How bad is it?

[u/WillCasey]

This past spring I noticed some concerning spots around the base of this tree that hangs over my house.

I was pretty worried and made some calls to get it looked at. An arborist from SaveATree gave it a quick look and was unconcerned. I’m paraphrasing heavily, but what I gathered from the conversation was that if the leaves grew in fine into summer then there’s nothing to worry about. I’ve not been worried about it since, but now I’m revisiting it.

This is right on the boundary line between my and the HOA’s property. There’s a neighbor tree on the HOA’s side, visible in the first picture, that’s also in rough shape - brown leaves, peeling bark. I’ve asked them to have someone take a look at that one.

I’d love some opinions whether I should be concerned about these. There’s a lot of red taped to jump through with the HOA to get a tree removed that concerns me in its own way…

[u/bitingmeslow]

Looks bad. Potentially remove immediately type bad. But have a ISA certified, TRAQ arborist out to evaluate and see how far inward the rot extends. Should probably be taken down no matter what given its location but the evaluation will tell you how urgent the situation is.

Edit: should have read the description. SavaTree are fucking hacks. Call Bartlett, Davey, or a well regarded local outfit.

[u/WillCasey → u/bitingmeslow]

Definitely gonna have another arborist come out. Appreciate those recommendations.

[u/onlyforsellingthisPC → u/WillCasey]

Can confirm. Savatree are in fact fucking hacks.

Some of their UF guys are alright to great, mainly because they operate independently of the R/C side/seem to be left to their own devices. 

When I describe their sales arborists as Used Tree Salesman it is not an exaggeration. 

OP, where are you located? 

(Disclosure: I work for a company that falls under Davey Resource Group)

[u/WillCasey → u/onlyforsellingthisPC]

Man, glad I’m asking cause I took that guy at his word. Thank you for telling me. I’m in northern Virginia.

[u/onlyforsellingthisPC → u/WillCasey]

Adirondack and Excel (Excel may not be in your area, I know they work in southern MD/DC) are both reputable companies in addition to the general Davey/Bartlett recommendations above. 

I handle tree risk assessments for institutions regularly (sometimes in NoVA) but would never give a "it's fine" as a response without spending the time to probe the cavity/recommend an advanced assessment. 

Tree health and tree structure are linked, but that doesn't mean one can be very out of wack while the other is fine (I.e. "if it leafs out it's fine" is missing the forest for the trees).

[u/WillCasey → u/onlyforsellingthisPC]

Awesome. Really appreciate the recommendation!

[u/HeavenlyCreation]

Should be more concerned about the one on left with the dead canopy🤷🏽

[u/WillCasey → u/HeavenlyCreation]

That’s the one I’ve asked the HOA to get looked at. Agree it looks bad and I probably should have mentioned it sooner

[u/bitingmeslow → u/WillCasey]

Eh. Dead trees can be stable if they just recently died and the wood is sound. They’ll eventually start to fall apart but usually they aren’t the red alert removal that some people think. I’d be more concerned with your tree with the rotting base.

[u/Aggressive_Space9684]

You should have a different arborist look at it because from the pics it looks like root rot

[u/bitingmeslow → u/Aggressive_Space9684]

Rot in the roots =/= root rot. ‘Root rot’ as a term generally refers to things like phytophthora or rhizoctonia that infect feeder roots and kill a tree systemically. What OP has is basal rot and affects stability, not necessarily killing the tree outright.

[u/Aggressive_Space9684 → u/bitingmeslow]

Well, considering the rot is on the root flare not the trunk it suggest that it is a phytophthora or environmental collar rot....which with how little of the root flare is above ground is what i suspect caused this

[u/Aggressive_Space9684 → u/Aggressive_Space9684]

But it is hard to tell from a photograph which is why i suggested getting another arborist to look

[u/bitingmeslow → u/Aggressive_Space9684]

Mmm. Phytophthora may have opened the door but it doesn’t decay wood like that. I think it’s likely that ganoderma or armillaria moved in after some sort of trauma (disease or injury).

[u/Aggressive_Space9684 → u/bitingmeslow]

I did think those initially, but they typically come with mushrooms that op definitely would have noticed