Can this Oak Tree be saved? Please help - crying & upset. PICS added.

[schmoo]

Bubba has the right idea. Do you have a local news station that would do your story justice? That is a good way to get other people to listen and HELP stop that kind of thing from happening. It certainly would help you if you do decide to sue. I would sue the crap outta them, it won't bring the tree back, but maybe it would open their eyes and get them the message that you can't damage peoples property without a price.

 

[ruth]

Thank you CT and everyone. While it's not good news to hear, it does confirm what I feel in my spirit - that the tree will most likely die. Can't bring myself to say "will die". I cry when I see it. It was just such a stupid and unnecessary thing to do and I still can't believe it. Seemed like a nightmare and hoped I would wake up this morning and that's all it was. Problem is our home has a huge metal roof and that tree's shade on the roof is what keeps it cool and keeps our utility bills way down. With the tree gone our second and third floors are going to heat up like hell itself because their "walls" are the A-Line metal roof. Thanks again everyone and anyone else who has some advice to offer. I knew I could post this and get some responses. You are all wonderful people.

 

[lacyloo]

IM SO SORRY FOR THE LOSS OF UR BELOVED TREE,,

 

[ruth]

I took some pictures. I guess I'm still hoping CT and the other arborists out there will say - "Oh, that's not so bad".

Here's a distance view of tree and shade it provides.

A little closer view:

Here's how close they got and the path they cut.

Here's a pile of the roots.

Here's the size of one of the roots when seen close up. It's huge.

Of course, these are just the ones he bothered to dig up. The rest are just cut and left in the ground.

I know that with God all things are possible - but short of God himself sparing this tree, any chance it might live?

 

[wendy]

poor tree

i know this upsets you and your husband un
looking at the pics seems like the guy went to alot of work. would have been alot easier to have gone around it somehow

i would call the cable company and see who came out there before you go into details about it. then ask to speak to a supervisor or better yet go in person and see the supervisor and bring the pics!!!
there is no way all the work of digging up roots and was worth what he gets paid an hour

 

[ratlummountain]

when the power company came through 2 years ago cutting tree's down on the road that were getting too close to the power lines, we had to sign a release agreement before they could even start their chainsaws. They even had to mark which tree's and/or branches they were going to cut down.

seems to me the cable company was highly negligent, never mind idiotic. seems they went out of their way to be destructive.

it's reprehensible that they would come without any warning and do damage that will most likely kill this tree.

i would document, document, document and then approach them with it. i would also contact my attorney post haste, as well as 2 aborists/horticulturists.

we have a gigantic oak tree about 10 feet from our house that makes yours look like a bush. we've gone round in circles with the insurance companys that want us to cut it down because if it goes it's taking the house with it. the branches span the entire roof of the house and provide so much shade. it's a very healthy tree and we've had aborists & horticulturists tell us there is NO reason to cut this tree down. it was here long before our house was and will probably be here long after we're gone.

good luck, i'd be LIVID if someone threatened my oak tree.

 

[Judymae]

I totally agree with Wendy. Take all your pics and head to their office. Calling doesn't always work. But if you show up with your pics then you can express your concern. It was probably a contractor that they hired to route the cable wires. We had this problem with our internet people. It was wireless and because of where we live they had to put a 40ft antenae on our roof. We signed papers saying they could install one antenae (approx 3-4 holes in roof for hooks that held guide wires) and that if it wasn't able to be installed we would get out $500 back. Well it wasn't able to be done correctly with the guide wires at the proper distance. But they put it up anyways. It fell 3 times. Each time it took them a week to get out and they would put more holes in my roof and try to get it to stay. They wouldn't admit that it wasn't really okay to install on my roof or they would have to give me my money back. Finally it fell and they tried hooking a guidewire screw into my metal deck cover. Through a 1x2 piece of wood. I saw it and freaked. Called husband and he freaked. Went to company and told them to take the whole rig down and cancel us and give us our money back. They said it would be 2 weeks to get out and remove it. They would cancel us and no money would be returned. After I told them that it couldn't be properly installed and that we should get our money back the owner said prove it in court. Funny thing is we have prepaid legal services through dh's work and he is now being sued with no cost to us. We may even get our roof replaced for free and our deck cover replaced! Deck cover was less than a year old. Anyways what I've taken soooo long to get to is that we kept all paper records. Saved all phone messages and emails. Took alot of after photos! Going to the office helped too. The installer was there when we complained. He wouldn't say anything infront of the owner but when he came out to remove the antenae he apologized to my dh and said it should have never been put up because of how far apart the guide wires were suppose to be anchored. Our roof was like 10ft too narrow. He also apoligized for putting a huge screw hook through our deck cover. He said he was made to do it by the owner. He said he would testify in court for us if it came down to it.
You can get this resolved. You just have to take the proper steps.

 

[ruth]

UPDATE - we've phoned in a claim to cable company and they gave us a claim number and said someone would be out in a week or so. I've taken lots of pics. My husband is feeling pretty guilty (I think) because I'm so upset so he won't let it go. He's gone to the nurseries and has bought everything imaginable to put on or around the tree and has the sprinklers going. I tried to show him the posts and what the experts have said and he refuses to believe the tree will die. It's IRONY at it's finest. For 8 years of marriage I'm the eternal optimist and he is called Mr. Worst Case Scenario. I run around speaking positive and blessings while he only speaks doom and gloom. I praise God and know all things are possible, he's Mr. Reality. Now I'm in the bed all day depressed (something I NEVER do) and he's saying it's going to be o.k. All I can do at this point is try and believe. The tree did survive Katrina though it lost a few large branches - one reason it doesn't look as full and spread out as it used to. I can hear them now, the cable company, if the tree does die, say that it was partially due to losing large branches during Katrina - shock, stress, etc. But we had a tree service trim the broken branches and they have sprouted new growth - unlike many of our other survivor trees that eventually died from the stress of the storm. We have quite a few huge old-growth pines right now that need to be cut down because they survived the storm and slowly died little by little afterwards. Guess swaying the way they did caused too much stress. I tell ya'll it was a thing to see. We stayed home and watched it all. They were falling over dozens at a time - would just sway all the way to the ground, roots and all. We lost over 100 just on the cleared property - don't know how many across the creek or in the woods. These were huge old-growth pines - measuring several feet around. The younger trees didn't fall. Having lost so many valuable trees is I guess why I'm taking this so hard. I keep trying to tell myself it's just a tree and life will go on but honestly, I feel like someone died. Thanks all for your words and suggestions.

 

[TreyClark281]

do you have before pics of the tree?

 

[SpottedCrow]

Sorry that your beautiful tree had to suffer because someone was a lazy buttswab.

un