ADVERTISING: ADVERTORIAL - Tall trees

This week, I want to pull a topic from a series of articles that I wrote a few years ago about tall trees. We have been having an influx of questions regarding customers' trees being too large or too tall for the comfort of the homeowner, so I thought it might be a good idea to reopen the topic.

We usually pose two questions to the inquiring homeowner: what are your concerns with trees being too tall, and what would be the objective of bringing the height down on them? The responses vary, but most of the time we hear things like: “it’s getting too tall for its space, I’m tired of picking up the mess from the tree, it’s blocking my sun/creating too much shade, or I’m concerned with the tree falling over because it’s too tall.” 

In our experience, trees can become overly intimidating to the average homeowner with the main concern being that the tree will grow or already has grown to a size that is unmanageable. We welcome these types of questions and concerns from our customers, and do not want customers to shy away from asking about them. Being a good steward of your personal forest is commendable, and it’s never a bad thing to have these concerns or ask about them. My Grandmother used to tell me, “The only stupid question is the one that you don’t ask.”

The majority of the time, if a tree is getting tall it typically means that it is happy in its environment. A tree will grow the appropriate root system and trunk wood in relation to the trees height to sustain the structural integrity under normal loads such as snow, wind and ice. When a tree is growing in a location where it’s fighting for light, a phototropic response (a growth response to reach for light in its endeavor to sustain the ability to photosynthesize) will occur. This response is also why you will forever battle the height of the tree if you try and reduce it by pruning. The new growth that the tree puts out after pruning will continue to grow in an upward trajectory and be right back where we started.

Aside from a phototropic response, the tree may just be growing into its mature size. Different species and the varieties of these species all have varying heights that they will mature too. This is why proper tree selection for the appropriate location is so important. Most situations I run into though, the trees have been inherited by a homeowner who purchases the property and didn’t have a say in the tree selection to begin with.

Next week, I will jump more into what will happen if we reduce the height, as well provide a couple solutions for mitigating the concerns of a tall tree. As always, for further questions, quotes or consultations, give us a call today, 208-762-5800!

For more information on Grace Tree Service, check out our website at gracetreeservice.com.