Saw a city crew butchering a mature oak on Elm Street

I was driving through the old part of town yesterday and had to pull over. A city crew was topping a beautiful pin oak that must have been 60 years old. They were just hacking off the top third, leaving these huge, ragged cuts. No proper drop crotch cuts, nothing. I asked the foreman what the plan was and he said 'just making it safe'. It's going to be a mess of suckers and decay in two years. Has anyone had any luck talking sense into municipal crews about this stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

sanchez.ivan9d ago

Check the city's budget cycle timing. They might have leftover "tree maintenance" funds they need to spend before the fiscal year ends, so they're just doing work to use it up, not because the tree needs it. Saw this with a park near me, they butchered a bunch of perfectly good maples in November right before the budget reset. It's not about safety or arboriculture, it's about municipal accounting.

harper_burns598d ago

That's a pretty dark way to look at it. Maybe some places do that, but it seems like a big jump to say it's never about safety. Our town took down an old oak last year that was totally hollow inside. Looked fine from the outside, but one big storm and it would have crushed a car. Sometimes the work is actually needed.

sam_cooper8d ago

Yeah, that's a fair point. It's rough when a real hazard gets taken down and people just assume the worst.