Tree advice needed

17 years ago

I couldn't find an appropriate garden forum for this question and I thought that someone here might be able to help.

Hubby and I are looking at houses and this one really strikes our fancy. We love the giant live oak in front of the house but are not so crazy about the huge limbs directly over the roof. We would definitely have a tree guy come take a look before we made an offer. Are we crazy to even consider the house? At the minimum, I think the tree will be an insurance issue, especially since the house is not too far from the ocean. Any advice or observations will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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Comments (6)

deegw
Original Author
17 years ago
Oops - I meant to put this in conversations. Sorry!

If we do buy the house, I'm sure I'll need some decorating advice ...
threedgrad
17 years ago
I might cut off that one branch that is really close to the roof. I would also make sure your house is covered for acts of God, like lightning. Also have a tree specialist come out and check out the tree for stability and health.
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User
17 years ago
Deee, I'd recommend checking the forums at the Arbor Day foundation site linked below.....

Here is a link that might be useful: Arbor Day Forums
organic_rach
17 years ago
The home is beautiful. Can you take down the tree to decease your risk? Maybe sell the tree to an artist or woodworker? Or, have the seller take it out before you buy the home, then plant some trees further out from the home?
Oakley
17 years ago
Is it in a hurricane area? If so then I'd be concerned. We get high winds during Tstorms, and we also get bad ice storms that breaks tree limbs, but our Oaks never sustain damage.

This is an interesting situation! lol
juddgirl2
17 years ago
What a charming house!

Are the branches hanging over bedroom areas in the house? If so, I think I'd be forever worried that a branch would crash through the house and kill someone as they slept!

One other thing to consider is - and this is gross - rats invading your home via the tree branches. Before we lived in our home, there was a large tree close to the house and its branches extended over the roof. Since we cleaned several hundred rat carcasses out of the attic after we moved in - again, gross - obviously the previous owners had a major issue with roof rats and I'm sure the tree branches likely gave them easy access to the house.

We now have a large canary date palm in the back yard and it's branches are just high enough to brush the roof. Just the other night we heard some rustling in the tree and out scurried a mouse or rat, which we're sure is nesting in the tree! We've now screened all the vents on the roof to discourage rodents getting into the attic, but all the same we'll probably trim the branches and set some traps outside.

So, my vote is don't cut down the tree if you can avoid it and the roots aren't so close to the house that they're a risk to the driveway or plumbing (we had to cut down a 70 ft tall ficus and some beautiful pines because they were planted so close to the house 40 years ago and the roots were breaking through concrete), but do consult an arborist about cutting off the branches hanging over the house.