Living in this era of fast-food, drive-thru Starbuck’s, emails, iPhones, texting, instant communication, instant gratification; we can all get easily accustomed to life in the fast lane. But have you ever pondered how long it took for the trees in your neighborhood to grow? The tree in your front yard? Perhaps you grew up in another city, and while you were first learning to ride a bike, that tree was a young sapling. Maybe you were graduating from college or getting engaged, and that tree was putting out a canopy of leaves to shade the local neighborhood for the summer.
At Green Leaf we had a customer call us and request the removal of a beautiful Monterey Pine in the Pt. Loma area. After giving them a price and scheduling the work, we had second thoughts and wanted to meet with our client to discuss alternatives to tree removal. It had been growing there for close to 40 years. We decided that the advantages to keeping a mature Pine far outweighed the disadvantages (possibility of minor root damage) which was the reason that prompted the removal in the first place.
Their Pine tree had been growing for more than 14,000 days. To remove it, would have taken only 1 day. Sometimes we need to slow down, come out of the fast lane and consider the true value of what surrounds us. Then we can choose, not based on what is the easiest or fastest, but what is the best choice for our shared environment.
Our client is now enjoying their beautiful Monterey Pine tree and with proper annual maintenance, we’ll help keep it that way.
Advantages of Maintaining Your Tree: Besides the aesthetics of a mature tree, the benefits of of the oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange doesn’t begin until the tree reaches 10 years old. The advantage of its cooling properties can range from 10-15 degrees, and effect areas within several miles depending on air-flow. There are many things to consider, when thinking about the trees in our landscape.
Disadvantages: When we remove a tree we not only take away its ability to produce oxygen but we remove it’s ability to receive the carbon dioxide that surrounds us. The forest is a living form of carbon and forms half of every tree. As it lives it absorbs unhealthy toxins such as: carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. When it is cut down we loose that vital exchange process.
Online Sources:
Nicola Baird, “Breathtaking”
ISA & Trees Are Good
Advertisement
