What is the treatment they are talking about? Fertilizing and pruning I understand. Treatment?

What kind of trees? How tall?

Was the person who came out a certified arborist or just someone who drives around with a magnetic sign on a truck?

Joanie, you are more than welcome here! But we need more information, please.

What is your general location, first of all. Do you have any idea what kind of trees they are?

Wht did the tree professional say was wrong with your trees that they required 'treatment'? Right off the bat, I'd say that that sounds a little suspect.

We love pictures over here, joanie. Some of us are professional diagnosticians and we don't/won't/can't offer advice without more facts.

EDITED: (dchall's comment hadn't been posted when I added mine. We said the same thing, pretty much.)

Pictures of the entire trees (up to the top of the canopy) to examine overall health, as well as closeups of the base will be helpful. Also, closeups of any large wounds or cavities. If you see decaying wood or fungus activity, snap shots of them too.

Tree services can be tricky. Sadly, more often than necessary, they (over)prune and (over)fertilize in a such a way that they need to come back year after year. It's an unfortunate way to take advantage of people purely for repeat business.

It's good to appreciate the fall hazards that trees can present. But a healthy tree won't just fall just because it has a full canopy. An over pruned tree will certainly increase the long term risk of fall hazard.

Also, if you have photos of the fallen tree and/or leftover stump (if it hasn't been stump ground). If it's the same type of tree, it could indicate potential issues of neighboring trees of the same species.

also add any information regarding whether construction could have had any impact on the trees.. if you know...

ken

btw ... sounds like a salesman came to sell you stuff.. rather than a certified tree surgeon ...

i highly recommend you have one visit .. see link

https://www.google.com/search?q=asa+tree+surgwon&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=isa+certified+tree+surgeon

if your trees are structurally intact ... they do not need anything that cost money ... the tree underground is twice as big as you see above .. in a pancake form .. if you fert your lawn.. you fert the tree ... etc ...

if your trees are NOT structurally sound... then nothing mentioned above.. will make any difference ...

trees fall down .... the only issue is.. will it fall on something of value.. if so... they gotta go ... and a little canopy thinning isnt going to make a difference ...

more info and some pix... ken

No fertilization for any large tree, sounds like a waste of time and money. I'm not sure about pruning, because you haven't yet presented us with a photo. I agree with Ken, if a tree is rotten and structurally unsound, none of these things are going to help it. I would recommend you getting the opinion of an ISA certified arborist, instead of just "someone".

Sounds like they are drumming up business for themselves . I can't imagine doing all those things at once. Did they say what problem they would treat for?

Thank you all for your responses. It was a certified arborist who inspected the trees. The treatment they want to do is Boost NK 32-0-10 and soil treatment on a tulip and oak as well as prune the oak. I've included some pictures. Our property line goes back maybe six feet or so Into the woods. The tulip tree is closest to the house. The felled tree is on our property. I think it had root rot.

I'm just not sure it makes sense to treat two trees when there are 20 others that could fall on the house. My son works for our county Dept of Environmental Protection and he checked with their tree person. She said if the ground around the tree is good, grass is growing, etc....to just use Leaf Grow to keep the soil and tree healthy. Obviously no grass is growing around the trees in the woods so I'm wondering if Leaf Grow would be good for those trees as well. Thank you again for your help.

Tulip tree near the house

X

Oak tree

General pics of woods and felled tree

My response to the arborist would be "no thank you"..look at all of those trees growing without his help!..don't let him touch that oak..it's magnificent..we have a steady stream of tree trimmers (most NOT arborists) looking for work..I politely say no..some of the trees here were butchered when I came..I'm trying to keep a natural healthy woods..

thanks Logan..so happy that I have a picture of them..I have neighbors that have hired unqualified trimmers..they now have less attractive trees in my opinion..we cut only what is absolutely necessary..broken, dead etc..

In your landscape, I agree that minimal pruning is best. I use a lot of formal pruning because I have topiaries. Not to mention, I use japanese style pruning on lots of my trees (including flowering dogwood, redbuds, crepe myrtles, and several different prunus). Tree butchering (topping, not pollarding) is a common problem here. It doesn't bother me in the least to suggest pollarding a tree, or to pollard a tree, as long as it is a species that takes well to this type of pruning, and it is properly up-kept. The type of pruning really all depends on the look you are going for. I enjoy most, if not all gardens/landscapes when they are taken care of properly. Mine is a mix of japanese and english-style gardening. I just like to mix things up and keep them interesting..... using formal pruning on some shrubs.... letting others grow informally.... put them together, and you have a beautiful landscape!

@OP: Sorry, but I greatly dislike the stark view on the forest so close to the house, regardless of the safety and other issues.

I would cut down all the big trees inside the property line, and grow ornamental understory trees and shrubs along the property line.

It is all personal preference, alright, but you ask for opinions :-)

Ontario makes a good point, because you will still have the backdrop of the woods. I still wouldn't remove the oak.

we have 14 Japanese maples, 5 Kousa dogwoods, 3 redbuds and too many shrubs to list yet still have our native trees..the OP's backyard seems too small to plant more trees..the woods may be less stark when the trees are leafed out..and a habitat for wildlife..

The trees that are remaining will grow out toward the light and hang over the property line and roof. I see problems.

Branches growing over the roof aren't a problem as long as they aren't scraping it every time the wind blows. Just prune the so that they grow around the edge of the roof.

joanie..agree with the others that you should be sure and get advice from qualified people (maybe get multiple opinions)..we have a company that we trust..even if you removed the closest trees a 60 or 80 footer further away could still fall and hit your house!..so unless you want a barren lot (I don't) there's some risk..

Which way does the wind blow? We have several very large trees on the eastern side of our house. Our prevailing winds and spring storms blow from west to east. I sleep well at night. Since the fallen tree went into the woods, you may not have a problem.

i will ask again.. perhaps more clearly ..

when was the house built ... and was the lot a wooded forest.. wherein they bulldozed out a spot to place the house ...

anytime in the last 10 years.. what i might call .. tree time ...

ken

looks like they bulldozed their way into a forest.. and built houses ...

and the trees on the edge of the dozing ... took tree time to die ...

the tree that fell.. seems to be right on the edge of the clearing.. and most likely had half of its root mass destroyed ... it took a decade or two.. for the whole interior to rot away ...

absolutely pure speculation ... without facts to support.. at this time ...

ken

ken described exactly how they built my neighborhood..the arborist we use told me that he's removed lots of dying and dead trees years ago when the neighborhood was new..the contractors didn't protect the trees properly..

The house was built in 1984----we are the original owners---- and the woods were as you see them when we bought the house. It is a tract subdivision.

No branches are touching the roof. The branches on the tulip tree high up slightly overhang part of the roof. I don't think any of them would damage the roof if they fell, but I could be wrong.

It is very windy here today. The trunk of the tulip tree is moving very slightly, barely noticeable. The oak tree is not moving at all. Some of the thinner-trucked trees in the woods are really swaying, but they are too far back to hit us.

Thank you again for all your help.