I once saw a solid row of 40- foot arborvitaes covering the entire front of a house, blocking all light and views. It’s rather obvious that homeowners do not consider the mature size of trees when planting and you can see examples of this driving though most neighborhoods. But when these tall varieties reach maturity they are often out of scale and dangerous to the structures they were meant to protect. In the northeast, white pine, Norway spruce and maples were commonly planted near farmhouses in order to shield buildings from winter winds and shade the roofs in the summer. Given two factors ― the extreme weather we have been having (two hurricanes in 14 months), and that trees are an important element in anchoring a house to the landscape ― I think choosing smaller tree varieties makes the most sense. I am not saying they don’t have their place they do, but ideally at a safe distance.
I have, thus, concluded that it’s not a good idea to plant “large trees” near houses. I also have a 75-foot silver maple that had a 30-foot branch looming over the house until it was pruned back because during more than one fierce storm, with winds over 60 miles an hour, I leapt off the sofa, heart pounding, to the sound of cracking limbs. A couple of the evergreen trees posed a serious threat and eventually I had to remove a Douglas fir and white spruce that were leaning into and casting deep shade over the house for much of the day.
When I bought my 1840s farmhouse I inherited half a dozen 150-foot-plus trees. “ The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.
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