why do people hate trees?

[hollysmom]

When I moved to my neighborhood, it was like moving to a forest - I never used the air conditioner, it was always cooler than most other places around us - but since them,. neighbor after neighbor have cut down their trees, my garage always used to be cool is now like an oven in the summer, even though i leave the windows open all summer ( who cares about a wet cement floor?

Right now, I went outside to find a neighbor cutting down a tree on my property, they thought I would like it - why do they do it? I have lost so many trees that way. Twice I have found different neighbors standing by my 500 year old oak with saw in hand - no no no! there is no respect for age and beauty - one neighbor said it was because they did not like leaves in their yard - well live in a city with cement! another cut down trees bigger than my old tree to pave their back yard - WTF? what is wrong with people? The town finally had to pass a large tree fine for cutting down old trees - doesn't stop anyone, they fine is just too low. To night I will plant trees to replace the ones on my border from the seedlings that pop up in my yard and put a laminated note on it, it will be on my property just, saying this is my sapling, leave it alone. It will take years, but I am going no where. since this new neighbor is putting up a fence, It will be clearly my tree. And it's leaves will waft into their yard as do all my trees - since they are down wind.

[Bertha Venation]

1. Oh, my fucking god.

I would be apoplectic. I don't know how you contain your fury. I am so sorry to hear of this.

We live in a similar area. When we moved in twelve years ago, into this very small, one street subdivision, there were trees everywhere, for miles. They have now razed miles of trees to build mcmansions, townhouses, and apartments. In one area, there were four large beautiful trees surrounding an old house, from which the developers forced the residents and which they tore down. One day on the way to work I saw a huge machine with a big toothy bucket on an arm chugging toward the biggest tree. As I watched in horror, the driver brought the toothy bucket down on the side of the tree and raked off several branches. I wept halfway to work. Several weeks later, we planted a small peach tree in our yard.

It fucking sucks, hollysmom, and I'm sorry you're experiencing the same thing.

[hollysmom]

2. Oh trust me, I am getting my revenge -

these new trees I am planting are chestnut trees - so beautiful and flowery in the spring and with huge hard chestnuts in the fall - but not for at least 30 years - so they will enjoy the beauty of these wide spreading trees, until they have to start raking up these chestnuts from their perfectly manicured lawns or paved yards. I will be dead in 30 years if family history is any road map, but unless an idiot buys my great house (probably will) the trees will live on.

Since I have so much sun now, I will be inquiring about solar power panels for my roofs.

[HarveyDarkey]

17. In their defense...

they do name the streets after them so you will know what used to be there.

[Xyzse]

3. I have no idea.

I love trees...
However, I know some that had to cut down their large tree, because it was looming over their house.
After a few storms that caused house damage, they decided to cut it down since they got scared that it might fall and collapse on the house. That thing was large, and if it did fall down it would have cut their house in half.

As for what that guy did... I just don't understand.

[Chan790]

4. I feel your pain.

Growing up, one of the oldest trees in the state of CT, estimated to be close to 600 years, about 9' trunk diameter, a rock maple was on on the edge of my grandfather's property. It was in rough shape but it was alive.

The tree outlived Grandpa by about a year. The state had to close the road for 48 hours for it to be taken down. They ended up having to bring in cranes, a dozen forestry technicians and heavy equipment to get it down safely. They had to leave the stump because they can't get it out, they think the taproot may have anchored itself into the granite bedrock.

[bluedigger]

5. "It would be a great view, if it wasn't for all these damn trees"...

[Art_from_Ark]

6. I feel your pain, too

Last edited Thu Jun 27, 2013, 04:57 PM - Edit history (1)

In my city, it seems like they are conducting a war against trees. ARGH!

[Arugula Latte]

7. That is horrible. Can you put a plaque on the big oak to try to protect it?

Even get nasty, like, "anyone caught cutting down this tree will be prosecuted" or something like that?

We have a very tree-filled lot. The only reason we cut down trees is if they are going to topple over (which has happened -- luckily the tree that fell didn't do any damage), or if the roots are damaging our water line. We've had to take out a handful of trees over the last several years but the lot still looks like a forest.

[hollysmom]

8. the last time I found some one in my tree was 10 years ago

I had come home from work at lunch, found I had to do that to keep these neighbors from destroying any and everything on mine - my hedge, my grass - Anyway they were severely trimming my huge tree back I told them I was calling the police - if the neighbor wanted the tree trimmed, he could do it from his own property. This after I had to call the police twice because his remodeler was using my back yard as a garbage dump and storage space - so what if my grass dies as long as theirs looks nice, and filed a complaint with the town about other zoning violations - we came to an agreement, but they broke it within a year. Ugh, hate these neighbors - the worst people ever and now with a teen age son who plays nasty hi hop very loudly in his yard every day. can't wait until they have destroyed the property enough sand leave!!

Now the other neighbors that have tried to cut down trees were very nice to me, I only had to tell them once each to not do that. They thought I was eccentric, but respected my remarks.

PS - when they stored roofing tiles on my yard one night, I took my hand truck out and put them in the from of their house with a sign saying free tiles. Glad to say they were gone before morning, I should have sold them though. I was tired after working that day, but also had strength of being very pissed it was a lot of work to move those tiles, but damn - storing stuff on my property who did they think they were? Actually tossing their garbage was much worse and the police agreed with me. garbage - plaster broken glass nails, etc - They took the beautiful house down to bare walls, cove molding and all to install central air. Idjits.

[fleur-de-lisa]

15. Funny story about the roof tiles!

Good for you!

[madinmaryland]

23. Completely off-topic, but we found a one month old kitten last fall out in the parking lot,

and somehow the name Idget stuck! She is cut as a button!!

[Kablooie]

9. The oldest tree in the world is over 4,844 years old and it's exact location is secret.

so vandals won't get it.

http://www.reddit.com/tb/1h2o0j

[hollysmom]

10. good

[hedgehog]

11. I understand your pain - it seems like it is a cultural imperative -

some people just don't like trees! We have a friend who moved from a country that has no trees in the cities - the first thing he did when he bought a house here was cut down the trees!

We've done just the opposite - after living here 25 some years, we have oaks and maples in the front yard and a lawn of rolling moss, and the side lot has gone from pasture to a delightful grove. The house is significantly cooler than the outdoors without any AC - that was a problem earlier in the summer when the daily high was 70 - the house was holding at 60!

[pipi_k]

21. The temperature thing...

I don't know how much a certain nearby city thinks planting trees around in various spots will help, but I applaud them for their efforts to green up the place. Makes it much more pleasant to look at. IMO, concrete and asphalt is ugly.

Anyway, I live about 20 miles or so from the nearest city. The temperature difference can be anywhere from 7 to 15 degrees cooler here.


PS...along with my trees, I also love my honeysuckle which cover the fence in the dogs' yard. When the wind blows from the right direction on a hot day, my kitchen and bathroom are perfumed with the scent.

[bigwillq]

12. We cut quite a few down from our property

Had some bad storms the last few years. A few fell on the deck and one almost came down on the house during the last tropical storm.

I love trees, but not when they fall on my deck or house.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. You should file suit against the neighbor who cut down your tree. That might

stop some of it. And I have no idea why people cut down healthy, old trees.

[hollysmom]

14. truthfully, I didnot care for that one tree, it was an overgrown weed tree

that would fall down in a storm some day, unlike the oaks and maples others have cut down - one of the trees cut down was a beautiful maple, but it was not on my property or I would have stopped it. They also cut down their fruit trees - I swear 0 idiots - they want a fenced in yard so they can have kids - but what kind of world will they be bringing them into? I had to remind them that I have 2 feet beyond my garage so they needed to give me room to paint it. I also told them they had to have an open fence, they were not supposed to put up a solid fence as I have a gardens tucked in everywhere and no sun would kill it, although all this sun may kill my azaleas and rhododendrons who are used to shade.

[GoCubsGo]

16. That's how it is in my neighborhood, too.

My subdivision is called "The Woodlands". It's becoming less and less a woodlands. People are cutting down trees to plant friggin' lawns. I can sort of understand them wanting to take out the pine trees, but these people removing 100 year-old oaks, all so they can plant the damn, useless grass. It's appalling.

[pipi_k]

18. I'm with you!

I live in the woods. Where there are trees.

OK so I understand we can't have trees really close to the house, although there are some, like my little 9 year old Red Maple, that are relatively close.

Some have fallen down. Some had to be taken down. There's a Birch just off the sun porch in the back that keeps dropping branches and stuff on the roof at every rain/wind storm.

We have planted some young trees to compensate for the ones that had to be taken down...a Weeping Willow and another Red Maple, planted last year, out by the large pond.

Some Poplars. Two apple trees. My Lilac bush (not a tree, but close enough to make me happy) planted 17 years ago.

I love trees of all kinds and I don't understand why people have to murder them if/when there's no real need to.

Even the dead trees way out back beyond the pond serve a purpose as home to all sorts of critters.

[Populist_Prole]

19. I don't get it either. Without trees a neighborhood looks more like a row of barracks.

Nothing uglier than a lone house on a big lawn devoid of trees, and I've seen people do this with BIG lots....3 and 4 acres. Not only is it a ton of lawn to cut, but here in the southeast it turns ones yards or patio into an inferno in the summer.

In my metro area, their stated purpose was to pave the entire county in asphalt; Just build something, anything anywhere. A plot of undeveloped meadow or woods is like a raised middle finger to the developers here. Sure enough, you know another one fell when you see literal fleets of dump trucks hauling away soil and tree carcasses. Typical of here: Cut down all the trees and name the streets or community some pretentious sylvan sounding name like "Oak Creste" or something.

[Ron Obvious]

20. One of my hot buttons

We live in a very forresty subdivision but people moving in have been cutting down huge evergreens left and right. It makes me physically ill.

One reason are those fucking urban loggers who go door to door offering to cut down your trees. If that doesn't work, they'll offer money or tell you your trees are diseased. I send them away with a flea in their ear, but obviously not everyone does.

One person in the neighbourhood cut down several 60+ foot evergreens because they interfered with his satellite reception.

[love_katz]

22. A pox on them and their houses.

Maybe your town needs to talk to my town. Here, you can get a scholarship from Friends of Trees to have trees planted in your parking strip. That was how I got 2 nice cedar trees (I couldn't afford the fee, myself).

My town is trying to regreen the forest canopy in our urban area to achieve several goals: sequester carbon from the air; reduce energy demand (less heat in summer, reduce wind chill in winter); filter rain run-off; provide food and shelter for birds and wildlife; make our city more livable.

My town also makes it possible for citizens to contact our urban foresters, for advice on how to prune and care for our trees. Recently, the city offered people credit towards their water bill if we would buy low-cost trees they were offering, and plant them in our yards (don't need a permit to do that, whereas you do need a permit to plant a tree in the parking).

Maybe your neighbors don't know the many benefits of having trees on their property, or are afraid of liability if the tree or large branches come down in a storm? This is where it can help to have your city on board with advice and assistance.

All hail to the trees...long may they live and thrive!

to you, for loving and defending your trees.

[RebelOne]

24. I live in a mobile home, and it is surrounded by trees.

I love them except when there are storms with high winds. Twice there have been branches that came down and punctured my roof, once in the bedroom and other in the living room. And the rain water came pouring in. Thank goodness, I have home insurance. I live in North Georgia in an area known as tornado alley.

[Incitatus]

25. I have some pretty big oak and pine trees in my yard.

I like them. They do a lot to keep the house cool, but they do make me a tad nervous in hurricane season.

[dr.strangelove]

26. why do people love trees?

I neither love nor hate them. They are yet another thing on this planet. They have benefits to me and costs to me. I have clear cut all of the trees that have the capacity to fall into my home because twice 100% healthy trees fell into my house when the intense groundwater brought by a severe hurricane soaked the ground to the point where a root ball some 12 feet across was not sufficient to hold the maple into the ground. The other instance was an oak with a root ball slightly smaller but still larger than my car. The cost balance here is the shade and privacy they provided, but the risk to life and limb, as well as costs because insurance no longer covers this without a very expensive endorsement made the decision for me. I still have several large oaks on the property and the rear 1/3 of an acre is just white pine, white birch and a few oaks mixed in, but no trees near my home.

Just as I do not get why anyone would hate trees and seek to actively cut them down, I also do not see why anyone would love them and seek to protect them at all costs. I think there is a healthy and happy medium between these two, and I think I have found it. I will admit to hating trees for a 6 week period from late September through early November when its a 6 week leaf war to keep them from dangerous walking/driving area ground coverage, but we mulch a good deal on the lawn for winter nutrition.

Otherwise, trees are nothing to be loved or hated. They are just another thing living on this planet, like bugs, dogs and other people. Certain of those things I dislike, others I enjoy. But love and hate, that is just silly to me. Anyway, interesting post and I thank you for making me think about this.

[handmade34]

28. I respect and love trees

not just "another thing"

The Value of Trees

Studies prove that trees have a positive effect on many aspects of people’s lives, including their health, homes, businesses, communities, drinking water, and air quality.

Economic Contributions
• Research shows that shoppers in well-landscaped business districts are willing to pay more for parking and up to 12% more for goods and services.

• Landscaping, especially with trees, can significantly increase property values. Here is one example: A value of 9% ($15,000) was determined in a U.S. Tax Court case for the loss of a large black oak on a property valued at $164,500.

• Trees reduce runoff and erosion from storms by about 7% and reduce the need for erosion control structures. In urban areas with trees, the use of smaller drainpipes can save cities on materials, installation and maintenance.

• Desk workers with and without views of nature were surveyed. Those without views of nature, when asked about 11 different ailments, claimed 23% more incidence of illness in the prior 6 months.

• Amenity and comfort ratings were about 80% higher for a tree-lined sidewalk compared with those for a nonshaded street. Quality of products ratings were 30% higher in districts having trees over those with barren sidewalks.

• In the United States over 200 million cubic yards of urban tree and landscape residue are generated every year. Of the 200 million cubic yards of urban tree and landscape residue, 15% is classified as "unchipped logs." If these logs were sawn into boards, they theoretically would produce 3.8 billion board feet of lumber, or nearly 30% of the hardwood lumber produced annually in the United States.
____________________________________________________
Energy Savings

• The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to 10 room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.

• Trees properly placed around buildings as windbreaks can save up to 25% on winter heating costs.

• As few as three trees properly positioned can save the average household between $100 and $250 annually in energy costs.23
• Fifty million shade trees planted in strategic, energy-saving locations could eliminate the need for seven 100-megawatt power plants.

• Shade from two large trees on the west side of a house and one on the east side can save up to 30% of a typical residence’s annual air conditioning costs.

• Annual benefits provided by parking lot trees in Sacramento, California, (8.1% tree shade) were valued at approximately $700,000 for improved air quality. By increasing shade to 50% in all parking lots in Sacramento, the annual benefits will increase to $4 million.

• Rows of trees reduce windspeed by up to about 85%, with maximum reductions increasing in proportion to visual density. Because even a single row of dense conifers can cause large reductions in windspeed, effective windbreaks can be planted on relatively small house lots. Compared with an open area, a good windbreak that does not shade the house will save about 15% of the heat energy used in a typical home.
________________________________________________
Environmental Contributions

• Modest increases of 10% canopy cover in the New York City Area were shown to reduce peak ozone levels by up to 4 parts per billion or by nearly 3% of the maximum and 37% of the amount by which the area exceeded its air quality standard. Similar results were found in Los Angeles and along the East Coast from Baltimore to Boston.

• Leafy tree canopies catch precipitation before it reaches the ground, allowing some of it to gently drip and the rest to evaporate. This lessens the force of storms and reduces runoff and erosion. Research indicates that 100 mature tree crowns intercept about 100,000 gallons of rainfall per year, reducing runoff and providing cleaner water.

• Trees reduce noise pollution by absorbing sounds. A belt of trees 98 feet wide and 49 feet tall can reduce highway noise by 6 to 10 decibels.

• Trees in Davis, California, parking lots reduced asphalt temperatures by as much as 36 degrees Fahrenheit, and car interior temperatures by over 47 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Philadelphia's 2.1 million trees currently store approximately 481,000 metric tons of carbon with an estimated value of $9.8 million.

• A typical community forest of 10,000 trees will retain approximately 10 million gallons of rainwater per year.
______________________________________________
Social Contributions

• Views of nature reduce the stress response of both body and mind when stressors of urban conditions are present.

• Trees in urban parks and recreation areas are estimated to improve outdoor leisure and recreation experiences in the United States by $2 billion per year.

• Trees reduce crime. Apartment buildings with high levels of greenery had 52% fewer crimes than those without any trees. Buildings with medium amounts of greenery had 42% fewer crimes.

• Hospital patients recovering from surgery who had a view of a grove of trees through their windows required fewer pain relievers, experienced fewer complications, and left the hospital sooner than similar patients who had a view of a brick wall.

• Americans travel about 2.3 billion miles per day on urban freeways and highways. Studies show drivers exposed to roadside nature scenes had a greater ability to cope with driving stresses.

• Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children are relieved after contact with nature. Specifically, ADHD kids are better able to concentrate, complete tasks, and follow directions after playing in natural settings. The greener the setting, the more relief.

• Trees help girls succeed. On average, the greener a girl’s view from home, the better she concentrates and the better her self-discipline, enabling her to make more thoughtful choices and do better in school.

• Trees and forests in urban areas convey serenity and beauty along a number of sensory dimensions, often surrounding the individual with nature in an environment where natural things are at a premium.

http://www.dvrpc.org/green/pdf/ValueofTreesStatsSheet.pdf

[hollysmom]

29. Yeah my not intelligent but likeable neighbors cut down most of the deciduous trees

near them and then complained to me how their air conditioning bill got higher - duh!!!

When I moved here 30 years ago, I didn't even own air conditioners, on hot days I would use the attic fan to putt air in the house at night and close the shades during the day. now I have an air conditioning bill a few days a year, but still use a fan more than most. My brother also cut down a beautiful large deciduous tree near (but healthy and not threatening and not going to fall on the house) his house and complaining about how hot it got in his house. he also cut down about 50 large cedars separating his property from his neighbors and complained his yard was hot.

As for falling branches, hire some one every 5 years to trim you trees, that is what I do, I haire a good arborist that respects the tree and trims carefully.

Interestingly, we had a tornado pass near here and 2 20 foot huge branches fell off one of my trees, but didn't land on anything but the grass. the branches that are over my house are small (trim and feed those trees)

With hurricane Sandy, a large branch crashed on the edge of my garage and broke off some trim that I found was rotton already.

The other thing is build a strong house. I have a 200 year old oak fall on my house and hit the roof of the room I was sleeping in, I didn't even wake, up ,although my husband did and dealt with it. It knocked off the gutter edge and put a small crack in the ceiling, but otherwise bounced off the house onto my front lawn. it cost about 200 dollars to have the power restored (ripped out our line) and get a new corner gutter. Our neighbor's insurance paid for it all. And a brick got knocked out of our chimney. That was it, I swear this house was built to survive anything.

As to a trailer - I had a trailer in a trailer park, I envied those with trees, they all had smaller trees like cherry trees that just shaded them, but not a big danger since they never grew very big. A large tree in a trailer park can be a danger.

the trees are beauty and shade and just happiness. I love our parks because in the summer, you can walk through any park and always be in the shade, our town has a resident arborist who checks on the trees to make sure no one is in danger from branches. Sadly, you have to leave shade to walk to the parks as most of the trees on property have since been taken down.

[trof]

27. Had a run in with former 'neighbor' years ago.

We lived on 3 1/2 acres wooded with red and white oak.
Andy lived on a quarter acre lot near the road in front of us.
I heard a chainsaw running on the front part of my property.
Walked out.

"Hey Andy, what are you doing?"
"Cutting some firewood."
"That's MY TREE."
"Hell, there are a lot of trees out here."
"Yeah, Andy, but that's MY tree. Go cut some on your own property."
"Jeez."

He left.

[forestcreative]

30. Cut down a tree because it threaten's your home? Better idea...

Why not just reinforce your home instead? Build it out of stone if you have to. Reinforce your water pipes that it's infiltrating.
Whose to say trees don't have lovely beautiful souls, even more beautiful than people's? Ever read The Giving Tree by Shell Silverstein? Ok, it's a children's book, but it makes a good point about how trees give and give and we just take and take. Whose to say a human life is really worth more than a tree's, in the end? Just because we're human, of course we care more about people, but think about how beautiful a tree is, how majestic, how much longer a life span it can have, how it can give back to so many lifeforms, living in peaceful coexistance? Compared to that, most humans are just parasites.

[hollysmom]

31. Youhave to understand, I removed fir trees near my garage that were damaging the wood

But my neighbors in this 100 year old neighborhood cut down 500 year old oaks - not easy to replace. I have had one leaning over my garage for years, which is why I don't want my neighbors trimming it, I am encouraging branches on the other side - it is 150 inches in circumference and the previous owners had a coring done and found it is 500 years old. this tree has with stood the carpenter ants (red oak) and squirrel families and is beauty. that is the one everyone wants to help me cut down because it is old - duh.

I did have a 150 year old tree cut down because it was rotten - white oak with carpenter ants. when you see a bird fly in one side and out the other without stopping, something is wrong. But planted and grew another tree in it's place. i have a nice 60 year old tree the previous owner grew and it is straight and strong except on the property line and the neighbors cut off all branches on their side. .