Thread: Why are trees planted under/beside powerlines?

Why do arborists employed by cities and municipalities here plant tall growing trees under/beside high voltage powerlines, are they just stupid or is there a reason? It makes work for me, but it is a waste of money in that there are better places to plant trees and money that could be spent on other utility treework.

Our utility, B.C. Hydro, gives out a publication about planting trees around powerlines. It suggests planting low growing trees or bushes, never tall growing trees. I have seen it many times, I am sure they have too.

So, these trees they plant get pruned back for clearance so they don't grow into the lines, then we are called hacks for doing essential pruning, And no, you cannot make a tree look good when it is growing in this spot. Does this happen in the U.S., or are your arborists smarter?

Same here.In my area its water oak mostly which all they do is suck up water until they break from thier own weight.

Since the smaller type trees seem to get too big as well, they should start requiring large growing shrubs with good branch structure. Then when they get old, they would be the size of young small trees.

or better yet don't plant any trees under power lines.I remove enough of them from peoples yards to know that all line clearance does is hack them to bits until td day.

Unfortunatly most of the people doing the planting on right of way have no idea about the trees or the location they are planting. Many contractors simply stick a tree in the ground to fulfill part of a contract that was speced out by an engineer that knows nothing about trees. Tree looks good first 5 years, by then the check has cleared and the contractor and engineer have moved on to another project. As for the public planting on private property, well good luck. To answer if the problem is just as bad here in the USA as it is by you, in my area yes.

It is more the planners and that have the say, the UF workers are just labor in this. Many tomes it is not a UF person, but a road worker assigned to the job.

The town where Gopher lives planned silver maples on the side with wires, and callery pears on the side w/o. The reasoning was aesthetic, a consulting arborist contested the usage and suggested other material, but the aesthetics ruled the day.

Utilities have been preaching "right plant" for decades, common sense does not allways come out on top.

Since the smaller type trees seem to get too big as well, they should start requiring large growing shrubs with good branch structure.

Quite often the problem of line of sight and road way clearance issues come into play, excluding a lot of species.

I think that there are many sneeky devil's that view it as job security. On the other hand there are many that don't think of tree planting as a long term decision. Quite similar to planting to close to a foundation ( big beautiful tree doing all the right things except heaving a basement wall.)

Yes, wrong tree in the wrong place going on here also.

I have also taken witness to homeowners that will plant a row of tall growing trees under lines as a type of boundry or privacy (busy roadways, dust, noise,etc.) just cause of the fact the utilities come along and trim for free.

Aww heck just inject them with growth retardant clearance
I have asked that question over two decades never a good
awnser has been given. I think sometimes it's just an arnry
homeowner I just planted twenty five sweetgums under mine!






















Just kidding at my gate there is a sign that tells any would be line
maintenance crews that this property is maintained by owner.
I have told the power company the same and that at fifteen
foot clearance they will never need in my driveway. Mine is
the best looking row around here and plowed brush and planted
oats for the deer.

Hey ! They probably still look like trees, instead of fat shrubs ! Keep up the good work my friend ! Hows the deer hunting this season? It's fattt over here !

Start a Federal program and plant more of them under power lines, but make a permanent-like law to go with it...

To handle to issues...

Illegal immigration
So-called global warming

So we triple the number of trees under power lines. Then pass a law that the illegal aliens can get residency legally, as long as they provide weeks of free community service pollarding those trees.

Free work, lots of summer foliage, earned residency status - Viola !!

Why couldn't we, in the NW and BC, plant Christmas trees under power lines?

Then the places we currently use to grow Xmas trees could be used for something sensible, like upscale housing developments that use wood from the rainforests of the world for environmentalists to file appeals from.

Scratch that last part from this plan. It's going to happen anyway.

We started a program to plant trees on the frontage of peoples properties. This way we can still get the canopy that people seem to like without the hassel of powerlines and city municipalities.

Not only are we saving the world... but we are also increasing return clients. Municipalities are always responding to constituents who want more trees in urban areas then want them maintained without having the personal responsibility of paying out of pocket.

There is always the dilemma of making people happy without being given a decent budget to do maintenance needed to keep trees healthy long term. I think I read somewhere that city trees in planting boxes only have a life expectancy of 5 years. Any longer and they start to dieback, cause problems with utilities.

Maybe we should stop funding a federal bureaucracy and a war on terror and put that money toward public works, or cut taxes and let homeowners put the money back into their landscapes.

We should all start sending out flyers to our customers to plant trees on their properties for free or cheap to help alleviate the need for the municipalities to plant street trees. Hmm........

The most simple answer would be........because they are stupid.

we once made a developer move 15 maple trees that they planted under the three phase, they replanted dogwood and redbud trees which in time will need trimming also but not as bad as maples. It happens here all the time also.

ask the euro's, dont think is a large problem over there, polarding has ben practiced there for years. thanx to mr al cherry we now share info with euro,s. seems we americans are 10yrs to late and a billion $ to short. more info on this subject go to alcherry.com and ask the man who expanded american arbo with a handshake,tea, and a smile.

I have asked this same question to almost all the the towns, municipalities,and power co's I have worked for/with. The two most common answers are; we got the trees for cheap/free and they will be easy to prune/shape around the lines. i.e. red maple, linden, Bradford Pear, etc.
The second most common answer is; this is a very high end community whos residents would rather look at trees than power lines. To me this naswer should include, no matter how badly pruned or looking the trees are.

There is a push here in the bigger, wealthier communities to have all lines underground by 2020. They are quite serious and have plenty of money to do this. If this happens I am willing to bet there will be more damage to the trees from wrecking out the lines and poles, than letting the trees be hacked by line clearance guys AROUND the lines and poles.

The other problem that you run into in this area is tight streets and small sidewalks which keep the trees closer to the road. This means that planting small manageable trees like crab apples, Redbuds, etc is near impossibel due to the 15' clearance rule over the roads. Half of the tree would be "shaven" off over the road and look like absolute ????e!