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| I'm in a typical 13-year old suburban subdivision in southeast Houston, Texas. The houses were installed with live oaks that have grown into beautiful trees over the past decade. This past summer and into this fall, I've noticed at least 15 neighbors topping their live oaks.
It breaks my heart to see this, especially knowing that the damage can be irreversible. Many more are lions tailing, though that doesn't seem to be as damaging to live oaks as with some other species. I'm not a big fan of HOAs, both on principle and because I like to do unorthodox things with my tiny plot of land. But watching these trees getting butchered is more than I can take - especially considering the heavy stress they've been under from the record breaking drought and temperatures of the summer. Should I mention something? If I do, what kind of scientific evidence do I have to stand on? How can I tell my neighbors not to do this without being totally obnoxious? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sat, Nov 5, 11 at 11:42
| i agree ... but though you complain about the constraints of HOA ... are you arguing that they should legislate more restrictions ... in this case.. tree topping??? ken |
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| There is an absolute ton of information online. Maybe you could print out a couple of pages like the ones below. ISA's Website Page on Topping Trees Perdue University on Disadvantages of Topping Some things to stress are: |
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- Posted by greentiger87 none (My Page) on Sat, Nov 5, 11 at 13:20
| Thanks Brandon! I didn't realize it was so well publicized. Why is it still happening then >.< No, I don't want them to legislate more restrictions, but rather to make the neighborhood aware of why it's a bad idea...vigorously discourage it with a logical explanation. If people still want to do it, then that's ultimately their business. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sat, Nov 5, 11 at 14:17
| so you want to be the neighborhood tree topping pitbull .. WITH KNOWLEDGE ... sounds great to me... but i hesitate to warn you .... that it sounds like you are surrounded by a bunch of lemmings.. lol .. hope the 'hood is on flat ground.. because the next thing you know.. they might all be leaping off the cliff together .... [especially if such is addressed in the HOA doc's] good luck ken |
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| I suspect that if your neighbors feel the same way as you do about HOAs and regulations, they'll also say: "What the heck! Why is our nosy neighbor poking her nose in our business? That busybody should worry about her own stuff and let us worry about ours." |
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| It's a possible they don't know they're doing harm. Sharing information isn't the same as forcing your will and information on somebody. A lot of how it's received will depend on how tactfully it's offered. Be prepared for a back-lash if you go on a crusade but if you know a few of these people well enough to have a civil conversation it would be natural enough to mention the practise isn't recommended. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Nov 6, 11 at 8:21
| while watching the hockey game.. which includes much time to ponder my navel ... it struck me that i read this post completely backwards.. i thought you wanted to change the HOA to include a ban on topping .... ergo my first post ... as in the neighbors.. as lemmings.. where just doing what each other did.. with no relation to the HOA ... my second post ... but the genie in the navel suggested that your are implying.. that the HOA REQUIRES topping ... out of curiosity.. which is it?? ken |
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- Posted by greentiger87 none (My Page) on Sun, Nov 6, 11 at 10:20
| I only brought up the HOA as a means of disseminating information, with some kind of authority/legitimacy. They don't require topping - in that case I would be raising holy hell. They just don't have a position on it at all. The subdivision is large, and I hardly know anyone but my immediate neighbors. I think I may just risk being "that guy"... first crepe myrtle murder, then bradford pears (seriously!), now live oak topping? It's too much. |
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| When you have a cluster of tree topping there may sometimes be an operator talking the occupants into paying them to top their trees. The fact that a body thinks cutting a tree back is an enhancement shows that they don't have a clue (would they saw off the top of their house or their car?), keep that in mind going in. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Nov 6, 11 at 19:45
| be an operator talking the occupants into paying them to top their trees. ===>>> i was wondering if an elderly scam was going on???? ken |
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| Since, in this case, there is a HOA and the majority of residents want an HOA (or there wouldn't be one), why shouldn't they provide guidance as to how to prune trees? Isn't it the purpose of the HOA to provide this type of guidance IF the majority of the residents agree that the guidance is desired? If not, why have an HOA at all? If I were in the situation (which I'm not) and lived in a community with an HOA (which I don't and probably won't in the future), I'd bring this problem to their attention and seek action. The HOA is the only effective way to convince a whole community to take proper pruning guidelines into consideration. Without the HOA, the chance of everyone listening and cooperating is less than the chance of me winning the lottery (and I don't play the lottery). |
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| HOAs are extremely hard to deal with with. Committees and politics, ya know. My time spent was not worth it. I've designed and installed several entryways for HOA subdivisions in the past and it came down to 'paralysis by analysis'. Nobody could agree on anything, and it seemed the persons with the least knowledge and most ill informed, had the loudest voices. In my later career I avoided working for HOAs like the plague. Good luck. Mike |
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| You can't talk and listen at the same time. |
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