split tree Question

[Treezybreez]

By the way, welcome to the buzz dociledragons. I'm sure your dosile nature will be an asset to this community.

 

[96coal449]

The only good thing about a weed that grows 5-6' a year is that it produces oxygen. That's it. I once live on a small live stock farm that had about 50 of these bastards. They grow like a weed (as mentioned), and attract that pesky beetle that infests the tree and every thing near and below. Remember beetles defecate to. Wash that crap off your property yearly? No thanks!

 

[dociledragons]

oh you guys. I haven't read all your post but, thanks, MRtree. Yes, I was just wanting to know what type of tree it is and what I needed to do for trimming. I will keep it because, as somebody already said, I won't be alive let alone still in this house in 20+ years. By then it's somebody else problem. I am in need of a quick shade tree. From what I understand they are great trees if keeped under control. thanks all

 

[colb]

There are some cool things about box elder. First, they are native and will establish themselves just about anywhere. Second, they are a great wildlife tree, attracting bugs that attract birds. Third, they grow quickly. Fourth, they have beautiful leaves and often a gnarled "old man" aesthetic, making an overall distinctive growth form. Fifth, they are amazing in riparian communities.

The drawbacks of having weak structure and being prone to infections, borers, etc. make it a great candidate to plant in a place where it will not hit something, and will be part of a natural area landscape (especially streamside). They are also excellent for remediation sites where the alternative is paper mulberry, or a prairie of invasive vines. They will grow in very poor soil conditions, as a "weedy" native like hackberry/sugarberry.

Make sure it grows up pointing away from your house.

 

[JeffGu]

Just ignore Mr. Stinky. He's only trying to confuse the issue with his personal agenda. He has ulterior motives!



...and what about this, huh?



....see what I mean?

Boxelder trees are best known for bursting into flames in the middle of the night and slinging flaming gobs of oozing, smelly goop everywhere... and for causing everyone within a mile radius of the tree to contract genital warts. You know you don't want this kind of action, right? Take our advice and kill the little bastard before he spawns more of his insidious kind, and brings doom and destruction down on your head during the wee hours of the night.

 

[mrtree]

You are correct, most arborists believe Acer negundo is the devil taken arboreal form while other recognize it for its great benefits or you could just choose this variety.

 

[james mauldin]

I have milled some pretty face boards out of limbs that had heavy red grain but as a whole when asked to trim I almost always suggest removal and replanting with a more appropriate tree for the setting as well as long term benefits. A well informed customer is worth more to me than complacently trimming a tree that often has previous splits, holes or weeping limbs that would require more than an acceptable amount of trimming yearly. When 1 or 2 summers roll around and it needs a retrim is the customer going to remember a nodding yes man agreement to the trim or the suggestion that they not waste $ on a junk tree that needs more maintenance than any other of their trees than the beautiful crabapple that has to be sprayed, trimmed, elevated and deadwooded every year next to the sidewalk that the landscaper planted it too close to. Even better suggest an elderly couple that locust trees are great yard trees because they won't need any maintenance except the yearly deadwood and elevation and gutter unclogging and the advice to keep the mower jockey from hacking up all the surface roots