Money Doesn't Grow on Trees
TREE PROGRAM DECREASES REPAIR COSTS
The better an association maintains its trees, the less money it spends in
property repairs.
Just ask David Sikute, manager of La Florentine Homeowners Association in San
Diego, California.
La Florentine, a 98-unit condominium association, could be paying for pavement
and sewer line repairs right now if Sikute had not implemented a tree replacement and
pruning program last spring.
For the first four years of the association's six-year existence, a landscaper
pruned the trees annually with a pole pruner. By the fifth year, the trees had outgrown a
pole pruner's reach.
Sikute knew that as the trees continued to mature, their branches would grow
closer to the buildings and their roots would eventually grow underneath the nearby
pavement--one tree's root system had already elevated a curb. Wanting to prevent costly
building and pavement repairs, Sikute hired a licensed landscape architect to evaluate the
property and determine which trees would outgrow their allotted space.
REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT
About 20 trees--a mixture of Canary Island Pines and Japanese Weeping Fig
trees--had to be removed before their branches and roots damaged the association's
property.
La Florentine replaced the pine trees, which were hitting some of the buildings,
with Bradford Pear trees. Unlike the pine trees, the pear trees grow tall and slender and
will not touch the buildings.
The association replaced the Japanese Weeping Fig trees with African Firewill
trees. The fig tree has an invasive root system that will grow underneath nearby pavement,
causing it to elevate and crack. Both trees have a canopy shape and create shaded areas,
but the Firewill's root system will not damage the surrounding pavement. The tree removal
and replacement project took about three weeks to complete and cost the association about
$2,725.
"Hopefully the initial removal and replacement outlay will save the
association money down the road when there aren't any building or pavement damages from
tree branches and roots," Sikute said.
Sikute informed La Florentine's residents about the tree removal and replacement
project through the community newsletter. "Residents knew that if we didn't replace
some of the association's trees now, they would eventually have to replace their sewer
lines and driveways."
After the association removed the Canary Island Pines and Japanese Weeping Fig
trees, it divided its property into two pruning phases. One year, one-half of the property
is pruned. The next year, the second half of the property is pruned. The association pays
$2,250 each year to have the trees pruned.
A PROACTIVE PROJECT
It is not unusual for trees to outgrow their allotted space, but it is unusual
for a community association to implement a tree replacement and pruning program before the
damage is done.
Many associations only remove a tree after its branches have grown too close to
a building or its roots have destroyed pavement or grown into sewer lines, said Jim
Kuhlken, a principal of Marquez-Kuhlken Landscape Architects, in San Diego, California.
"Tree removal [should be] common maintenance for community
associations," said Kuhlken, who developed La Florentine's tree replacement and
pruning project. "Every association needs to remove some trees about five years after
it's built." |
