That's a dilemma. If it was my house I'd pay for a consultation with a licenced arborist. He/she can tell you the species, health, root structure, water needs and remaining life left in the trees. Before you hire someone, give the City a call and find out about their process. In my City they'll send out an arborist (free) to take a look and advise. If a certified arborist says they have to come down, it should help with the HOA situation.

A big factor for me would be losing the shade they provide, especially in a sunny place like SoCal. That said, if the roots are damaging your house, you'll know what to do. Good luck!

Sweet Gum, ugh! How much shade do they provide to your home?

That is a bit of surface rooting you have going on.

I bet they're beuatiful in the fall.

Really I don't know of you should remove them. There is a chance you could remove one, plant a tree for the next generation and then see how things go.

I hate to remove trees but sometimes it needs to be done. Remove them, get the roots taken care of and replace with species size appropriate for your locale

I'd never remove them if there were any alternatives. That house will bake in the CA sun before new trees get large enough to provide shade. Plus they are beautiful. A root free yard is over rated.

If the trees are healthy I would certainly not remove them, though I would look into groundcovers that would work and forget grass.

That is my philosophy. If an area does not grow grass, mulch it and make it a flower bed. Fortunately (?) I have many trees on my lot and have a constant supply of mulch from the branches. So to transform a bare spot just takes sufficient fallen limbs and time.

I’d keep them

Those surface roots are just the tip of the iceberg. If you remove the trees, you'll have dead roots floating up in the soil for years to come (depending on the soil type). My vote: Keep them.

Depending upon finding that the roots are not damaging your structure —

Another ”keep” vote from someone in Texas with no trees in the yard … and triple digit temps and scorching sun beating down on our house day after day. Our A/C can’t even keep up.

I would love that shade so much.

But ultimately, you have to make the decision best for you. Wish I could take them off your hands. :)

I'm in southern New Mexico and my AC can't keep up with the heat either. I've planted trees all around and just waiting on them to grow and fill in.

I've got a 2-ton compressor on my AC, and it does keep up, but cost of energy increases and service charges. Shade would certainly help.

Folks are often overly concerned about trees planted close to a structure and that concern is usually unwarranted.

Provided your foundation is structurally sound, I would do as einportlandor suggests: hire a certified arborist to have the trees evaluated for any issues (other than proximity). If none, leave them be.

It may be a personal viewpoint but I am reluctant to remove any trees without substantial cause. We need more trees, not fewer!

Floral, you yourself are an interesting and beautiful gardener and person in your own right!! You have helped so many of us===> just had to make that comment.

In this thread I agree with almost everyone given the situation. I am on the side of keeping trees unless they are rotting and so hazardous in a city area. Sigh…….. I have a huge rotting box elder that’s got to be taken down or it will fall on my yard and my neighbors’ garage and house, just like a huge branch did about 6 years ago.

debra

I’m not a fan of removing trees but sometimes it must be done. I’d get several opinions before I removed any if your trees. In your case, I personally don’t like the roots but I’d tolerate that to keep the trees.

Ha, ha ha, djacob. I notice you didn’t say ’gnarly’.

Keep the trees! They are wonderful old family members indeed.

It may not be the popular opinion but I would get rid of the trees because of the surface roots and unpleasant litter. We've removed trees in each of our houses for various reasons.

First house it was a mulberry with a lot of surface roots and poor form and a chinaberry whose seeds where a tripping hazard and nuisance. Second house it was a slew of invasive salt cedars, a damaged pine tree and a canary island date palm because their ultimate massive size deserves big landscapes IMHO. Third house it was six volunteer mesquites from the neighbors that requires constant cleaning up of dropping branches with impaling 2 inch thorns and leaf litter.

in each case we put in more appropriate trees that we and future owners can love. No sin in that.

Might consider cutting down the one closest to the house. The other one seems like it could shade just as well by itself over time. It would grow a lot bigger without competition. I don't know where the sun is in the sky, so I might be wrong. Looks to me there's not enough room for 2 mature trees that close together.

I don't have the tree know-how to suggest what you should do. I tend to agree that maybe a consultation with an arborist and/or an inspection of your foundation might be worth the money. That all said, I really like your trees and I hope you can keep them. I've planted 17 trees in the last two years and can't wait for them to grow up. Mine won't be as big as yours but I'm looking forward to the shade they will provide. I think mature trees add a lot of value to a home and to a neighborhood. They provide clean air and bird habitat as well as shade that can be invaluable if your region is warming like mine.

Keep them! (especially if they are native to the region, which if they are sweet gum is likely the case). And I’m curious— why is their presence preventing you from moving towards xeriscaping? If the tree roots are the only concern, I’m sure you can find native, drought-tolerant plants that would still work for your current site/conditions (trees and all), and incorporate whatever other elements you were planning to into the yard (ie mulch, rock/pebbles, etc).

Yes, keep them and plant a native garden under and around them with shrubs and perennials, so no need to mow! It could be so lovely and make yours the prettiest house in the neighborhood!