If its such a big deal, they why was it never cut down?

Because it hasn't cause noticeable foundation damage or landed on the house after a windstorm ... yet.

And here is a house that is right next door to the previous house shown that also has a HUGE mature tree growing next to the front door. There is also a southern magnolia to the left of the house....

Maybe it is a rental and no one really cares

After all, they park in the front yard too

Being located on Medical Center Dr. I'd assume they know help is right down the street, should a portion of that tree fail and hurt someone.

I don't know..........there is no way to answer that question! Things either happen or they don't.............or they do, just not when people from an online board which is dedicated to discussing trees are watching. Just don't let Ken see this! He will come right through the wires of your computer to shake you by the collar!

+oM

lol, yes i do think it is a rental, but i cannot be to sure of that.
These houses are located close to my workplace and i always wondered why the trees were allowed to get so big.

You may be making the mistake of thinking all you see before you is the result of deliberation! Trust me on this, a huge percentage of "what is" is just a random collection of events and artifacts from those events, much of which is actually more properly considered non-events!

+om

For the south trees planted similar to these are the norm, and not the exception. IMH there are a couple reasons for this. First, few houses have basements, and since there are few basements, there are few internal walls to be collapsed. Also foundation tend to be of the slab type, so that they in effect act as a large stone. Next most foundations are poured in concrete block settings, that sit upon footings that are several feet deep. Deeper than tree roots will typically go, and since there is earth on both side of the blocks, possible pressure from any roots have to push the blocks AND backfill soil. In short, acts more like rock again. The sun is much more intense in the south, and the sun angle is almost directly overhead, so to be effective, trees need to be planted close to homes. While tree roots can and do sometimes cause issues in the south, it is in no way a common occurrence. Lastly, people typically do not think that far ahead, and/or don't understand the long term of a tree and it's impacts.

Arktrees

When I was a kid, most of the old houses had trees like that. Even here, for a tree to provide shade on the south side in the middle of the summer, it has to be planted quite close to the house. Tree roots never seem to be an issue. My grandmother had a large maple *right next* to her front porch that was the porch width away from a hundred year old dry laid foundation. If the tree had caused foundation problems, I would have heard about it (and heard about it and heard about it - just like the time my oldest cousin climbed up the massive hemlock in the back yard)

You don't usually see them any more because when the tree starts to show any signs of structural problems, it has to go. And by the 1970's, people though more in terms of adding AC than planting shade.

Planting a tree too close to the foundation *CAN* cause all sorts of problems...but it doesn't always. I'm personally aware of a couple houses in New England that have basements and had big trees inches from the house without it causing any foundation problems. (One huge pine inches from an old summer house that never caused any problems at all, one large tree a couple feet from an apartment building that was ultimately taken down because it provided a highway for ant and squirrels...in my experience more common problems with trees to close to the house then foundation problems) It's like going for a drive without wearing your seatbelt...risky, but most of the time nothing goes wrong. Going forward, you really don't want to plant trees too close to the house. On the other hand, it bugs me when people hysterically clear any tree within 50 feet from the house as soon as you buy the place.

Similarly, trees can destroy septic systems, but often don't. On the other hand, removing existing trees can also destroy septic systems.

This post was edited by edlincoln on Tue, Oct 7, 14 at 11:10

asking me.. us.. why people are oblivious to risk ... is a non-starter ...

there are idiots everywhere ...

ummm..

like the ones that build mansions on cliff edges ...

like the recent spate of peeps who fell to there deaths trying to take selfies on cliff edges ...

like the ones that build homes on the side of large rivers in flood plains ... [ya know.. its called a flood plain for a reason.. dont you ... lol]

like .. like. like ...

ken

ps: oh.. i know.. i am driving a 2 ton vehicle at 35 miles per hour.. i am going to tweet my friends .. instead of watching the road ... what maroons ... see link

Here is a link that might be useful: link

That is funny Ken - I was just going to say that there are a boatload of folks who have bad risk assessment skills (see also lottery, stock market, gun control, anthrax in the mail, etc)...
But to your question, yeah it MIGHT happen on my watch, but I am hoping not.

There is an old house near us. It may be 150 years old. In the side yard there is and old cedar tree that I suspect is at least 3 feet in diameter. It is less than 10 feet from the back porch.

There are several other less majestic trees dogwood and magnolia that are closer to the house.

I don't think any one will be cutting them down soon unless that become diseased and died.

hey!!!!

i play the lotto ... but only if its over 100 million .. i mean really.. who can deal with less ... after taxes and all ..

AND.. i only buy one ticket .... because it isnt worth trying to change the odds with more than one ... you would need to buy like a million of them ... [and if i had the million to buy such.. i wouldnt need to play the lotto ... such a vicious circle ... lol]

knut... the question is.. will anyone be looking for disease .... of which.. probably not ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: read at the first link .... yes.. staely old pines ... and 12 stiches ...