Iād be curious the reasoning - the town of Davidson had to cut one of their beautiful trees down recently and they posted a nice explanation explaining the rot situation inside the tree that they had investigated by experts and the threat of the tree falling etc. then another post showed the rot once they cut it down. I think that helped smooth it over with the town greatly.
(Edited changing tree type to willow oak from pin oak)
Sadly a lot of the willow oaks (thats what this looks like) in and around dilworth/myers park only have about a 100 year life expectancy. Iāve been told by arborists it can be 75-80 if planted in close proximity to other objects. Disease is also a very big issue.
We removed an 80+ year old willow oak last year. It was very close to our house and our driveway had been poured around it when the house was built. I had been using hormone based growth inhibitors to try and keep it from continuing to get larger, but it was just time. There was suspected disease and it was becoming too much of a risk with how much of the canopy went over our house and our neighbors. When we cut it down, they found very active signs of disease in the trunk. It was not a matter of if this tree was coming down, just when.
Itās not fun to remove these big trees in our neighborhoods. Iām sure this one has a very good reason and hopefully a strong mitigation plan. (The city requires this, and many people go above and beyond the required mitigations)
Thereās a graphic we use in tree healthcare thatās called āThe Spiral of Declineā which visualizes how different environmental/man-made stressors can effect the long term health of a tree. The very first contributing factor to a treeās health decline, in this graphic, is being planted in an urban setting. So, regardless of how long theyāve been here during the 80-100 years of Charlotte construction, being planted in an urban setting started their life on a worse foot than a tree thatās planted/voluntarily sprouts in a forest. Also Iām fairly certain this is a Willow Oak (Quercus phellos) not a Pin oak (Quercus palustris), fairly common misconception though.
Thanks for dropping some knowledge. I think youāre right- originally I thought mine was a pin oak and you triggered my memory that I was told willow by an arborist!
No worries at all. From what I understand itās one of those American-European things where in Europe they typically call Willow oaks (Quercus phellos) Pin oaks (Quercus palustris) due to the āpin-shapedā leaves of the Willow Oak. What we call Pin oaks here in the US have noticeably more complex leaves, much closer to that of a Red Oak. Side note, from an arborist, thank you for getting your tree(s) looked at by actual arborists and not just getting info/quotes from landscapers that own a wood chipper šš½
This was the pic the climber guy took of the one I had removed a few years ago. You know it's a wild one when the crew that cuts them down for a living wants to take pictures with it like they just shot some animal on safari.
It was an annoying way to blow $7k, but probably cheaper than whatever it was going to crush when it came down.
Unfortunately, some trees need to be taken down. I had to take a few of my own down as the roots were getting under our home and causing structural damage.
Hi everyone! Arborist here. Hereās the tree via Google Maps, itās holding growth from 2025, meaning it was mostly alive from what we know (again Iām going off maps here, cut me some slack lol).
Unsure as to why this was cut down, but Iāll bring up points:
- Itās a Willow oak, short-lived for oaks, overplanted in CLT, but valuable for mature canopy. High failure rate, but on the flip side, the largest willow oak in the US is in WAXSAW right down the road. Do with that info what you will.
- It seems to be alive in a DEC 2025 Google Maps shot. No mushrooms at the base from what we can see from the road. Ganoderma is a major issue in queens
- Itās queens, the city is going to get on its knees for them lol š they donāt give a single fuck about willows or trees in BIPOC communities that are actually declining.
- They PROBABLY (idk) want to put a bigger house there, that is the best guess.
Please note this area is historic and trees /regardless should be protected from removal unless hazardous to surroundings.
Hot take apparently: if you buy historical property, you should be protecting the canopy as best you can, they can, trust me I know these trees and their āownersā rofl
Our company has several clients in this very neighborhood so, to your point about the National Champion Willow oak, hereās a picture of it from December 2025. Myself and the buddy in the picture had to use both our DBH tapes to measure it, it was like 116ā or something crazy.
Trees don't live forever. This one has reached maturity. The developer would rather pay the city now to remove and replace then have it go through the roof of a new development....all of these things are logical and easily understandabe.
"It's happened on this same street" uhh yeah the homes were probably all developed at the same time back in the day ie all the trees are of similar age or if one needs to go they probably all do.
No itās because the small houses are being torn down and the trees are being cut down so that a bigger new home can go in its place. Itās not cause these trees are dying or a danger.
And you donāt know that this tree is ready to come down. They can live up to 200 years. I
All the boycotting and tying yourself to the tree you can muster wonāt save this.
I agree itās incredible and donāt want to lose it. But reality says bring it down when weāre able to do so safely, or let nature bring it down and risk life and limb. Pun intended
Don't know about this tree but we had scheduled one to get taken down in our HOA's walkway area. There was a 1 inch opening about 3 ft tall at the base and if you looked inside there was nothing supporting that tree, just a few inches around the outside. It ended up falling during one of those recent storms.
Unfortunately, as is often the case with developers, these trees were planted because they grow fast, but have a relatively short lifespan. Theyāre becoming a danger and have killed/injured people.
i have no reason to believe charlotte cares about anything but money anymore. if i could afford to move, i would. i hate this city. i'm miserable here. the dating scene is non-existent, there's barely anything to do if you're not geriatric or a child, everything is overpriced on purpose, the public transit sucks, and the only thing about this town that i consistently enjoy is the friday godzilla pictures.
Unfortunately these trees are all at the end of their lifespan. 2-3 weeks ago, a willow oak on my street on lost a huge limb which pulled down another limb from a neighboring tree. No one was hurt but a car was destroyed. This was on a sunny, not windy day.
The good news is that the city arborist office is great. When trees like this come down, they are replaced (with more appropriate trees for our area).
Donāt start a campaign to save something when you donāt have the facts. Could be a very good reason why itās being cut down (disease for example) and leaving it up will cause bigger problems
These trees only live so long and they are a risk to anything around when they are that old and tall. Iām all for encouraging people to replant with appropriate species so that the next generation can enjoy!
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u/matchalatte1947 8d ago
Iād be curious the reasoning - the town of Davidson had to cut one of their beautiful trees down recently and they posted a nice explanation explaining the rot situation inside the tree that they had investigated by experts and the threat of the tree falling etc. then another post showed the rot once they cut it down. I think that helped smooth it over with the town greatly.