Here's the situation: we live on an urban lot with one tree on our property. It's a 20'-ish Maple tree. Not the prettiest tree, but is the only tree we have, does give nice shade on our front patio, and the kids love playing on it.
The problem is that it is sick. So, we've had two arborists look at it and the concensus appears to be:
- 2 years of Anthracnose treatment (2 sprayings per year @ $100 spray = $400)
- Treatment (forgot the name) to encourage root growth and slow down the crown (current soil is clay, some construction damage) = $100
- Some upper branch pruning ($300, though they recommend I just spend $150 on a good ladder and do it myself)
So, we're looking at about $600 investment in this tree. Now, that would be a no-brainer decision if this was the only issues the tree has. Unfortunately, there are two other issues:
- it has a rather large forked trunk with bark inclusion. Both arborists said it's not good, and, eventually, it likely will split (probably killing the tree). Might be 5 years. Might be 15 years.
- It's suffering from root girdling. Probably fixable over time with annual trimming of some of the girdled roots and clearing some of the topsoil near the trunk (it appears that the tree was originally planted too far below the soil line).
So, the question is, do we treat, and hope the tree gives us another 10+ good years, or do we consider starting fresh and taking it down and planting a new tree? We don't want to destroy this tree if all we can replace it with is an $80 sapling that would take a good 10 years to even begin to look somewhat full. What could we get for the $600? Can you buy semi-medium/largish trees that are transplantable in that price range? Any specific trees that would be good urban/bad-soil trees but semi-fast growth (but not more than 20/30 feet mature)?
At the very least, we do want to get another $80-ish tree established in another part of our yard so if/when this tree does go, we will have one decent tree on the lot.
The problem is that it is sick. So, we've had two arborists look at it and the concensus appears to be:
- 2 years of Anthracnose treatment (2 sprayings per year @ $100 spray = $400)
- Treatment (forgot the name) to encourage root growth and slow down the crown (current soil is clay, some construction damage) = $100
- Some upper branch pruning ($300, though they recommend I just spend $150 on a good ladder and do it myself)
So, we're looking at about $600 investment in this tree. Now, that would be a no-brainer decision if this was the only issues the tree has. Unfortunately, there are two other issues:
- it has a rather large forked trunk with bark inclusion. Both arborists said it's not good, and, eventually, it likely will split (probably killing the tree). Might be 5 years. Might be 15 years.
- It's suffering from root girdling. Probably fixable over time with annual trimming of some of the girdled roots and clearing some of the topsoil near the trunk (it appears that the tree was originally planted too far below the soil line).
So, the question is, do we treat, and hope the tree gives us another 10+ good years, or do we consider starting fresh and taking it down and planting a new tree? We don't want to destroy this tree if all we can replace it with is an $80 sapling that would take a good 10 years to even begin to look somewhat full. What could we get for the $600? Can you buy semi-medium/largish trees that are transplantable in that price range? Any specific trees that would be good urban/bad-soil trees but semi-fast growth (but not more than 20/30 feet mature)?
At the very least, we do want to get another $80-ish tree established in another part of our yard so if/when this tree does go, we will have one decent tree on the lot.