A healthy silver maple and a client's sunny dreams put me in a tough spot

Last week, a customer called me out to quote removing a full grown silver maple from their yard. They said it was casting too much shade on their new veggie patch. I checked the tree over and it was totally fine, no rot, strong limbs, just doing its tree thing. Honestly, I felt weird about taking it down just for some extra sunlight. I talked them into a major prune instead, which helped a bit, but they still weren't happy. It's one of those jobs where you're caught between making a living and doing what feels right. How do you all handle clients who want a tree gone for what seems like a silly reason? Do you ever just say no?

3 comments

3 Comments

tylerjackson27d ago

My neighbor cut down two oaks for a better satellite dish view. @carr.brooke is right, people fix tiny problems with huge changes. Now his yard floods every time it rains hard.

hannah_hart931mo ago

Feel the same anger carr.brooke has about this stuff. Last summer a guy asked me to quote removing a mature willow because he didn't like the few leaves that blew into his pool. The tree was perfectly healthy and stabilized the whole bank behind his house. I flat out told him it was a bad idea and explained how much erosion he'd have without the roots. We settled on installing a pool cover during leaf drop season instead. It saved the tree and solved his petty problem.

carr.brooke1mo ago

Seriously, is a veggie patch really worth killing a healthy tree? The problem is a few hours of shade, not a safety hazard. That feels like a huge fix for a tiny issue.