Comments on: Worrying About and Caring For Your Trees

By: the colonel

the colonel — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:05:56 +0000

Hey. Does anyone have any tree removal company recommendations? Preferably a company that is familiar with how insurance claims work. I’ve been to the Trees Atlanta site. But, I didn’t find any removal companies listed. Just tree-health inspecting arborists. I have filed an insurance claim ($1000 deductible, btw) and we are still waiting for the adjuster to come and inspect.

I’ve been told I can remove the tree in the meantime to prevent any further damage. It’s a 100+ foot maple from our neighbors yard. The middle of it is splitting our beautiful holly tree and the top is sitting on the corner of our damaged roof. Any advice would be most appreciated.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:38:37 +0000

I went to the DeKalb archives at the old Courthouse. A very kind woman managed to track down an old newspaper real estate spread that included a picture of my house from when it changed hands in the 30s.

By: newbie

newbie — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:32:55 +0000

Where would one go to find old pictures of our house?…or just Decatur for that matter?

I’ve found some neat old aerials of Decatur from as early as 1940 on line (really interesting-sad-to see how much of the city has been blown out), but not many ground level pictures…

By: superfly

superfly — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:13:02 +0000

We had ours inspected last year by Arborguard, and they told us (for free) that it was very healthy. Then they told us what we could do to keep it healthy–for several thousand dollars. Unfortunately we can’t afford to do what they told us, at least right now, so let’s hope Mother Nature takes care of it for us.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:55:02 +0000

No doubt, Newbie. I’m in the same boat as Superfly, with a gargantuan oak in the front yard that I thought for sure was in the 100-year range. Then I saw a picture of the house from, I think, the late 30s and it hadn’t even been planted yet.

I hope that means it’ll be with us for a while…

By: newbie

newbie — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:50:09 +0000

That’s just the point i’m making, not that we didnt clear cut 60 years ago, I know we didnt do that like we do today.

I’m just trying to point out that a lot of our huge trees may have been planted by the original owner, they may not have been some majestic tree saved by the builder.

the only reason I showed the Mclendon pic was to show how big trees get in in that, today, very wooded area.

By: superfly

superfly — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:22:48 +0000

The tree in our front yard is a water oak and is easily 10 feet in diameter and 4 stories high. It would take out any of the six houses next to and across from us if it fell in any direction. It was planted when the house was built in the early 1940′s. We thought for sure it was at least 100 years old, and were surprised when our neighbor who grew up in her house told us that the family who first owned our house planted the tree when they moved in.

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:21:46 +0000

Pre-war is just a convenient classification. You are right that many early post-war homes were also built within the landscape, instead of on top of it. But by the 60s-70s, clear cutting became much more necessary with the advent of building portions of the house off-site. You need room to bring that stuff in.

And as Scott said earlier, it doesn’t mean that the developer didn’t cut down trees pre-war, just that they didn’t cut EVERYTHING down.

As for your McLendon pic, that looks like it was built in an existing field, no?

That said, the original criticism of my comment about old trees reaching over roofs has merit. Most of those trees, so close to the house probably were planted when the house went up. But sorry, clear-cutting as we know it today, did not exist in 1940.