I have a tall (~60 feet) fir tree next to my house. It has grown to the
point where the branches are starting to touch the side of the house, even
though the base of the tree is ~10 feet from the house. What is the best way
to trim the branches - remove them at the trunk, or just cut them enough so
they are no longer near the house? If I start removing branches that grow
enough to touch the house, eventually I will have chopped off most of the
branches on that side of the tree. I'm thinking I should just cut them off
so they are not too close to the house.

On 8/29/2008 9:12 PM, Zootal wrote:
I have a tall (~60 feet) fir tree next to my house. It has grown to the
point where the branches are starting to touch the side of the house, even
though the base of the tree is ~10 feet from the house. What is the best way
to trim the branches - remove them at the trunk, or just cut them enough so
they are no longer near the house? If I start removing branches that grow
enough to touch the house, eventually I will have chopped off most of the
branches on that side of the tree. I'm thinking I should just cut them off
so they are not too close to the house.



On many conifers, a branch will die back to its base if it is cut below
the last live needles. If you need to cut a branch severely, you must
therefore remove the branch entirely. That doesn't necessarily mean
removing it to the trunk, only to where it branches out from some other
branch. Of course, in some cases, a branch might come directly from the
trunk.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

On Aug 30, 12:12�am, "Zootal" wrote:
I have a tall (~60 feet) fir tree next to my house. It has grown to the
point where the branches are starting to touch the side of the house, even
though the base of the tree is ~10 feet from the house. What is the best way
to trim the branches - remove them at the trunk, or just cut them enough so
they are no longer near the house? If I start removing branches that grow
enough to touch the house, eventually I will have chopped off most of the
branches on that side of the tree. I'm thinking I should just cut them off
so they are not too close to the house.

Get rid of that tree, you're looking for trouble.

I have a tall (~60 feet) fir tree next to my house. It has grown to the
point where the branches are starting to touch the side of the house, even
though the base of the tree is ~10 feet from the house. What is the best
way
to trim the branches - remove them at the trunk, or just cut them enough
so
they are no longer near the house? If I start removing branches that grow
enough to touch the house, eventually I will have chopped off most of the
branches on that side of the tree. I'm thinking I should just cut them
off
so they are not too close to the house.

Get rid of that tree, you're looking for trouble.

I live in Oregon. Tree central. The bleading heart activists would firebomb
my house if I cut it down :-(

On a more serious note - I live in a small town in the Wilamatte Valley,
Oregon (Lebanon, about 40 miles SSE of Salem, which is about 50 miles south
of Portland) where the city enacts draconian rules and regulations. They
won't let me remove it, and it's not worth the legal fight it would take to
get permission. Out of curiosity...what kind of trouble could this cause?

Tree Pruning

http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT20...ing/index.html

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.


"Zootal" wrote in message
...
I have a tall (~60 feet) fir tree next to my house. It has grown to the
point where the branches are starting to touch the side of the house, even
though the base of the tree is ~10 feet from the house. What is the best
way to trim the branches - remove them at the trunk, or just cut them
enough so they are no longer near the house? If I start removing branches
that grow enough to touch the house, eventually I will have chopped off
most of the branches on that side of the tree. I'm thinking I should just
cut them off so they are not too close to the house.

On Aug 30, 2:42�pm, "Zootal" wrote:
I have a tall (~60 feet) fir tree next to my house. It has grown to the
point where the branches are starting to touch the side of the house, even
though the base of the tree is ~10 feet from the house. What is the best
way
to trim the branches - remove them at the trunk, or just cut them enough
so
they are no longer near the house? If I start removing branches that grow
enough to touch the house, eventually I will have chopped off most of the
branches on that side of the tree. I'm thinking I should just cut them
off
so they are not too close to the house.
Get rid of that tree, you're looking for trouble.

I live in Oregon. Tree central. The bleading heart activists would firebomb
my house if I cut it down :-(

On a more serious note - I live in a small town in the Wilamatte Valley,
Oregon (Lebanon, about �40 miles SSE of Salem, which is about 50 miles south
of Portland) where the city enacts draconian rules and regulations. They
won't let me remove it, and it's not worth the legal fight it would take to
get permission. Out of curiosity...what kind of trouble could this cause?

It could fall on your house, and possibly squash people inside like
bugs. And being so close to a house foundation it would have poorly
established roots on the house side. It could fall away from the
house but it can just as likely fall towards the house, depends a lot
on windage, it's too much of a crap shoot. And when your home
insurance adjuster comes to inspect they won't pay for any of the
damage because you did nothing to mitigate an obviously dangerous
condition. I somehow don't believe your municipality won't allow a
clear and present danger to be rectified... if they won't let you cut
it down as you claim why would I believe they will let you cut its
limbs.

On 8/30/2008 11:42 AM, Zootal wrote:
I have a tall (~60 feet) fir tree next to my house. It has grown to the
point where the branches are starting to touch the side of the house, even
though the base of the tree is ~10 feet from the house. What is the best
way
to trim the branches - remove them at the trunk, or just cut them enough
so
they are no longer near the house? If I start removing branches that grow
enough to touch the house, eventually I will have chopped off most of the
branches on that side of the tree. I'm thinking I should just cut them
off
so they are not too close to the house.

Get rid of that tree, you're looking for trouble.

I live in Oregon. Tree central. The bleading heart activists would firebomb
my house if I cut it down :-(

On a more serious note - I live in a small town in the Wilamatte Valley,
Oregon (Lebanon, about 40 miles SSE of Salem, which is about 50 miles south
of Portland) where the city enacts draconian rules and regulations. They
won't let me remove it, and it's not worth the legal fight it would take to
get permission. Out of curiosity...what kind of trouble could this cause?



A conifer that close to a structure might be considered a fire hazard.

If you really would like to remove the tree, have your homeowner's
insurance agent or broker evaluate the situation. Also, have your local
fire department look at it. (If you have a volunteer fire service, have
the local fire marshal look at it.)

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/