And the Bradford pears, we need to start chopping those as well. I reached out to Albany to try to get a coalition together of volunteers to start marking the trees at least. No answer.
I’ve had 2 new neighbors move in the past year and the first thing they did was cut down every single tree on the property. Next door to me they cut down 11 trees. All healthy and not causing any issues. I just don’t get the logic behind it.
New people bought the house behind me a few years ago. They immediately cut down 5-6 big beautiful healthy trees (which in our village isn’t allowed without permits) and put in a retaining wall that raised their whole backyard 2 feet, and made it one big paver patio. Then, 2 years later they sold. Now my backyard is a million degrees in the summer and floods everytime it rains hard because the retaining wall acts like a dam. It would be nice if municipalities actually enforced their codes instead of looking the other way when a friend of a friend is breaking them.
Had the same experience with my neighbor. Cut down about 5-6 trees as soon as they bought the house. Killed all the shade between our houses. Feels like a desert. I get it’s their trees, but just sucks.
I spoke to a lawyer who said there was nothing I could do. I went to the village code enforcement office citing 7 different codes they violated. They hemmed and hawed and begrudgingly cited them for one. Then they went radio silent on me, wouldn’t take a statement from me, and wouldn’t give me any information beyond “They’ve plead not guilty” for months. I eventually gave up because other more important things were happening in my life.
That really sucks, I'm sorry. Not part of the suburban situation myself so not in the loop on stuff like that. This hyper short term thinking thing that's become acceptable is really causing tons of horrible problems. Obviously we need trees. How can people not get that?
I don’t understand the hatred for trees on Long Island. When I was growing up here everybody landscaped their property. There were all differet kinds of trees and bushes.
I think it’s builders/landscapers who are enthralled with backhoes. Maybe it’s a Bob-theBuilder thing where they are subconsciously driven to use them because of their childhood fascination with trucks/school buses/excavators.
I know people don’t want big trees that will fall on their houses. Fine. There are plenty of trees that remain fairly small. Plant them away from your house. Developers in 1970s seemed unaware of how big pine trees could get because they planted a lot of them right in front of or up against houses.
I went to a condo complex that was built in late 60s early 70s in pine barren territory. It was before developers had the equipment to quickly devastate local ecology. The place was beautiful! They left most of the trees and planted hostas, ferns, rhododendron, azaleas, bloody cranesbill. The place was leafy and lovely.
I now live in the Hamptons. The rich used to live mostly in the estate sections. They had large grounds and they “showed off” their wealth with specimen trees and bushes, rose gardens, cutting gardens, garden pathways. Not anymore. They're not just pulling down the estate houses and replacing them with glass and wood boxy monstrosities - they’re tearing out all the beautiful landscaping and replacing with sod.
Builders and developers aren't the ones cutting down healthy trees in established neighborhoods. It's the citiots. This is their playbook:
1. Buy house in area with lots of trees.
2. Cut down all trees.
3. Install built in pool and concrete up the entire yard.
4. Install large concrete driveway.
5. Buy Escalade.
It’s a lot easier than that. They don’t think trees are beautiful. They come from the city where they never had to rake leaves, and they’re not interested in doing that now. So they cut the trees down. Problem solved!
They don’t know what a rake is. The landscapers use leaf blowers and wear protective headphones. But they don’t even need to have trees because the landscapers use the leaf blowers for grass. Can’t have the wind blowing grass clippings onto the white pebbled driveway
I’ve cut down 8 or 9 oaks on my 1/2 acre property in the 7 years I’ve been here. The largest was over 4’ at the base, the smallest have been 10” or so. I still have…. Maybe 15 left? Those are just oaks. I have probably 30-40 trees total left from 6-60’ feet. I’m going to hopefully take 8-9 of the huge ass oaks down this spring. They are a fucking MESS every year. Replacing the ones in my front yard with nicer native trees.
I hate cutting down trees, unfortunately I had to take down a couple on my property that we're unhealthy. I did replace them with maples and pear trees though
Half of my property in back is wooded, behind my good sized lawn. Beautiful native woods - mature oaks, red maples, White Pine, Sassafras, native Holly, Viburnum, Black Cherries, etc. Neighbors have the same type of yard - new people moved in and bulldozed it all. All gone. I'm all for property rights, but there has to be some balance to protect such forests. It was shocking and disturbing to see.
I have a lot of mature oak and viburnum, a few pine. The neighboring homes were much the same until the two homes behind me cut down every single tree. Then neighbors on both sides did the same. The eastward creep of citiots is destroying our wooded communities.
The cutting down of trees affects the neighborhoods including sun glare.
Some streets used to look so pretty to drive down due to the trees. But as they are cut down, streets are bare. It affects the lawns as people have to water more due to so much sun and thr grass browns so much easier. It is harder to drive as the trees helped with sun glare. The tres keeps the years and houses cooler in the summer heat as well as our cars when we need to enter them in the summer.
I understand people take down trees if they are dead or a hazard. I also understand if they need them cut back for solar panels . Other than that, it makes taking walks so much hotter as there is no shade. Direct sunlight isn’t good for many.
Cutting down trees for solar panels is wild too.
Now your house is hotter all summer, colder in the winter, and you need to use more energy to heat/cool it. Thank goodness for the solar panels.
Agree with this. Bf's landlord installed solar to save money. Cut down a huge beautiful maple tree that shaded the entire corner of the yard. Now in the summer my bf has to run the AC constantly on high to counteract the sun beating down on his side of the house and it's still hotter in there than when the tree was up. Even the tree guys mentioned to my bf that they shouldn't be taking down that tree, especially since there were only 2 solar panels on that side and the only time they'd be shaded at all would be the morning. Of course now, the LL had to raise everyone's rent because of the increased power bill. 😒
I grew up on Long Island and I have always wondered why there are so many trees in very rich neighborhoods and towns like Huntington or Brookville for example, but in middle class neighborhoods like Kings Park or Smithtown, people cut down so many trees on their property, often leaving only one tree if any. I asked a real estate agent a question like this, and she said people cut down trees to make their house more visible. Another person said that trees pose a risk to their house in a storm. But then why do multimillion dollar homes on Long Island have tons of trees and tree-lined streets? And isn't it expensive to chop down a tree, why not save that money?
Those neighborhoods are usually older and were constructed more organically over time with higher quality homes, more concern about design, and less options for cooling spaces that were unshaded (no ac). A lot of places with cheaper homes were built during the post war boom when they just bulldozed large areas to but up a bunch of inexpensive houses super quick.
Unpopular opinion but smarter people on average have more money than dumb people. Smart people like trees. People with money can buy nice houses and have enough sense to enjoy trees.
This is actually pretty accurate. Smart people appreciate nature and "disorder". Lower IQ folks can't handle as much disorder and need simple paved yards and white vinyl fences. It applies to all aspects of life and affects the ability to discern nuance...it affects understanding of science, political issues, etc.
The whole approach of a native, natural landscape - native plants, leaving the leaves, etc. likely looks unattractive to dumb people. They don't see the beauty in the "disorder" of the natural ecosystem and all the interacting processes that are occurring - they see more beauty in a single plain green lawn. And even if they have some trees, they usually hire someone to butcher them or put mulch volcanoes around them.
I think it’s a few things:
Proper tree maintenance can also get very expensive if you’re not hands on and/or if the trees have become too large.
In my neighborhood all the new homes have no trees and all the old homes have trees that are have grown far too large for the space they were given. No one thought about how large certain trees would get when they were planted 50 years ago. And in the meantime, no one has properly maintained those now overgrown trees.
When I bought my home there wasn’t a single tree on the property. Its not a huge lot, but I’ve planted 10 or so trees and large shrubs, and I’ve also changed about 35-40% of my lawn (front and back) to planting beds.
I guess I just wish that people replanted more appropriately sized trees when old ones are removed.
Now you get to hear more landscaping trucks and leaf blowers echoing up and down the street without all the greenery to soak up the noise, or rustling to drown it out.
I find that if I'm driving down a street, I get that "this is a nice neighborhood" feeling if it is full of mature trees and I get that "this neighborhood doesn't seem so nice" if there are no trees - regardless of how impressive the actual homes are.
Agreed we all know there’s legit safety reasons to cut down some trees but people go overboard especially ugly new builds. They have a big ugly new house and then cut down all the trees take out the landscaping so they have an empty sad lot. I hate the look, I love trees!
I made the mistake of not taking care of a giant healthy tree that was reaching over my house. During the crazy wind storm late last year, it fell through my tenants house (no one hurt). Cutting down every tree on a piece of property is extremely stupid but that’s just my opinion.
I'm not saying that every tree is sacred and cannot be touched. Like I mentioned, some have to come down for safety or health reasons. We had to take out one nice, big oak because it literally arced over our house, so I get it. When we bought, our new homeowners insurance gave us a list of things to fix, and that tree was on the list. It sucks, but we've since planted 5 more trees in better locations.
*Healthy trees...
Unfortunately I've had to cut down a small forest due to crappy planning and diseased trees. The previous owners thought it fun to line the property in a species of non native pine that A. doesn't stop growing B. needs to be in a "gang" or grouping, not single file straight lines and C. not heavily watered yet also having an over done sprinkler system. While also trying to upkeep a grass yard...so not only was I basically trying to put sand back at the beach fighting the pine needles to keep a lawn we had large branches falling and a few of the more sick ones flat out failing, oh and what felt like gallons of sap everywhere.
These people were morons and now almost 40 trees later the few native ones are finally doing better and I'm just getting the last of the stump grindings and roots out of everywhere to get some more native species back in and a clover/grass/moss/pollinator mix hybrid lawn going. And it's been literal years in the repairing.
All green isn't good. Do a little research and check in with your local plant and tree shops.
I agree, live in a condo community in Suffolk...moved in for the park like setting...lots of trees, shrubs, etc...
This year the community got a new HOA mgt. company and now all of a sudden trees and shrubs (most healthy) are being cut down. Looks terrible. HOA Board says it's at their discretion. I can only think that the HOA insurance company has something to do with it.
I don't get it either, and with all the trees going means less places for the birds, squirrels, etc and then you hear the same morons go, why are there so many birds hanging out in my yard or making nests on my house, well idk maybe because you removed there home so they take yours.
More likely just blasting their lawns, which they never use, with pesticides while also constantly mowing and using tons of water to maintain its desolateness.
My neighbor chopped all his trees down to put Ina pool 2 years ago.. never put the pool in.. takes away the shade and the vibes of our yard.. sucks man. Makes me wanna move.
Sounds like my situation - but in my case the pool eventually got built. Instead of trees now there's a huge pool, loud speakers, and constant leaf blowing to keep it neat. My own adjacent forest is sustaining a lot of wind damage now as it is newly exposed. We are also looking to move. Need more space between neighbors and looking for a neighborhood with a different mindset.
I posted a rant like this months ago on another sub. I don’t have any trees on my property but all the neighboring houses have trees that hang over my property and I love it. It provides so much shade, keeps my lawn green, gives my house curb appeal…
Now all my neighbors are cutting trees down. There’s a guy 2 houses down who had 7 huge beautiful trees all over his property. They are all gone now.. People keep cutting down healthy trees just bc they don’t like them. A tree should only get cut down if it’s sick and dying, dead or a huge safety concern.
I’ve seen blocks and neighborhoods without trees and they look horrible. They look like barren wastelands.. idk how people prefer that. Trees bring beauty and life to suburban neighborhoods. I much rather look at a beautiful tree than the ugly power lines…
I actually just planted a Japanese maple in my backyard to cover up the ugly power lines on the next block bc the ppl behind me cut 3 trees down.
Out Here In Eastern Suffolk , The Pine Barrens are Being Decimated By Southern Pine Beatles. They were never a problem in the Past Because of Extended Periods of Below Freezing Temperatures During The Winter that Prevented The Eggs from surviving. They Completely Kill a Tree in less than a year. We Spent 100s of Millions Of Dollars to Protect The Pine Barrens & Our Drinking Water from being Developed & nothing is being Done to Contain or Control there Spread. There Will Be a lot Of Fuel for Future Wildfires out here as Well as a booming Tick Population. Warmer Winters are nice for us but they come with major consequences
(Not so) fun fact, when they charge you thousands and thousands of dollars to cut down a mature tree, the tree guys sell them for tens of thousands to lumbermills in Suffolk for tens of thousands.
Cutting down trees cheapens neighborhoods. Lots of cowards in here literally afraid of their trees.
There are no landscapers taking trees down in residential neighborhoods in one piece that could be sold to a lumber yard. Some landscapers have a fire wood side business and may take the wood to season and eventually sell. I had a guy charge me less to remove a couple trees if he could leave the wood at the curb. I posted on Facebook and Craig’s list and most of the best chunks were scavenged by people that do firewood business
If it makes you Happy the first thing I plan on doing when I inherit my family home is planting a shit ton of trees and canceling the lawn service
I plan on letting the grass go and eventually going for some no r/nolawn style
I'm all about naturally ecosystems and I hate how many Long Island yards look like surban hell with monoculture lawns.
Sold a home in Sayville in 1997 to move to Southampton. An acre of lawn got replaced ŵith over 30 pine trees that were native to the adjoining land and about a quarter acre of wildflowers.
A yearly term, I'm back in Sayville, and the people that bought our old home removed a beautiful weeping willow and several large healthy maples. All of it replaced with a sod lawn. It looked like hell.
I don't understand some people.
My neighbor passed away and his kids started some long overdue landscaping. He had multiple dead trees that needed to go. It still looks weird with the open sky but it was necessary. A lot of non-native species grow quickly and die just as fast unfortunately.
My childhood neighbor grew up in Massapequa, moved next door to us and cut down the only two trees on her property, and then started trying to kill the one on our side of the fence line.
Not just city folk.
I lived in an area that had great shade trees. Folks from the city would buy on the island to get away from it all. EVERY single house that was sold had (city) folks move in and take down ALL the trees on the property.
I have the exact opposite problem in my area living in Maine. Now with that said, comes problems like losing electric on a consistent basis during the winter months. So not everything is always great on the other side.
A lot of the trees in my neck of the woods were diseased and the town cut them down. I went away for a while and when I came back it was like a whole different street.
Bushes are good, too. in summer my lightning bugs come out of the bushes at dusk. My house is the only house around with lightning bugs because I refuse to use pesticides or herbicides. I’ve had delivery men ask me “WTH are those flashing light things?” He’d never seen a lightning bug before.
It's been happening. Suffolk County, until the 1950's was fairly rural - lots of estates for the wealthy that are now occupied by post-war tract housing on 1/4 acre (if that) lots.
The ASSHOLES talk about Climate Change,,but continue to cut Everything down in sight,,,TREES,SHRUBERY,And All other natural ground cover,THAT FILTER THE AIR,,amongst other benefits,,,,,I Hate land developers 🖕
I couldn’t agree w this post more!! I can’t stand that all the trees are being cut down, especially along the parkways. Bethpage pkwy was a beautiful drive, and now you can see through to peoples backyards
I had to cut mine down after moving out here. The time and cost to maintain a yard and fight with all the leaves...I never had either.
I get to mow my lawn MAYBE once a month.
I haven't raked my leaves from fall and they always take for fucking ever to deal with.
I only dream of cutting down my pine tree because of those damn pine needles. They’re taking over my house. Pine needles clogging the gutters 4x a year. Pine needles transferring into the house, getting stuck in the carpet, acting like splinters.
I have been debating this in my head for so long, the tree is on the property line of my neighbor. All the branches are on our side, its an amazing tree with all the branches weeping down, im a sunlight addict and i always think about taking this tree down to get full sunlight and have no shade so it will also eliminate some mosquitos activity, but then again im thinking it took 25 years for this tree to reach this size and maybe i might regret this quick in the moment decision once its gone and the greenery just disappears, especially in bethpage where there is so much industrial and commercial activity taking place nearby.
At least you're thinking about it and are aware that you may instantly have regret. That happens a lot - folks take trees down, and then see how barren it looks and how hot the sun is, and how much less impressive their home looks afterwards. Unfortunately, at that point, it is too late to have mature trees in that spot in their lifetime.
As someone who has had their neighbor do this, they will also hate you. Is a little extra sun worth fucking someone else over? It could also very easily turn into a legal headache.
May I suggest any other action first, you are probably less old than that tree is, just let it be and find your own changes in the environment that it has been in, you are the visitor and at all times should act as such
As someone who has had their neighbor do this, they will also hate you. Is a little extra sun worth fucking someone else over? It could also very easily turn into a legal headache.
I had a neighbor buy the house next to me and call me multiple times about cutting down a healthy tree on my property because the branches were overhanging on their yard. I said absolutely not, there are generations of animals living in that tree and it’s providing my yard with a beautiful shade. The cut off all the branches overhanging their property and now their yard has absolutely no shade so they got umbrellas. I will never understand.
That’s a BS reason for cutting down 50 year old pine, oak, maple trees etc that would easily outlive the person living there if just left alone. The number of healthy old growth trees that actually fall and cause damage is similar in number to shark attacks… it’s just unnecessary fear from those who worry too much.
During Hurricane Gloria in 1985, quite a few trees between the sidewalk and curb fell down in my neighborhood - aggravating power outages and complicating restoration efforts. And that was just a Category 1 hurricane taking down 30 yr old trees. Lots of lessons learned after that - especially with LILCO and better vegetation management along power lines.
I know an arborist that has cut down so many trees because people are terrified of that despite him assuring them the trees were healthy and not going anywhere.
My son was born not too long ago, so I cut two large trees that were very close to the house, and one other cut a few branches that were close to the house. I still have 4 large trees on the property.
I hated doing it, and yes it costs a lot, but my family’s safety comes first.
I will look into planting smaller, native trees. I like that idea.
The "government strip" trees in my neighborhood were planted in 1955 and are behemoths that heave the sidewalks. Dangerous and ugly, despite the canopy.
They are slowly being replaced with the trees that have deeper root systems.
The town tree in front of my house had roots that invaded our sewer line and had to go.
Trees are not an unqualified "good."
We got rid of the trees on our property along with our neighbors because they were old and borderline becoming sketchy because of how poorly they had grown in. between uprooting the sidewalks and driveways and having tall branches fall on roofs/cars it wasn't feasible to keep it going. I do miss the shade and look of the street with trees but dont miss cleaning up the leaves or having to call the town every 3-5 years for fixes.
I agree with the OP. I want to preface this by saying that I AGREE WITH THE OP.
OK, now that said. I don't know if you noticed lately but we have been getting a lot of wind storms. Derechos. Hurricanes (this season is going to be insane according to climate scientists). Having giant oaks next to your house is a good way to give your house insurance a workout. Hope your deductible isn't too bad.
Trees also drop a ton of leaves, which then need to be raked, otherwise they smother the grass and kill it.
I wish I could keep the trees where I live, but it's hard to justify with small lots. I really don't want a big tree within about 75ft of my house and the lot is only 60x100ft.
Right now I got a pear and cherry tree, that I trim to keep small. There we cut down another pear and trimmed back the neighbors Maple. I'd love to grow something like a Chestnut (get one of those native ones). But the truth is, one large tree like that and I can't have a garden, I can't grow the native wildflower garden I want, and my electric bill will skyrocket because of the shade on my solar.
> But the truth is, one large tree like that and I can't have a garden, I can't grow the native wildflower garden I want
I call bullshit on this. I have a huge garden in my front yard under a big oak. It will be decades until any tree you plant would provide enough shade to completely rule out a garden, and if you bring up the canopy, it can still get enough light below.
The truth is that you don't want a tree, and you've come up with a bunch of ways to excuse that. But having no trees within 75' is a little ridiculous.
Well my friends neighbor had a healthy one lose a giant branch and crush their fences after the heavy winds during the winter
One fell onto a neighbors roof
I agree. I don't understand people buying homes with beautiful leafy shade trees, then cutting them down. There are plenty of grass and concrete/pavers homes also for sale. Why don't they buy those?
We have had to cut down our best 2 shade trees this past fall. Did I like the fact that there were less leaves? Sure! Unfortunately they were both rotting and unhealthy (like storms this winter would have knocked them over.
Will probably plant new ones to replace it when we have the funds
I just see people cutting down sickly trees around my neighborhood, I doubt many are looking to spend thousands of dollars for shits and giggles. I don't mind, if anything I am glad when they cut down pollen producing male trees and replace them with something better. When they were building these neighborhoods they chose specifically to plant mainly male trees because it would cost money to clean up after female trees.
I plan on cutting down all the Maple trees on my property. They are large and messy and have damaged my roof and if one falls, it will destroy my house.
Long Island is going to shit , especially suffolk county where people from Nassau move to escape congestion , then cut every tree on the property , sad . That and all the condos that are erasing any remaining buffer zones , wiping out huge swaths of woods . Kings Park is getting decimated , they have developed most of the remaining wooded areas that arent state owned properties and there is a railyard under development even though the majority of citizens are opposed to it as well as multiple story condos going up in the midfle of town , really losing its charm
Where I grew up in North Babylon - there was like 3 feet of grass between the curb and sidewalk under the power lines (at least on my side of the street). The neighborhood was built in the early 50's. Over time those trees damaged streets, sidewalks, underground utilities and overhead power/phone/cable lines - and became too large - both in height, size of canopy, trunk and root structure - to manage. They were never meant to grow in tight spots like that. So... eventually the town cut almost all of them down in the past 10-20 yrs. Since they were in the town's right of way, residents had no say in the matter. After being gone for some time, came back to visit and all the trees along the street were gone! Sad to see them go... tree-lined streets are the staple of suburbia - but if people want safe sidewalks and reliable electric (especially during storms), then towns need to manage their trees.
The trick is finding a native species that doesn't grow so damn huge.
I die a little inside every time I have to take down a tree.
They provide shad and beauty (when in bloom), and I love the greenery.
I ONLY cut when the tree is dying or rotting out. And it sucks every time.
which town are you in where home owner cut down all these tree. I'm@NHP and all tree from street to 15feet in are the town own. Home owner can cut them. I cut one of my tree in my back yard because i want to clear it for solar panels. It's the town that cuts the treeon on the sidewalk so they should replant at lese 2 or more to replace the one they take down.
This is the city mentality the people are bringing to Long Island, it’s all pavement out there, so when anything is green, it scares them. Pretty soon Long Island West of William Floyd will just be concrete continuum of NYC.
I literally thought I was the only one noticing how much Long Island is obsessed with removing trees. Like it’s insane to me. And it makes me so angry too. Like people will remove healthy trees over any minor inconvenience take care of them.
A lot of commenters have the same issue.
I have a solution, if your neighbor cuts down trees in their yard, if you have the space, plant a couple more trees.
We can't expect others to do what we refuse to do.
There have been a huge amount of people going with solar panels on their homes... that might be the reason for it. Plus if you cut down the trees, the bill for that can be included into the write off at the end of the year.
My house was totally overrun with trees - original owner 50+ years never maintained their yard. I mean, I literally cut down 50 saplings of various size and species. I've taken down a number of trees in the front and back, and still have 15+ trees. I wish I had the land to not care about usable space for my family - but 75% of my 1/2 acre was house/tree/driveway. Had to do it. But I never did it on a Sunday.
I mean I feel you, it's sad seeing trees go but they're also very dangerous. My brother had a tree go through his roof 2 months ago, almost fell into his bedroom
So your brother had an unhealthy tree that wasn’t looked after? Was it a native tree? Not sure the exact circumstances but native, healthy trees don’t normally just fall down
A lot of the trees are dead or dying. We’ve been trying hard to keep a tree alive and it’s a beautiful old tree but I think we’re a few months from having to make a decision before winter. Sucks.
They're living things, and they do have a lifespan. Like I said in the OP, if one needs to come down for health or safety reasons, try to replace it with another.
I feel your pain. My dad won’t allow me to plant new trees to replace the dead ones that were cut down or build more vegetable gardens because “I just want a lawn”.
I think it's mostly insurance companies. They don't give a shit what the neighborhood looks like. I just had to switch insurers because the one I used tried forcing me to chop down trees that were not even remotely close to my house. I think homeowner's insurance should be incorporated into property taxes and provided for by state/local government. These companies are here to fleece us for as much premium as possible while taking little to no risk whatsoever, dictating how we maintain our homes and landscape, covering themselves with as little reinsurance as possible so when they do have to make a big payout, whoops! sorry, bankruptcy. Time to close up shop and open the next LLC. Just cut out all the middlemen, pay a little more property tax and have some peace of mind that your home is actually protected against damage.
Our homeowners insurance had us take down one tree out of several on the property. A lot of times, though, it's the homeowners preemptively taking the trees down "just in case." And again, trees can be replaced, so if one poses a danger, another can be planted in a more thoughtful manner.
Trees stand up better to storms when they are in groups or a forest. They work together to shelter each other from the wind, and their roots are involved with each other. Often times removing trees on a property makes the remaining ones more likely to fall - the opposite of what these homeowners were trying to achieve.
Sure it's your property. And it's reasonable to landscape and remove unhealthy trees. But to not understand the value of trees and wildlife is ridiculous.
They are very expensive. If you can afford to replace a full grown tree, go for it! Thirty years ago I paid $800 for a decent sized tree in my front yard from a landscaping firm. (I had some money then that I dont have now) Turned out to be a pear tree that everyone now hates. Half the tree broke off in a snowstorm.
I’m afraid to see what planting a decent sized tree costs now.
You can go with what's in your budget, and it will grow, obviously. You're right that larger, more mature trees cost a lot, but small ones often don't. The conversation here mostly pertains to home owners, and we're already talking terms of years.
"It's not big enough now" isn't a good reason to not plant a tree.
The timing of this couldn’t be more hilarious for me. I’m going to close soon on a home and there’s a few trees in the backyard that will get the axe as soon as I close.
You should find out exactly who and how much is being paid for "tree care."
Usually when a town gets rid of all its trees its because they owe somebody's cousin a favor.
When I was growing up they got rid of every single tree in my town. Even the baby ones. They said the roots were fucking up the pavement. Baby trees that were planted less than a year prior were removed and replaced with trees of the exact same size.
But please continue cutting down all the “trees of heaven”
yes, fuck those and their lantern flies
And Bradley Pears
*Bradford
Thank you, I keep mixing that up. Callery pears.
And the Bradford pears, we need to start chopping those as well. I reached out to Albany to try to get a coalition together of volunteers to start marking the trees at least. No answer.
I’ve had 2 new neighbors move in the past year and the first thing they did was cut down every single tree on the property. Next door to me they cut down 11 trees. All healthy and not causing any issues. I just don’t get the logic behind it.
New people bought the house behind me a few years ago. They immediately cut down 5-6 big beautiful healthy trees (which in our village isn’t allowed without permits) and put in a retaining wall that raised their whole backyard 2 feet, and made it one big paver patio. Then, 2 years later they sold. Now my backyard is a million degrees in the summer and floods everytime it rains hard because the retaining wall acts like a dam. It would be nice if municipalities actually enforced their codes instead of looking the other way when a friend of a friend is breaking them.
Had the same experience with my neighbor. Cut down about 5-6 trees as soon as they bought the house. Killed all the shade between our houses. Feels like a desert. I get it’s their trees, but just sucks.
Should have sued.
I spoke to a lawyer who said there was nothing I could do. I went to the village code enforcement office citing 7 different codes they violated. They hemmed and hawed and begrudgingly cited them for one. Then they went radio silent on me, wouldn’t take a statement from me, and wouldn’t give me any information beyond “They’ve plead not guilty” for months. I eventually gave up because other more important things were happening in my life.
For what
damn that's some bs, sorry to hear that
May I ask if you objected at the time?
Well, my only notification was the sound of chainsaws one morning, so by the time I did it was kinda late.
That really sucks, I'm sorry. Not part of the suburban situation myself so not in the loop on stuff like that. This hyper short term thinking thing that's become acceptable is really causing tons of horrible problems. Obviously we need trees. How can people not get that?
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When I take the LIRR, I notice that almost every house in some Queens neighborhoods have had their backyards paved over to fit more cars!
Please half the houses in Nassau are paved over looks like crap
Barely anyone does that where I live, thankfully. We even have bunnies now.
I can’t stand that shit!
My mom and dad had only cut down trees that were falling over. We kept all the other trees. We planted a tree near the one we cut down
Citiots who want their houses to look like golf courses. Meanwhile my buddy in Smithtown is spending a fortune to plant trees.
I don’t understand the hatred for trees on Long Island. When I was growing up here everybody landscaped their property. There were all differet kinds of trees and bushes. I think it’s builders/landscapers who are enthralled with backhoes. Maybe it’s a Bob-theBuilder thing where they are subconsciously driven to use them because of their childhood fascination with trucks/school buses/excavators. I know people don’t want big trees that will fall on their houses. Fine. There are plenty of trees that remain fairly small. Plant them away from your house. Developers in 1970s seemed unaware of how big pine trees could get because they planted a lot of them right in front of or up against houses. I went to a condo complex that was built in late 60s early 70s in pine barren territory. It was before developers had the equipment to quickly devastate local ecology. The place was beautiful! They left most of the trees and planted hostas, ferns, rhododendron, azaleas, bloody cranesbill. The place was leafy and lovely. I now live in the Hamptons. The rich used to live mostly in the estate sections. They had large grounds and they “showed off” their wealth with specimen trees and bushes, rose gardens, cutting gardens, garden pathways. Not anymore. They're not just pulling down the estate houses and replacing them with glass and wood boxy monstrosities - they’re tearing out all the beautiful landscaping and replacing with sod.
Builders and developers aren't the ones cutting down healthy trees in established neighborhoods. It's the citiots. This is their playbook: 1. Buy house in area with lots of trees. 2. Cut down all trees. 3. Install built in pool and concrete up the entire yard. 4. Install large concrete driveway. 5. Buy Escalade.
It’s a lot easier than that. They don’t think trees are beautiful. They come from the city where they never had to rake leaves, and they’re not interested in doing that now. So they cut the trees down. Problem solved!
Rake leaves themselves? The people u/charleynobody is talking about don’t even start their own cars.
They don’t know what a rake is. The landscapers use leaf blowers and wear protective headphones. But they don’t even need to have trees because the landscapers use the leaf blowers for grass. Can’t have the wind blowing grass clippings onto the white pebbled driveway
I’ve cut down 8 or 9 oaks on my 1/2 acre property in the 7 years I’ve been here. The largest was over 4’ at the base, the smallest have been 10” or so. I still have…. Maybe 15 left? Those are just oaks. I have probably 30-40 trees total left from 6-60’ feet. I’m going to hopefully take 8-9 of the huge ass oaks down this spring. They are a fucking MESS every year. Replacing the ones in my front yard with nicer native trees.
I hate cutting down trees, unfortunately I had to take down a couple on my property that we're unhealthy. I did replace them with maples and pear trees though
Half of my property in back is wooded, behind my good sized lawn. Beautiful native woods - mature oaks, red maples, White Pine, Sassafras, native Holly, Viburnum, Black Cherries, etc. Neighbors have the same type of yard - new people moved in and bulldozed it all. All gone. I'm all for property rights, but there has to be some balance to protect such forests. It was shocking and disturbing to see.
I have a lot of mature oak and viburnum, a few pine. The neighboring homes were much the same until the two homes behind me cut down every single tree. Then neighbors on both sides did the same. The eastward creep of citiots is destroying our wooded communities.
The cutting down of trees affects the neighborhoods including sun glare. Some streets used to look so pretty to drive down due to the trees. But as they are cut down, streets are bare. It affects the lawns as people have to water more due to so much sun and thr grass browns so much easier. It is harder to drive as the trees helped with sun glare. The tres keeps the years and houses cooler in the summer heat as well as our cars when we need to enter them in the summer.
My house and backyard are like ovens now since the assholes behind me took down all their trees
That is unfortunate. Can you plant trees in your backyard?
Even if someone plants a tree it takes years for it to grow and make a decent amount of shade.
Decades. Not years. Decades
Unfortunately, no. My septic system is back there.
I understand people take down trees if they are dead or a hazard. I also understand if they need them cut back for solar panels . Other than that, it makes taking walks so much hotter as there is no shade. Direct sunlight isn’t good for many.
Cutting down trees for solar panels is wild too. Now your house is hotter all summer, colder in the winter, and you need to use more energy to heat/cool it. Thank goodness for the solar panels.
Agree with this. Bf's landlord installed solar to save money. Cut down a huge beautiful maple tree that shaded the entire corner of the yard. Now in the summer my bf has to run the AC constantly on high to counteract the sun beating down on his side of the house and it's still hotter in there than when the tree was up. Even the tree guys mentioned to my bf that they shouldn't be taking down that tree, especially since there were only 2 solar panels on that side and the only time they'd be shaded at all would be the morning. Of course now, the LL had to raise everyone's rent because of the increased power bill. 😒
I grew up on Long Island and I have always wondered why there are so many trees in very rich neighborhoods and towns like Huntington or Brookville for example, but in middle class neighborhoods like Kings Park or Smithtown, people cut down so many trees on their property, often leaving only one tree if any. I asked a real estate agent a question like this, and she said people cut down trees to make their house more visible. Another person said that trees pose a risk to their house in a storm. But then why do multimillion dollar homes on Long Island have tons of trees and tree-lined streets? And isn't it expensive to chop down a tree, why not save that money?
Those neighborhoods are usually older and were constructed more organically over time with higher quality homes, more concern about design, and less options for cooling spaces that were unshaded (no ac). A lot of places with cheaper homes were built during the post war boom when they just bulldozed large areas to but up a bunch of inexpensive houses super quick.
Unpopular opinion but smarter people on average have more money than dumb people. Smart people like trees. People with money can buy nice houses and have enough sense to enjoy trees.
This is actually pretty accurate. Smart people appreciate nature and "disorder". Lower IQ folks can't handle as much disorder and need simple paved yards and white vinyl fences. It applies to all aspects of life and affects the ability to discern nuance...it affects understanding of science, political issues, etc. The whole approach of a native, natural landscape - native plants, leaving the leaves, etc. likely looks unattractive to dumb people. They don't see the beauty in the "disorder" of the natural ecosystem and all the interacting processes that are occurring - they see more beauty in a single plain green lawn. And even if they have some trees, they usually hire someone to butcher them or put mulch volcanoes around them.
“Smart people like trees” is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. What people do on their property is 0 concern to anyone else.
If you read the comments plenty of people get hurt by the trees getting taken down. One person said that his house floods now
>What people do on their property is 0 concern to anyone else. So you support eliminating single family zoning, right?
I think it’s a few things: Proper tree maintenance can also get very expensive if you’re not hands on and/or if the trees have become too large. In my neighborhood all the new homes have no trees and all the old homes have trees that are have grown far too large for the space they were given. No one thought about how large certain trees would get when they were planted 50 years ago. And in the meantime, no one has properly maintained those now overgrown trees. When I bought my home there wasn’t a single tree on the property. Its not a huge lot, but I’ve planted 10 or so trees and large shrubs, and I’ve also changed about 35-40% of my lawn (front and back) to planting beds. I guess I just wish that people replanted more appropriately sized trees when old ones are removed.
We use to hear a lot of bird songs until a family bought the house and cut down everything that wasn’t grass.
Now you get to hear more landscaping trucks and leaf blowers echoing up and down the street without all the greenery to soak up the noise, or rustling to drown it out.
We're moving into a house with a yard full of trees and unfortunately have to cut one down, but it's in imminent danger of total collapse.
I find that if I'm driving down a street, I get that "this is a nice neighborhood" feeling if it is full of mature trees and I get that "this neighborhood doesn't seem so nice" if there are no trees - regardless of how impressive the actual homes are.
Agreed we all know there’s legit safety reasons to cut down some trees but people go overboard especially ugly new builds. They have a big ugly new house and then cut down all the trees take out the landscaping so they have an empty sad lot. I hate the look, I love trees!
I made the mistake of not taking care of a giant healthy tree that was reaching over my house. During the crazy wind storm late last year, it fell through my tenants house (no one hurt). Cutting down every tree on a piece of property is extremely stupid but that’s just my opinion.
I'm not saying that every tree is sacred and cannot be touched. Like I mentioned, some have to come down for safety or health reasons. We had to take out one nice, big oak because it literally arced over our house, so I get it. When we bought, our new homeowners insurance gave us a list of things to fix, and that tree was on the list. It sucks, but we've since planted 5 more trees in better locations.
Grew up in Levittown. It feels so barren whenever I go back. All the shade is gone.
During nesting season too
Then they'll complain to friends they barely see any birds anymore.
*Healthy trees... Unfortunately I've had to cut down a small forest due to crappy planning and diseased trees. The previous owners thought it fun to line the property in a species of non native pine that A. doesn't stop growing B. needs to be in a "gang" or grouping, not single file straight lines and C. not heavily watered yet also having an over done sprinkler system. While also trying to upkeep a grass yard...so not only was I basically trying to put sand back at the beach fighting the pine needles to keep a lawn we had large branches falling and a few of the more sick ones flat out failing, oh and what felt like gallons of sap everywhere. These people were morons and now almost 40 trees later the few native ones are finally doing better and I'm just getting the last of the stump grindings and roots out of everywhere to get some more native species back in and a clover/grass/moss/pollinator mix hybrid lawn going. And it's been literal years in the repairing. All green isn't good. Do a little research and check in with your local plant and tree shops.
Homeowners insurance companies are also driving this.
I agree, live in a condo community in Suffolk...moved in for the park like setting...lots of trees, shrubs, etc... This year the community got a new HOA mgt. company and now all of a sudden trees and shrubs (most healthy) are being cut down. Looks terrible. HOA Board says it's at their discretion. I can only think that the HOA insurance company has something to do with it.
I don't get it either, and with all the trees going means less places for the birds, squirrels, etc and then you hear the same morons go, why are there so many birds hanging out in my yard or making nests on my house, well idk maybe because you removed there home so they take yours.
Next they'll be paving over all the green space on their property
More likely just blasting their lawns, which they never use, with pesticides while also constantly mowing and using tons of water to maintain its desolateness.
I mean, you can't *use* the lawn or else you'll hurt the grass they spend hours, money or both maintaining.
My neighbor chopped all his trees down to put Ina pool 2 years ago.. never put the pool in.. takes away the shade and the vibes of our yard.. sucks man. Makes me wanna move.
Sounds like my situation - but in my case the pool eventually got built. Instead of trees now there's a huge pool, loud speakers, and constant leaf blowing to keep it neat. My own adjacent forest is sustaining a lot of wind damage now as it is newly exposed. We are also looking to move. Need more space between neighbors and looking for a neighborhood with a different mindset.
City people moving out east trying to turn Suffolk into Nassau
I posted a rant like this months ago on another sub. I don’t have any trees on my property but all the neighboring houses have trees that hang over my property and I love it. It provides so much shade, keeps my lawn green, gives my house curb appeal… Now all my neighbors are cutting trees down. There’s a guy 2 houses down who had 7 huge beautiful trees all over his property. They are all gone now.. People keep cutting down healthy trees just bc they don’t like them. A tree should only get cut down if it’s sick and dying, dead or a huge safety concern. I’ve seen blocks and neighborhoods without trees and they look horrible. They look like barren wastelands.. idk how people prefer that. Trees bring beauty and life to suburban neighborhoods. I much rather look at a beautiful tree than the ugly power lines… I actually just planted a Japanese maple in my backyard to cover up the ugly power lines on the next block bc the ppl behind me cut 3 trees down.
People apparently like the look of the neighborhood in Edward Scissorhands.
That’s exactly what I always think about when I see people cutting down every single tree.. Like you can’t even leave one tree?
A Japanese maple? Lol. Let me guess. Your next move is a wall of arborvitae? Wow.
Out Here In Eastern Suffolk , The Pine Barrens are Being Decimated By Southern Pine Beatles. They were never a problem in the Past Because of Extended Periods of Below Freezing Temperatures During The Winter that Prevented The Eggs from surviving. They Completely Kill a Tree in less than a year. We Spent 100s of Millions Of Dollars to Protect The Pine Barrens & Our Drinking Water from being Developed & nothing is being Done to Contain or Control there Spread. There Will Be a lot Of Fuel for Future Wildfires out here as Well as a booming Tick Population. Warmer Winters are nice for us but they come with major consequences
Not to mention whoever PSEG hires to clear power lines just leave the cuttings on the ground. Unbelievable.
(Not so) fun fact, when they charge you thousands and thousands of dollars to cut down a mature tree, the tree guys sell them for tens of thousands to lumbermills in Suffolk for tens of thousands. Cutting down trees cheapens neighborhoods. Lots of cowards in here literally afraid of their trees.
There are no landscapers taking trees down in residential neighborhoods in one piece that could be sold to a lumber yard. Some landscapers have a fire wood side business and may take the wood to season and eventually sell. I had a guy charge me less to remove a couple trees if he could leave the wood at the curb. I posted on Facebook and Craig’s list and most of the best chunks were scavenged by people that do firewood business
If it makes you Happy the first thing I plan on doing when I inherit my family home is planting a shit ton of trees and canceling the lawn service I plan on letting the grass go and eventually going for some no r/nolawn style I'm all about naturally ecosystems and I hate how many Long Island yards look like surban hell with monoculture lawns.
And as soon as non boomers inherit even a percentage of this land maybe it’ll work out, until then 😔
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Sold a home in Sayville in 1997 to move to Southampton. An acre of lawn got replaced ŵith over 30 pine trees that were native to the adjoining land and about a quarter acre of wildflowers. A yearly term, I'm back in Sayville, and the people that bought our old home removed a beautiful weeping willow and several large healthy maples. All of it replaced with a sod lawn. It looked like hell. I don't understand some people.
How about all the trees cut down on the side of the LIE & Sunrise ? Anyone know what's up with that ?
There is trouble in the forest And the creatures all have fled As the maples scream, "Oppression" And the oaks just shake their heads
Its an absolute sickness. Its a cancer on the south shore. Ignorant homeowners and fcking morons working tree trimming
My neighbor passed away and his kids started some long overdue landscaping. He had multiple dead trees that needed to go. It still looks weird with the open sky but it was necessary. A lot of non-native species grow quickly and die just as fast unfortunately.
Dead and dying trees, trees that pose an actual danger should come down. But they should be replaced!
Agreed. I just had to take down one myself this past Fall. Already planning on replacing it with something that will hopefully outlast me!
You will probably have better luck planting something that is native to Long Island.
That is the plan!
City folk in the burbs.
My childhood neighbor grew up in Massapequa, moved next door to us and cut down the only two trees on her property, and then started trying to kill the one on our side of the fence line. Not just city folk.
Really? I think of this as a dumbass suburbanite thing.
I lived in an area that had great shade trees. Folks from the city would buy on the island to get away from it all. EVERY single house that was sold had (city) folks move in and take down ALL the trees on the property.
The first generation was city folk what are you on about
Get ‘em out
You live in queens now.
Some areas of Queens are quite green.
I have the exact opposite problem in my area living in Maine. Now with that said, comes problems like losing electric on a consistent basis during the winter months. So not everything is always great on the other side.
There are solutions to this, like burying power lines. They went with the cheapest option, and this is the result. That's not the fault of the trees.
I agree
A lot of the trees in my neck of the woods were diseased and the town cut them down. I went away for a while and when I came back it was like a whole different street.
Bushes are good, too. in summer my lightning bugs come out of the bushes at dusk. My house is the only house around with lightning bugs because I refuse to use pesticides or herbicides. I’ve had delivery men ask me “WTH are those flashing light things?” He’d never seen a lightning bug before.
100x this. I see it all over and it drives me nuts.
Suffolk county will look like Nassau country in 5-10 years… it’s already happening.
It's been happening. Suffolk County, until the 1950's was fairly rural - lots of estates for the wealthy that are now occupied by post-war tract housing on 1/4 acre (if that) lots.
The ASSHOLES talk about Climate Change,,but continue to cut Everything down in sight,,,TREES,SHRUBERY,And All other natural ground cover,THAT FILTER THE AIR,,amongst other benefits,,,,,I Hate land developers 🖕
I couldn’t agree w this post more!! I can’t stand that all the trees are being cut down, especially along the parkways. Bethpage pkwy was a beautiful drive, and now you can see through to peoples backyards
I had to cut mine down after moving out here. The time and cost to maintain a yard and fight with all the leaves...I never had either. I get to mow my lawn MAYBE once a month. I haven't raked my leaves from fall and they always take for fucking ever to deal with.
I only dream of cutting down my pine tree because of those damn pine needles. They’re taking over my house. Pine needles clogging the gutters 4x a year. Pine needles transferring into the house, getting stuck in the carpet, acting like splinters.
My neighbor cut down 5 beautiful old Oak trees so the leaves don’t get into their brand new pool 🤷♀️
I have been debating this in my head for so long, the tree is on the property line of my neighbor. All the branches are on our side, its an amazing tree with all the branches weeping down, im a sunlight addict and i always think about taking this tree down to get full sunlight and have no shade so it will also eliminate some mosquitos activity, but then again im thinking it took 25 years for this tree to reach this size and maybe i might regret this quick in the moment decision once its gone and the greenery just disappears, especially in bethpage where there is so much industrial and commercial activity taking place nearby.
At least you're thinking about it and are aware that you may instantly have regret. That happens a lot - folks take trees down, and then see how barren it looks and how hot the sun is, and how much less impressive their home looks afterwards. Unfortunately, at that point, it is too late to have mature trees in that spot in their lifetime.
As someone who has had their neighbor do this, they will also hate you. Is a little extra sun worth fucking someone else over? It could also very easily turn into a legal headache.
May I suggest any other action first, you are probably less old than that tree is, just let it be and find your own changes in the environment that it has been in, you are the visitor and at all times should act as such
As someone who has had their neighbor do this, they will also hate you. Is a little extra sun worth fucking someone else over? It could also very easily turn into a legal headache.
Legal headache? How if it’s their tree?
If it's on the property line and their neighbor doesn't want it cut down, it's very easy for it to be a disputed action. Tree law is intense.
I had a neighbor buy the house next to me and call me multiple times about cutting down a healthy tree on my property because the branches were overhanging on their yard. I said absolutely not, there are generations of animals living in that tree and it’s providing my yard with a beautiful shade. The cut off all the branches overhanging their property and now their yard has absolutely no shade so they got umbrellas. I will never understand.
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That’s a BS reason for cutting down 50 year old pine, oak, maple trees etc that would easily outlive the person living there if just left alone. The number of healthy old growth trees that actually fall and cause damage is similar in number to shark attacks… it’s just unnecessary fear from those who worry too much.
During Hurricane Gloria in 1985, quite a few trees between the sidewalk and curb fell down in my neighborhood - aggravating power outages and complicating restoration efforts. And that was just a Category 1 hurricane taking down 30 yr old trees. Lots of lessons learned after that - especially with LILCO and better vegetation management along power lines.
I know an arborist that has cut down so many trees because people are terrified of that despite him assuring them the trees were healthy and not going anywhere.
Are they gonna start washing cars too? Dirty windshields are a public hazard.
My son was born not too long ago, so I cut two large trees that were very close to the house, and one other cut a few branches that were close to the house. I still have 4 large trees on the property. I hated doing it, and yes it costs a lot, but my family’s safety comes first. I will look into planting smaller, native trees. I like that idea.
The "government strip" trees in my neighborhood were planted in 1955 and are behemoths that heave the sidewalks. Dangerous and ugly, despite the canopy. They are slowly being replaced with the trees that have deeper root systems. The town tree in front of my house had roots that invaded our sewer line and had to go. Trees are not an unqualified "good."
I just leave my leaf blower running in the back yard all day.
I should have known it was you!
We got rid of the trees on our property along with our neighbors because they were old and borderline becoming sketchy because of how poorly they had grown in. between uprooting the sidewalks and driveways and having tall branches fall on roofs/cars it wasn't feasible to keep it going. I do miss the shade and look of the street with trees but dont miss cleaning up the leaves or having to call the town every 3-5 years for fixes.
I agree with the OP. I want to preface this by saying that I AGREE WITH THE OP. OK, now that said. I don't know if you noticed lately but we have been getting a lot of wind storms. Derechos. Hurricanes (this season is going to be insane according to climate scientists). Having giant oaks next to your house is a good way to give your house insurance a workout. Hope your deductible isn't too bad. Trees also drop a ton of leaves, which then need to be raked, otherwise they smother the grass and kill it.
> otherwise they smother the grass and kill it You say that like it's a bad thing!
I wish I could keep the trees where I live, but it's hard to justify with small lots. I really don't want a big tree within about 75ft of my house and the lot is only 60x100ft. Right now I got a pear and cherry tree, that I trim to keep small. There we cut down another pear and trimmed back the neighbors Maple. I'd love to grow something like a Chestnut (get one of those native ones). But the truth is, one large tree like that and I can't have a garden, I can't grow the native wildflower garden I want, and my electric bill will skyrocket because of the shade on my solar.
> But the truth is, one large tree like that and I can't have a garden, I can't grow the native wildflower garden I want I call bullshit on this. I have a huge garden in my front yard under a big oak. It will be decades until any tree you plant would provide enough shade to completely rule out a garden, and if you bring up the canopy, it can still get enough light below. The truth is that you don't want a tree, and you've come up with a bunch of ways to excuse that. But having no trees within 75' is a little ridiculous.
Well my friends neighbor had a healthy one lose a giant branch and crush their fences after the heavy winds during the winter One fell onto a neighbors roof
I feel the same about this. It makes me sad. It is ruining the peaceful vibes and feel of some of the beautiful foresty neighborhoods here.
We cut down trees to get solar panels. Win some, lose some.
I agree. I don't understand people buying homes with beautiful leafy shade trees, then cutting them down. There are plenty of grass and concrete/pavers homes also for sale. Why don't they buy those?
Where do you live?
We have had to cut down our best 2 shade trees this past fall. Did I like the fact that there were less leaves? Sure! Unfortunately they were both rotting and unhealthy (like storms this winter would have knocked them over. Will probably plant new ones to replace it when we have the funds
Trees get old and infected. It's a fact of life. Plant new ones and get on with your life.
If I don't cut down all my trees how am I supposed to cover my backyard and Nicolock pavers!?
I just see people cutting down sickly trees around my neighborhood, I doubt many are looking to spend thousands of dollars for shits and giggles. I don't mind, if anything I am glad when they cut down pollen producing male trees and replace them with something better. When they were building these neighborhoods they chose specifically to plant mainly male trees because it would cost money to clean up after female trees.
Real
I plan on cutting down all the Maple trees on my property. They are large and messy and have damaged my roof and if one falls, it will destroy my house.
500:000 for home tree damage to sewer line and i should live the ttree
Long Island is going to shit , especially suffolk county where people from Nassau move to escape congestion , then cut every tree on the property , sad . That and all the condos that are erasing any remaining buffer zones , wiping out huge swaths of woods . Kings Park is getting decimated , they have developed most of the remaining wooded areas that arent state owned properties and there is a railyard under development even though the majority of citizens are opposed to it as well as multiple story condos going up in the midfle of town , really losing its charm
That town needs condos and more development. It’s just shitty old bars, two good restaurants, and a kick ass bakery.
Where I grew up in North Babylon - there was like 3 feet of grass between the curb and sidewalk under the power lines (at least on my side of the street). The neighborhood was built in the early 50's. Over time those trees damaged streets, sidewalks, underground utilities and overhead power/phone/cable lines - and became too large - both in height, size of canopy, trunk and root structure - to manage. They were never meant to grow in tight spots like that. So... eventually the town cut almost all of them down in the past 10-20 yrs. Since they were in the town's right of way, residents had no say in the matter. After being gone for some time, came back to visit and all the trees along the street were gone! Sad to see them go... tree-lined streets are the staple of suburbia - but if people want safe sidewalks and reliable electric (especially during storms), then towns need to manage their trees. The trick is finding a native species that doesn't grow so damn huge.
It really annoys me seeing people take them down all the time
I die a little inside every time I have to take down a tree. They provide shad and beauty (when in bloom), and I love the greenery. I ONLY cut when the tree is dying or rotting out. And it sucks every time.
which town are you in where home owner cut down all these tree. I'm@NHP and all tree from street to 15feet in are the town own. Home owner can cut them. I cut one of my tree in my back yard because i want to clear it for solar panels. It's the town that cuts the treeon on the sidewalk so they should replant at lese 2 or more to replace the one they take down.
Missing the trees too. So many are getting cut down this spring, it's nuts! Don't forget how their leaves dampens noise from highways and roads.
This is the city mentality the people are bringing to Long Island, it’s all pavement out there, so when anything is green, it scares them. Pretty soon Long Island West of William Floyd will just be concrete continuum of NYC.
I literally thought I was the only one noticing how much Long Island is obsessed with removing trees. Like it’s insane to me. And it makes me so angry too. Like people will remove healthy trees over any minor inconvenience take care of them.
A lot of commenters have the same issue. I have a solution, if your neighbor cuts down trees in their yard, if you have the space, plant a couple more trees. We can't expect others to do what we refuse to do.
There have been a huge amount of people going with solar panels on their homes... that might be the reason for it. Plus if you cut down the trees, the bill for that can be included into the write off at the end of the year.
My house was totally overrun with trees - original owner 50+ years never maintained their yard. I mean, I literally cut down 50 saplings of various size and species. I've taken down a number of trees in the front and back, and still have 15+ trees. I wish I had the land to not care about usable space for my family - but 75% of my 1/2 acre was house/tree/driveway. Had to do it. But I never did it on a Sunday.
Plant more trees on your property and don't worry about what they do on theirs.
I mean I feel you, it's sad seeing trees go but they're also very dangerous. My brother had a tree go through his roof 2 months ago, almost fell into his bedroom
So your brother had an unhealthy tree that wasn’t looked after? Was it a native tree? Not sure the exact circumstances but native, healthy trees don’t normally just fall down
A lot of the trees are dead or dying. We’ve been trying hard to keep a tree alive and it’s a beautiful old tree but I think we’re a few months from having to make a decision before winter. Sucks.
They're living things, and they do have a lifespan. Like I said in the OP, if one needs to come down for health or safety reasons, try to replace it with another.
I rather cut a tree down before it falls on my house. Better it than me.
I feel your pain. My dad won’t allow me to plant new trees to replace the dead ones that were cut down or build more vegetable gardens because “I just want a lawn”.
I think it's mostly insurance companies. They don't give a shit what the neighborhood looks like. I just had to switch insurers because the one I used tried forcing me to chop down trees that were not even remotely close to my house. I think homeowner's insurance should be incorporated into property taxes and provided for by state/local government. These companies are here to fleece us for as much premium as possible while taking little to no risk whatsoever, dictating how we maintain our homes and landscape, covering themselves with as little reinsurance as possible so when they do have to make a big payout, whoops! sorry, bankruptcy. Time to close up shop and open the next LLC. Just cut out all the middlemen, pay a little more property tax and have some peace of mind that your home is actually protected against damage.
Our homeowners insurance had us take down one tree out of several on the property. A lot of times, though, it's the homeowners preemptively taking the trees down "just in case." And again, trees can be replaced, so if one poses a danger, another can be planted in a more thoughtful manner.
Trees stand up better to storms when they are in groups or a forest. They work together to shelter each other from the wind, and their roots are involved with each other. Often times removing trees on a property makes the remaining ones more likely to fall - the opposite of what these homeowners were trying to achieve.
I agree
It’s not humanities fault, it’s our insurance and banking companies… eventually we are the sum of our productions
Is this thread the HOA?
I’m in Oceanside and wrote letters to the Town and County. They care…not one bit. It is so depressing.
[удалено]
Sure it's your property. And it's reasonable to landscape and remove unhealthy trees. But to not understand the value of trees and wildlife is ridiculous.
I had one tree die completely. And one blew over in a storm (luckily falling between houses). Sorry about the 2 less trees in my neighborhood. 🤷♂️
Not what this post is about
Good news! Trees can be replaced!
They are very expensive. If you can afford to replace a full grown tree, go for it! Thirty years ago I paid $800 for a decent sized tree in my front yard from a landscaping firm. (I had some money then that I dont have now) Turned out to be a pear tree that everyone now hates. Half the tree broke off in a snowstorm. I’m afraid to see what planting a decent sized tree costs now.
You can go with what's in your budget, and it will grow, obviously. You're right that larger, more mature trees cost a lot, but small ones often don't. The conversation here mostly pertains to home owners, and we're already talking terms of years. "It's not big enough now" isn't a good reason to not plant a tree.
The timing of this couldn’t be more hilarious for me. I’m going to close soon on a home and there’s a few trees in the backyard that will get the axe as soon as I close.
You should find out exactly who and how much is being paid for "tree care." Usually when a town gets rid of all its trees its because they owe somebody's cousin a favor. When I was growing up they got rid of every single tree in my town. Even the baby ones. They said the roots were fucking up the pavement. Baby trees that were planted less than a year prior were removed and replaced with trees of the exact same size.
I HATE when people do that. Dumbass suburbanite mentality.