Steve wrote:
Wife and I have been going back and forth about removing two very large
trees from our front yard.
Tree guys that have come out have called them swamp maples or silver
maples??? Not sure what the difference is.
A lawn guy that came out said these trees have shallow roots and take
nutrients away from the grass.
We have a small front lawn, about 80' x 30' with these two trees on each
end.
I would like to remove both trees and have the stumps ground down. Tree guy
said he would grind 6" or so below ground level and we could fill it over
with soil. I asked about the stump rotting and he said it wouldn't happen
for a hundred years ???
I'm guessing the underground stump will rot and cause a depression that will
have to be refilled over time???
Also He said he would leave allot of the wood in 4' length and I could cut
it down and use it in my wood/coal stove.
is "swamp maple" good to burn? He said it was a hard wood. It would be green
so I guess I'd have to wait until next year to burn it. We live in
Massachusetts...

$1800 to cut both trees, grind two stumps (plus two smaller stumps in back
yard) Haul away the big trunks and grind up the smaller branches. and leave
me wood cut and burn. Not sure what a cord of wood costs but it would help
defray the costs of the cutting!!!

I'm also going to ask if they can leave me a section of the large tree cut
about 3 feet long. My dad had a section of stump like that when I was a lad
and we used it as a work surface in the work shop to pound on...

I think the trees are overgrown. they are growing into the wires in the
street (power co wont trim them despite repeated calls)
every time we get a storm a dozen branches fall in the yard. I would
eventually plant 1 new tree and start over.

My wife is concerned about the loss of shade on the house.. I think having
the trees is more of a problem as our old roof (replaced 2 years ago) had
moss growing all over it because of the trees hanging over it.

It will certainly alter the look of the yard and may look odd at first but I
think they are to large for the lot and after a couple of years we would
never miss them???

I would be interested in any thoughts on this matter, Cut them down or save
the trees????


TIA

Sr

Yeah, way down south here in CT "swamp maple" seems to mean red maple,
which is kind of a trash tree which pops up lots of places where sugar
maple won't grow, and isn't nearly as pretty in the fall. Big trees
near the house can be a major nuisance for leaves, roots into the
sewers, sidewalks heaved up, etc., not to mention potentially crushing
your house. The electric company will come and chop off the branches
that are near the wires for free, but I doubt they would remove the
whole tree(s).

The stump will indeed rot out in some few years and collapse, also the
roots. I am looking at a big hole in my driveway right now, at the end
of a crack running back to the lawn where the previous owner removed a
large tree. Two more collapsed spots on the lawn on the other side of
the former tree. Also, a while after the tree was removed, I guess the
roots figured it out and starting frantically pushing new shoots up all
over the lawn for quite a while. Somebody told me you're supposed to
use some chemical or other to kill the roots after you cut the tree
down so that doesn't happen. ??