can hit your house, you probably have to hire a service. Maybe they'll give you a price break if they simply top them so you can drop the trunk later? |
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I'm local too, and dealt with cottonwoods. I'd suggest getting a tree guy to come take a look, they'll give free advice and estimates, both for the trees, and dealing with the county.
If they are cottonwoods, you have some special issues. As you learned, their roots are very invasive, to the point they can damage underground cables, pipes, wells, drainfields, asphalt, concrete etc. Their wood is very different than typical alders, maples, fir, cedar as well. My tree guy said you can't use cables and wedges to make them fall where you want, because of the weight/strength of the wood they just fall where they want, and they aren't good for climbing either, so you'd have to use a big bucket truck to cut from the top down. The wood also isn't worth much even for firewood, most people don't bother burning it. The good news is that they're pretty resilient to disease and long living, so I don't think you have to worry about them falling on your house, and you may be able to dig/cut the roots coming into your yard. Again, call a licensed/bonded tree guy, there are tons in the area who five free estimates/advice. If they are not cottonwoods, its pretty cheap to drop them. |
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Quoted:
Do you think they are tall enough to reach your house if you drop them? If not, I would take as much of the fence down as I could and saw them down, then put the fence back up. If they can hit your house, you probably have to hire a service. Maybe they'll give you a price break if they simply top them so you can drop the trunk later? They are more than tall enough to hit the house. Farthest is 30-40 feet from the house and they're all quite tall. |
Finally got a semi decent pic. Fence is a few inches under six feet. These are the five worst offenders in terms of sending roots across the yard. We've been digging under and cutting out the worst of the roots and are going to lay gravel down across essentially the entire area pictured.
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So diameters around 16"? Lean in all directions? Any clear space to drop them on the other side of the fence, for the ones leaning that way?
You can buy a 300' spool of 3/4" rope fairly inexpensively on Amazon. Get a good sized come-along. Buy several wedges. The ones leaning toward the drop area don't sweat it too much. Straight up ones, do the wedge cut carefully. Rope and use wedges, should go ok. Ones leaning your direction...just take lower limbs off and keep shoots under control. ETA: wouldn't worry too much about dropping them on your fence. |