By this time in the growing season, trees either have their leaves ... or they don’t. Those who have a tree looking less than perky want to know if it’s alive or not. And can we bring a tree that does not look good back to a healthy condition?
The starting point is to determine what’s happened to the tree—insects, disease, fallout from the hard freeze four winters ago or the Mother’s Day snow storms two years in a row. Or did the tree not have enough water during the winter or other poor care? The starting point is to have the tree evaluated so you know if there are cost-effective options to rescue it.
Save it or lose it?
With a tree that might or might not survive, consider the factors most important to you when deciding whether to save or cut it down. The tree’s size, extent of damage or disease, and even sentimental reasons for keeping it, need to be weighed.
When do you call it quits?
At some point, we need to cut our losses. Generally, if two-thirds or more of the tree is damaged, it is not worth saving. If we get rid of that unsightly tree now, the replacement tree will get planted and start growing sooner. If you try to keep a tree alive for a few years and still end up removing it, you’re then a few years behind on growing a new replacement tree to a mature size. Sometimes the best thing for the appearance of your yard and your property value is just to move on.
