Dear Mustachians,
I was just skimming through the anti-Mustachian wall of shame and read a bit about some guy who spent $2300 on getting trees around the house trimmed.
Which leads to my problem. Our house is on a tiny lot (less than 1/4 acre), but it is surrounded by a dozen mature trees, mostly oak, about half of which we own and the rest of which are owned by neighbors. One massive oak tree is in fact right on the property line, so we own half, and a hickory tree belonging to a neighbor is 5 feet from our house.
When we first moved here a few years ago, the trees had been recently trimmed. However, now the problems are starting. This year, a small branch from one of our own trees fell on our roof and poked a small hole in it. We looked into fixing it ourselves, got a few quotes, and in the end got what I consider a great deal with the guys who were installing gutter guards on the second floor anyway... they were charging by the hour and it took them about 30 minutes, so about $85.
Not long after, a smallish branch fell off the neighbor's hickory tree and shattered the moon roof on our car while it was parked in our driveway. We bought a replacement window from eBay and replaced it ourselves for $90. Also, nuts from the hickory have dented our car, though since it's a 1998 model, we haven't been too put out. We like those neighbors, who are an elderly couple on a fixed income, so we don't want to hassle them.
I can see some other problems coming up... some trees that we own overhang the road and power lines. I'm also concerned about branches falling on people who walk on the edge of the road. Last month, I called the power company asking if they could trim them, and they told me somebody would call back within the week (they didn't). Also, it's a matter of time before more branches fall on our house and car.
The trees are beautiful, they add class and value to our lot, they shade us nicely in summer but we get sun in winter. But trimming will cost thousands of dollars. I also value our lives, so I don't see us climbing up there and trying to do it ourselves. What to do?