Have my trees been butchered?

[SundanceJen]

We recently bought our home and there are quite a few eucalyptus and some sort of pine trees. We are in San Diego and I'm somewhat concerned about a few issues, mostly because these trees are all around 40-50 feet tall and could fall on the house.

My first concern is that it looks like they previously must have just cut the tops off the trees? I'm not sure if that's correct, but it seems like at least the eucalyptus have a ton of new growth on top and that must make them really top heavy? Any insight on whether this is acceptable? Does this mean that they need this done regularly?

My second concern is that several of the pine trees are leaning down the hill. Are pine and eucalyptus known for tipping over or would there be some obvious movement before that happened?

My last concern is that we are in a drought. All of the trees seem to be producing new growth at the top, is that the best way to determine health?

Thank you for any help, we are (obviously!) new to tree ownership. Jen

 

[M.D. Vaden]

Honestly, you are going to need a competent arborist anyway, regardless of feedback here.

If they have bad issues, you need a skilled tree worker to remove them.

If they have potential, they are going to need work, corrective pruning and care. And so you need an estimate for that anyway.

Just depends on the tree. It's usually good to avoid topping trees. But there are a lot of trees out there that have been topped by people or storms and been developed into some very nice specimens.

 

[Raintree]

My first concern is that it looks like they previously must have just cut the tops off the trees? I'm not sure if that's correct, but it seems like at least the eucalyptus have a ton of new growth on top and that must make them really top heavy? Any insight on whether this is acceptable? Does this mean that they need this done regularly?

Yes, your trees have been topped & that tends to to make trees top heavy long term. Not acceptable arborcultural practice in most cases. The trees will now have to be managed professionally.

My second concern is that several of the pine trees are leaning down the hill. Are pine and eucalyptus known for tipping over or would there be some obvious movement before that happened?

Any tree can tip over, most after heavy rain & wind. Grove of trees are less prone with inter-locking roots than stand alone trees. Soil heaving at the stump area during wind is a good clue the tree wants to pull loose.

My last concern is that we are in a drought. All of the trees seem to be producing new growth at the top, is that the best way to determine health?

Health can be determined by length of twig elongation, density of crown, leaf color & size. A good organic mulch bed installed through out the root zone on the slope would be very beneficial.

 

[jefflovstrom]

I see this everywhere,,is this an HOA?
Jeff

 

[treeseer]

Your trees have been butchered but they can be restored. not cheap or easy but doable. Agree with above; laying down logs or timbers can hold mulch and soil in place.