I admit, trees provide color, shade, healthy benefits for humans by oxygenating the air, food and habitat for small animals and microorganisms, and reduce the impacts of storm water runoff. Sounds good?
In fact, May 24, 2006 in the style section of The New York Times, an architectural couple living in Brooklyn settled for limiting rather than expanding the renovation of their 600 square foot house with a 400 square foot rental in the back to save the tree in their front yard. They felt it not only shaded their home in summer, but provided a park-like atmosphere. This sacrifice also produced some might creative design solutions. It's worth taking a look at the article. And you ask, "Isn't that a good thing?" N-O, no! Not only did they squeeze themselves into a space sardines would have problems inhabiting, but they did the same to cash-paying tenants.
A client lives in a new development in an Atlanta, Georgia suburb. She bought her house because it was at the end of a cul de sac at the edge of the woods with a huge tree in her backyard. Again, that park-like atmosphere. She loved it even though as an asthmatic she can not go outside and enjoy it. However, one day she did go outside when she kept hearing something on her roof. It turned out it was the overhanging tree branches. In one season, the canopy covered her home from the backyard to the front yard with no end in sight as to its growth.
She immediately had the tree cut down--not because of the problems it could cause to her house, but because she was deathly afraid of the various rodents using the tree as an animal condo--squirrels, possums, and rats. Indeed, the men who cut her tree down found a possum. When my client saw how carelessly they were handling the apparently lifeless creature, she was horrified. She ran from the house and yelled, "Get rid of that thing. Don't you know it's dangerous?" Laughing at her concern, the men insisted it was dead but were astonished when they finally took it across the road, let it go, and it lumbered away. She asked them, "Have you never heard the phrase 'playing possum'?"
Her explanation for braving an asthmatic attack from the surrounding greenery was that when possums bite you, their jaws lock and they can't let go. Yikes. Anyone still think trees are good?
That was not the end of her run in with the rodent condo. Sometime later the client called and said she had a leak in her Kitchen ceiling. Now, this is a three-year old house. Roofs don't deteriorate in three years unless they were poorly installed or something beats them up. I told her it was probably from the tree swaying in the high winds. When the builder took a look, you guessed it, flashing was bent and shingles were damaged or missing due to her beloved tree whipping around and scraping her roof.
You may think pruning the tree would do the trick. Another client's shower drain was backing up. It was an old house with several mature trees in the front yard. Her ranch house had a kitchen on one end and bathrooms on the far end--some sixty feet apart. She wanted to call the rooter guy. I told her to save her money for the tree cutter. Of course, as most homeowners, she thought that was sacrilege. Cut down her beautiful trees with the shade, the color, blah, blah, blah. She would sooner cut off her right arm. I finally convinced her the tree roots had invaded her plumbing pipes because trees will seek water and strangle your pipes.
When the plumber dug up the ground around the pipes, sure enough, they were completely throttled. She had to replace the pipes from the kitchen to the baths and cut down two threes that were against the house. Did I mention she lived in California where they build houses on concrete slab on grade? They dug a trench through the concrete slab from the kitchen to the baths like a surgeon performing a cesarian section. Are you beginning to see a pattern? Ready to concede?
One more fact if you are still not convinced trees are bad. In architecture school, we spent what seemed like five minutes on landscaping and thirty seconds on the dangerous effects of trees and bushes on houses. Maybe it was a little longer, but in a five-year bachelor program, things go by pretty quickly. What I remember is, trees are like icebergs; the part you see is a tiny fraction of what is below. To be perfectly fair to trees, some spread their roots less than others. But they don't call an oak tree a "mighty oak" for nothing. Any tree can harbor unwanted critters, damage your roof, strangle your pipes, crack your foundation, split rocks, and open craters in your driveway large enough to swallow small cars.
Finally, trees can be bad and good. Do some research before you plant a tree near your home. And if the battle is between your home and the tree, the tree will win. So, cut it down. Believe me, even in Brooklyn there is more than one tree.
Connie LeGendre empowers homeowners designing their interiors through e-courses and newsletters. Do-it-yourself homeowners are encouraged to ask questions about their projects when signed up for a Free, downloadable e-course, "7 New Secrets to Unles the Designer in You," at http://www.interiordesignclinic.com
A trained architect and interior designer, fifteen years teaching and running her design business with high-end clients demanding cost-effective and unique solutions, Mz. LeGendre brings that considerable background to her online tips, information, solutions, and Q&A website. The mission is to help translate financially out-of-reach design into affordable creations for anyone who wants to do it themselves.
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