Sunday, July 12, 2015

Just How Big Is That Oak?

Oak Tree Wider than House, ©B. Radisavljevic


Sometimes when we see trees, it's hard to understand how huge they are until you have something to compare them to. For example, a house, like this one. We see that the oak tree is wider than this house on Olive Street.



Oak Tree Taller than House, ©B. Radisavljevic


Now let's look at the vertical view, since the horizontal view doesn't let us see how tall the tree is. It appears the tree is at least three times as high as the house. Compare it also to the level of the power lines in front of it. Still, the tree is so tall I can't back away far enough on the street to capture its full height.

It is a beautiful tree, but it seems a bit out of place so close to the front of the house. I wonder if the people in the house ever worry that it could fall in a bad storm, for if it did, their house would be gone. I can't help but wonder if the roots will interfere with plumbing lines.

I'm guessing the when the house was built, this tree might have been much smaller, and the builders may not have envisioned how large it would become. During this season of the year, little acorns are sprouting all over the county, on their way to becoming large trees like this one. You may have one closer than you think to a less than ideal place for it to grow. The time to eliminate a tree in the wrong place is to catch it when it's small, or someday your house may look like this one.

Our Oak Tree in Templeton
Our Oak Tree in Templeton

Of course, this is a lovely oak tree, and probably the homeowners love having it just where it is. I'm just rather glad my own oak tree in Templeton is far away from the house where it has lots of room to grow. It's a different type of oak. It grows wide, but not tall.

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