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My husband and i have a running argument about this. He plants trees. Lots of trees. I love trees, too, but they are overgrown, too close to the house, some are diseased. We haven't seen the blooms on our two crepe myrtles for years, they are so high up as to be unseeable.

We live on the edge of woods. These trees are in addition to the pretty ones there.

Last year we paid over $2000 to have one, huge, dying double trunked sycamore removed.

Who do I hire to help me make decisions about this overgrown property?

He's pouting as though I asked him to castrate himself.

Lanscape architect? Tree service?

We have similar issues. I love trees but I like small manageable ones. H does not entirely agree.

We hired a tree service to take down two trees and do some pruning. We also asked them to check our other trees for disease and future issues. It was money well spent.

Our neighbor planted a very small tree in between our properties, kind of on the property line. They moved. I asked them to take it down when they were selling their house while it was small and clear who planted it. Nope. Now it is huge and needs to come down or at the very least professional pruning. I'm afraid at some point it will come down on my house.

Trees can be lovely or a pain in the neck and dangerous.

Try to find an arborist or tree specialist, not someone who just chops down trees.

Someone who can look at the property, the condition of the trees and help you make decisions for healthy trees and property.

I second what hcsv said. My husband worked for an arblorist.

It makes a big difference. And they did some big jobs for some big names, like Phil Knight (Nike cofounder) & the local monastery who are known for their fruitcakes. One of the space missions took some into space with them.

Also, try telling your husband that in the tree business, diseased trees are known as 'widow-makers.' Maybe that will scare him a little?

Good point. I should have included that our tree service were certified aborists, not just a service that takes trees down.

Ok. I messaged an arborist for a consult. Thanks!

I also worked like a dog cleaning up what i could today. I won't let him do it, too much exertion.

you need a legit Arborist.

You should be able to google it and have one come out and make recommendations.

Sycamores are fast growing soft wood, not a good choice near a home. Oaks are a hardwood, but you have to groom them to get a nice canopy effect. Decorative trees and shrubs need to be maintained as well, or they will outgrow their space, and become easily diseased. A lot can be done to help them along.

Personally I have a sand cherry that we need to cut down and pull roots out this fall. It is extremely unhealthy and has become very Dr Suess looking.

You may also want to do some research regarding wildfire defensible space, i.e., having trees too close to a house. It may give you some useful argument material with your hubs.

In 2012 we bought our dream home on wooded acreage. We had 53 tress in the front yard.

Big mistake!!!! I had no idea how much work maintaining all the trees would be. We sold the house 2017 and it was a happy day!!

Not sure where you live, but my cousin is a landscape architect, trained in Germany.

He has, in the past, chopped my crêpe myrtles down to about 2 feet high. And the very next year they are way over my head and blooming beautifully.

That’s just my two cents worth.

But I refuse to be responsible if it doesn’t work out well!

As I type this, there are four men and about 6 large pieces of machinery/trucks in my yard doing exactly this. xpos wanted this house to not be visible from the road only at the driveway, so left all the trees that were outside the small yard area he had them clear.

Since building here, many of those trees were infested and now needed to come down, especially the ones close enough to fall on the house! One small one did fall but not much damage, luckily.

That got me to contact this tree service. The owner is very knowledgeable. He even took down one tree I loved, but is the kind that will need to come down anyway because of the disease. And told me some I thought would need to come down are okay; good trees and should stay. Show how much I know! This was my best decision this year and best money ($$$$$$$) spent, I think. I feel like I am getting a deal.