Trim or Cut Chines Elm?

[pb_ca]

Hello…Would appreciate your opinion!

There is a huge Chinese Elm growing in our backyard. We love this tree, in fact, it was what drew me to this home. However, it has already cost us close to $10,000 in piping damage and plumbing issues since we bought the home in 2016. We try to trim the tree every couple of years which is very costly running us anywhere from $600-$1500 each time. We are okay with continuing to trim the tree, but it has cracked the planter and cement slab that it’s sits on. The crack was not there when we first purchased the home. We are afraid of the damage it will cause to the foundation of our home.

It saddens us to think about the possibility of losing the tree but if it’s threatening our home’s foundation, then we may have no choice. We’ve called on tree services companies for their professional opinion and they have recommended to cut it down as it is too close to our home.

What are your thoughts? Thank you in advance

[marknmt]

Don’t go chopping down your beautiful tree on my say so, but I’d say have it removed. Especially if your stucco house is on a masonry base it could cause all kinds of mischief.

But: there are commercially available growth inhibitors (Cambistat, paclobutrazol 22.3% for example) that will dramatically slow your tree’s growth. Somebody well-qualified (not me) could tell you whether that’s a good option.

I sympathize with you -I love our trees and I’d hate to have to remove any of them.

[kokopelli5A]

Those things are considered invasive here in the Southern Rockies.

No doubt there are nice specimens around, but I agree with Mark: Get rid of it and plant something more tractable in its place,