Don't be cheap

10 years ago

My neighbor had a crew of butchers come in today to "trim" his trees. I guess that I am sensitive, perhaps overly, because it wasn't my yard and I wasn't paying for it, but I have to look at the work.

Many of you have followed some threads that I have written expressing amazement about the neighbor's Bradford pear standing tall against wind and ice while my lacebarks have had damage. Well, today humanity got even. Not only did they leave these stubs but the balance of the tree was destroyed by someone with the eye of a blind cave lizard.
{{gwi:337397}}

Silver maple is another of my least favorite trees. There were actually two decent cuts, almost flush but somewhat unavoidable, but the third was another stub ("armpit" on the left side).
{{gwi:337398}}

They also did some nice work on the left side of the tree.
{{gwi:337399}}

And then there's the redbud. Totally imbalanced and stubbed (left side).
{{gwi:337400}}

The point of this thread is, for God's sake, use an ISA certified arborist, and additionally here in KS, a KAA (Kansas Arborist's Association) arborist. If they can't prove it, don't use them! Cheap will cost you later!

hortster

Comments (14)

brandon7 TN_zone7
10 years ago
I've had relatives hire idiots like that to trim their trees. Not only did they have to watch their trees fall apart rather quickly over the next few years, but they also got to enjoy my comments and observations about those trees every time I went over to their house (-:
jqpublic
10 years ago
How do you keep these comments to yourself. I just saw a neighbor do a hack job to his centerpiece oak. Just cut the top right off of it. I am not sure how he did it, but it makes me physically ill to walk by. In addition there is another neighbor with a volcano of mulch under his centerpiece oak. Unsurprisingly, it's not doing well.
arktrees
10 years ago
Ahhh, the ever present "monkey with a chainsaw"!

We all have stories like these. My other half has a brother-in-law that thinks he is an "expert". He went out with a buddies "monkey's with a chainsaw" a couple times, and now can not be bothered with reality. Guy does some RIDICULOUS hack jobs on his trees. Which he bought the place because of the trees, and now looks for any excuse to hack on them. IDIOT!

Arktrees
hairmetal4ever
10 years ago
To me, it should be common sense. Do they not see what hacked trees look like later on?

I guess I sometimes forget just how little the average person knows about trees.
davidrt28 (zone 7)
10 years ago
Believe it or not, you got off lucky. I've seen worse on my street.
mikebotann
10 years ago
Instead of getting paid for the job, the idiots should have been fined.
Mike
mikebotann
10 years ago
Instead of getting paid for the job, the idiots should have been fined.
Mike
bengz6westmd
10 years ago
Great. One-in-a-million Bradford pear that resists storm damage and it gets hacked by people.
canadianplant
10 years ago
I have to contact the city because the neighbor across from my parents absolutely butchered the ash on the boulevard. First it looks like he cut of the main leader and what couldve been the secondary, Then proceedes to cut random scaffolds on a whim. There is no way this ash will recover its nice proper shape. Apparently its a 1000 dollar fine (they concider cutting city owned trees vandilism) plus the cost of either fixing the job, or the cost of cutting it down and replanting.
User
10 years ago
One of my (ex) clients has recently hired a pair of utter cowboys to cut down 2 venerable beautiful (and protected, the fool) yews, Waiting till the council get wind of this (and will, frankly, enjoy seeing a stern and expensive fine being handed on to him. Even worse, he is a bloody lawyer and ought to know better.
User
10 years ago
And here is the one in the front garden - note the embarrassing twig left to wave in the wind.

Ignoramuses and dolts.
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
10 years ago
Not that those are not horrible, but sometimes the tree cutters do know better--it is that the homeowner INSISTS upon having things done THEIR way.

{{gwi:337401}}
Embothrium
10 years ago
The yews should actually be able to sprout and start growing back - which is probably what they had in mind, if they were planning to leave the tall stumps.

Due to the continued (and now seemingly increasing) prevalence of bad pruning an activist membership organization - of which I am an honorary life member - was formed in Seattle 27(!) years ago.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant Amnesty

This post was edited by bboy on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 0:16
terrene
10 years ago
Wow those poor trees! It hurts my eyes. I get to look at butchered trees and shrubs on a daily basis too. My neighbors are ridiculous!

One limbed his evergreens up about 20 feet and in the process removed about 50% of the foliage. The only saving grace is that 2 of these eyesores have weakened and toppled over the past 10 years, and they removed one in front of the hosue, thus I no longer have to look at them any more.

He also topped some of his birches, and a couple others are pruned into lollipops. All the shrubbery is either limbed up or sheared into assorted meatballs, meat loaves, rocket ships taking off into space, etc. His yard looks like Dr. Seuss land!

I've watched the other neighbor shearing his meatball shrubbery with a chainsaw. He prunes the Lilacs like a privet hedge - flat top and chops them down by 1/2. One day I mentioned to him "You know Andy, if you prune your Lilacs like that, you'll never get blooms". He snapped "I like them like that." Ooooookay....I always thought that lilac blooms were one of life's great pleasures....never said anything again.

This post was edited by terrene on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 10:48