When a tree dies, it releases as much carbon as one does if it burns in a forest fire. The warming climate has brought us many more exotic insects (and weeds) that have no natural control in the US. You’ve probably heard of Emerald Ash Borer. We lost four ashes (dead) and took down one that hadn’t been attacked, yet. The fifth is along the road and we’d have to arrange for the road to be closed to take that one down. Its still alive.
Female ash trees tend to grow in nice places with plenty of water. The largest tree we took down was about 90 feet tall and 125 years old. The males grow on higher ground. The male along the road under stressful conditions of road salt and pollution and growing on rock ledge is the last one standing.
It makes me sad to take down a live tree — even a dead tree.
There are several maples here that are kind of weedy or brittle and have died for one reason or another. Acer negundo, box elders sprout everywhere and most of them don’t get very big, although a neighbor has one that is huge and obviously a hundred years old or more. Acer saccharinum, silver maples, tend to break apart naturally. I wouldn’t plant one near a house. I leave the bodies of dead trees standing if there is no danger of any part falling on the house or heads. We call these snags, and they are supermarkets and apartment buildings for all kinds of critters. We cut the branches off of one box elder and left the twelve-foot-tall “stump” standing.
Below are a couple of photos of the ash take-down and results. We didn’t leave these trees as snags because they had exotic pests and diseases. As you can see, the inside was very dead. That doesn’t always mean there is danger of one falling. Cylinders are strong.
We’ve cut a bit of the ash wood for the fireplace and sent the rest to Louisville to make baseball bats (just kidding). We had it chipped – not to mulch the paths and beds — but to cover with a tarp and let decompose to incorporate into some sandy woodland bed soil. What have been some of your tree issues? What have been some of your tree issues?
Sadly, when we moved into our house in 2012 Texas was coming off of an extreme drought. We had at least 10 trees that had to come down, a mixture of loblolly pine and some hardwoods. Then in 2017 we had two pines that were near our pond shoreline fall into the pond after flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Too difficult to move from the pond, the trees have since been turtle havens and have built up a little wetland out there. It was all distressing to say the least but we’ve since replanted and hope in the decades to come they will be loved, too.
Sorry you lost your trees, but I like that the turtles are making use of the logs. Good luck with the new trees.