Basswood - cut or preserve?

[rideau]

Have a large basswood (the only on my property) immediately at the edge of the woods. It is getting to have a very large crown and shades my adjacent vegetable/flower garden (32 x 48 ft)...no problem for the flowers, but no so great for the vegetables.

I have been contemplating cutting it to get more light into the garden. ( Know it is a very low BTU wood.
And also great wood for carving. Light and little grain, easily worked.)

However, did some reading on line, and it seems these trees can live for millennia.

I am on limestone, and have very shallow soil, so trees roots are shallow, and some trees are hollow, although others are beautiful. This tree does seem very healthy. We do have maples that are huge...certainly predate European settlers. And my Aunt on adjacent woodlot has a few huge oaks....So possibly the Basswood could live for centuries. It is protected from North winds by the home.

I know this Basswood crown will continue to grow and even further shade the garden. The tree is south of the garden, and only about a dozen feet from the South garden fence. It cuts sunlight from part of the garden for a few hours in the early afternoon.

Any thoughts on whether to cut or leave the tree?

 

[ScotO]

I believe that is a very personal issue, Rideau.......it's hard for any of us to lead you in one direction or another, but if you would like it to be gone, no one would crucify you for that opinion....that said, here's my input......

If it was blocking a garden that I planned on growing vegetables in every year, I'd at least take some of the crown out of the tree. If it was a tree that threatened my property (house, garage, barn, etc.) I'd probably remove it altogether......

Now, please don't use my opinion as the gospel here, this is just what I would do if I was in your situation. I have several ash trees (which are currently very healthy and thriving) in my backyard that I know for certain are doomed to the ash borer eventually that I am holding out on til the last second......

 

[thewoodlands]

Have a large basswood (the only on my property) immediately at the edge of the woods. It is getting to have a very large crown and shades my adjacent vegetable/flower garden (32 x 48 ft)...no problem for the flowers, but no so great for the vegetables.

I have been contemplating cutting it to get more light into the garden. ( Know it is a very low BTU wood.
And also great wood for carving. Light and little grain, easily worked.)

However, did some reading on line, and it seems these trees can live for millennia.

I am on limestone, and have very shallow soil, so trees roots are shallow, and some trees are hollow, although others are beautiful. This tree does seem very healthy. We do have maples that are huge...certainly predate European settlers. And my Aunt on adjacent woodlot has a few huge oaks....So possibly the Basswood could live for centuries. It is protected from North winds by the home.

I know this Basswood crown will continue to grow and even further shade the garden. The tree is south of the garden, and only about a dozen feet from the South garden fence. It cuts sunlight from part of the garden for a few hours in the early afternoon.

Any thoughts on whether to cut or leave the tree?

Lots of people cut them, I decided we would let them stand because bees like them.

http://ohiodnr.com/trees/bass_amr/tabid/5335/Default.aspx

 

[midwestcoast]

Option 2 = move the garden? Not sure how much room you have...
I would have much more garden if it wasn't for the shade of big trees. I'm too sentimental to cut them, but one is now hollow & has to go anyway.

 

[rideau]

Moving the garden is not an option. Everywhere else on the property is heavily wooded. IF I wanted to cut a TON of trees, I still couldn't move the garden for a few reasons: need water available (taps at house); have spent 35 years building up soil in this garden...as stated, I have NO depth of soil on this property.. Very rich what is there, but very shallow; I have my garden soil over a foot deep and very rich now. ANIMALS: get the garden away from the house and I will have NO vegetables left, but happy varmints; MOSQUITOES: Oh, my God! Where the garden is, I'm in a relatively speaking clearing at the top of the cliff where I do get some breeze which helps with the mosquitoes when the wind is in the right direction...,etc, etc.
Also, I'm gradually trying to build the soil to a depth of 30 inches, so I'll be able to continue to garden in raised beds regardless of any health factors that may evolve as I age....Have experienced both knee injury and sciatica, so realize I have to make my garden really accessible. (Someday may have to build a raised hearth....but that's another subject)

And finally, I have many rare fungi on the property as well as endangered flowers and rare ferns. I am the last ideal woodlot on the lake, and am a heritage property. Technically I need permission to do anything on my property. Never would the province or township OK my cutting an area to relocate my garden.

I do have enough property (24 acres), but the acreage is meaningless in this case....I built the garden, all raised beds, on a massive slab of rock SE of my home.

 

[bogydave]

Had the same issue, after a few years I decided more trees needed to go.
The whole lot was spruce & birch. Dozed the stumps & planted grass.

Now I plant trees where I want them & keep them pruned

Helps keep the mosquitoes away from the house some too.

Scotty is right, personal choice.
Glad I did it. Property management. My garden likes it too

 

[rideau]

Great looking vegetables, really coming along nicely.

If you put every inch of open land on my property together, I haven't half the open land on my entire property as you show in that picture. I fight to keep the area around the home open enough for enough light to garden. I'm fine early in the Spring....So selective cutting near the home. Hence my need to make a decision about the Basswood. After Jags comment about the bees, I think I'll leave it and try to cope by cutting some trees either side of it...which of course will accelerate the growth of the crown significantly.

Thanks for the comment.

 

[Jags]

After Jags comment about the bees, I think I'll leave it and try to cope by cutting some trees either side of it.

Nope - dat was the Zapster.

 

[rideau]

Nope - dat was the Zapster.

Oops...sorry.

I knew it was Zap,actually...was running through my mind when I read the comment that his woods are similar to mine....Adirondacks/Tupper Lake area etc I know fairly well.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We face some of the same problem and will be cutting more trees. Yet I can understand and appreciate wanting to keep the trees even though you still have plenty of other trees. With the animals, we were forced into fencing else we'd have nothing in the line of veggies or fruit.