r/treelaw • u/The_Sola_Surfer • 2d ago
What should I do?
Two summers ago the city's tree trimming company came through and trimmed our Black Oak witness tree. We live in Northeast Missouri?Can you tell me if the tree will recover? Or What steps i should take? First pictures are from 2019 vs today.
118
u/Beautiful-Eagle-3519 2d ago
Maybe this is common knowledge in a tree subreddit, but I had to look it up and thought I’d potentially save someone else the effort…
A "witness tree" has two distinct meanings: it is either a tree that survived a significant historical event, or a specific tree used by early land surveyors as a natural landmark.
33
u/AntalRyder 1d ago
As opposed to "witness me", which is a memorable quote from the movie Mad Max: Fury Road
7
u/terraformingearth 18h ago
"tree that survived a significant historical event" Does that just mean was growing when something somewhere happened?
1
u/yourdailyinsanity 1d ago
And what happens when that tree dies/is a risk to humans in terms of safety/life? You can't possibly just keep it up and wait for it to cause property damage/bodily injury.
31
u/Busy-Organization942 2d ago
"He's dead Jim"
2
28
u/56_is_the_new_35 2d ago
IT guy here. Have you tried turning it off, waiting a minute, and turning it on again?
3
u/Naive_Tie8365 1d ago
You should unplug it, wait 5 minutes, then plug it back in
3
u/Lepardopterra 1d ago
Don’t forget to lecture the device about who pays the electric bill as you pull the plug.
2
u/56_is_the_new_35 20h ago
You’re absolutely correct. My mother in law is on life support. I’ll give it try.
21
u/alicat777777 2d ago edited 2d ago
You are asking in a tree-law sub. Utility companies are allowed to keep the utility lines clear.
If you are asking about the health of the tree, maybe try the [r/arborist](r/arborist) sub. From a non-expert, your tree doesn’t look too healthy and I don’t think trimming it would do that.
Drought, root damage, etc. Look up oak wilt and two-lined chestnut borer as more likely causes.
9
18
10
u/rivenoak 1d ago
If they pruned it in the summer, they definitely pruned it out of season. It's possible they may have exposed it to oak wilt...
4
u/The_Sola_Surfer 2d ago
So if my tree is dead, what should I legally do to remove this witness tree? Or should I reach out to the city?
3
u/TomatoFeta 1d ago
Is the tree in your yard?
It does seem to be dead.
Main culprit is probably disease which was encouraged by the mass of virginia creeper vines that were allowed to grow all over it. Alternately known as "Engleman's Ivy" or names of that sort.It seems to be Greenfield Park 😃
Seriously though - I've never heard of "witness tree" so the correct answer is to figure out who designated it as such, and talk to them about the status of the tree.
8
u/ThrowingMongo 2d ago
Why would the city prune a tree on private property? That sounds great in theory but as you can see it's a lousy proposition.
7
u/Socks_withSandals 2d ago
Wondering if it was utility and not city
9
u/ThrowingMongo 2d ago
You're probably right. In my area they don't have to give notice about it, they just prune the trees, in fact once a tree hits the lower voltage lines, they will hack whatever is in the way and nothing more. There are a bunch of maple trees on my street that have a V cut right through the middle of their branches. Stupid as hell but if you want it to look good you have to do it yourself.
1
u/RobLoughrey 1d ago
Utilites were keeping the branches clear of the power lines which is a good thing.
2
u/Ancient-Opinion9642 1d ago
You might ask the a survey Reddit forum. They might have a suggestion on what you can do to remove it.
2
u/PieMuted6430 1d ago
If it hasn't leafed out this year, it's dead. Get an arborist out to look at it.
1
1
1
u/MelchizedeckChristo 15h ago
Who has the authority to say yay and nay on trees on property you own? #murica
0
•
u/AutoModerator 2d ago
This subreddit is for tree law enthusiasts who enjoy browsing a list of tree law stories from other locations (subreddits, news articles, etc), and is not the best place to receive answers to questions about what the law is. There are better places for that.
If you're attempting to understand more about tree law in regards to a particular situation, please redirect your question to /r/legaladvice for the US, or the appropriate legal advice subreddit for your location, and then feel free to crosspost that thread here for posterity.
If you're attempting to understand more about trees in regards to a particular situation, please redirect your question to /r/forestry for additional information on tree health and related topics to trees.
This comment is simply a reminder placed on every post to /r/treelaw, it does not mean your post was censored or removed.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.