The Value of a Tree

It is rumored that the property in the small town of Mandeville, Louisiana, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain on which the "Seven Sisters" live oak lives, sold for $2 million dollars. Though very nice, the house is not overly large and the property itself is not more than 2 acres.
The true value of this site is the live oak that is the National Champion and President of the Live Oak Society.
Who says trees are not valuable? No one on this garden web, I know.

Did the elderly owners finally pass away, or just move? I hope the new owners are as faithful in their care of the oak as the last ones were.
Guy S.

Trees and other landscaping plants add value to a home - especially older, well-maintained trees. Research has shown that the value trees add to a particular property ranges from 7 to 25 percent of the total land value. If they are damaged, your homeowners insurance USUALLY covers them - up to 5% of your home's value and a maximum of $500 per item. If you have OLD trees, you can usually purchase additional insurance to cover them.

If you have really old, established trees, you may want to have an appraisal done to determine their value. Its best to have it done before anything happens so you have photos of the tree and proof of its worth. If you want to try to determine the value on your own, check out the Guide to Plant Appraisals (book). The Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers (CTLA) has a list of qualified/ experienced appraisers and its available by contacting them at CTLA, 15245 Shady Grove Road, Suite 130, Rockville, MD 20850 or phone at (301)947-0483.

On a different note, here's a story of a well-to-do lady who felt she needed to restore her ocean-front view by poisoning some trees across the street in the park: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=5922909f-c5c2-4a71-a023-b6e3be49519b&k=33043
Her apartment is worth over a million and was looking to sell in the near future and decided to improve the value of her home. I had walked by these trees trying to figure out what was wrong with them and noticed the bored hole. She is now known as the "tree killer lady" by people in the neighbourhood.

This pic is either the correct apartment or the next one.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Obviously she has no beauty.

I just realized the url doesn't work. I'll try again: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=5922909f-c5c2-4a71-a023-b6e3be49519b&k=33043

for some reason it doesn't accept the end: (http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=5922909f-c5c2-4a71-a023-b6e3be49519b&k=33043)

I got to see the link by copying and pasting the b&k=33043 bit on the end of the clicked url. No space between them (despite one appearing on this page).

Resin

Wow. What kind of trees were they?

I think that trees add the "POTENTIAL' for value. In Oregon, I've talked to several real estate professionals, and they say that there is no evidence that trees add value to each property. What the trees do, is increase the likelihood that some buyers will bid higher on a house, or refrain from making a lesser offer.

So in a very loose sense, trees add value.

It's certain that a neighborhood forested with nicely manicured trees could be sold entirely before another neighborhood void of any nice trees.

And more importantly the new owners will have a greater life because of the trees you planted in the home you sold. Making life better for someone else is good for the soul.

The trees were some kinda Oak but the leaves were so badly deformed I couldn't tell which one. I, of course, jumped to the conclusion they had Sudden Oak Death but quickly realized there's a hole in the trunk with a cork in them.

All I can imagine is a cookie jar with leaves coming out of the top. Hey that is a good Idea! make a cookie jar and plant some house plants in the top. Off to my pottery wheel. LOL

So that is how the taxonomist came up with Quercus = Corkoak.

LOL! I never thought of it all that way. I actually did some cuttings of Cork Oak but I don't think any of them will make it. Ya, that hole with a cork in it was just strange but the lady had it out for those trees and she ended up selling her apartment for 1.6 million so I think she got away with it. Ruined her reputation though.

I wonder if they were the extremely rare(only a few small areas of extreme SW BC have native stands) Canadian endemic, Oregon White Oaks(Quercus garryana).

Cork Oaks...I agree with Guy...HISSSSS!!!! LOL

Can you enlighten the unquercified as to why Q. suber has gotten a reputation comparable to Mrs. VanTreekiller?

JamesCO, It's not Q. suber (the real Cork Oak!), but the pun thrown at us from Resin("there's a hole in the trunk with a cork in them"..."Cork Oaks") that we are Boooing and Hissssing. he he

Ahh. "Corked Oaks."

People who deal in taxonomy and know what they are talking about are very far away from the rest of we normal gardeners. I have no idea what is going on. But don't bother to explain it to me I chose NOT to take latin in college cause I wanted to stay with the old english I grew up with. And have certain word origions and meaning fly in one ear and out the other. Ahhhhh

JamesCO, it was the real Cork Oak I did cuttings of but the Garry Oak is a different story. I did a small harvest last fall in Victoria but there was some worm in the acorns. I'm going back for more in the next month. Yes, there was a real cork in the Oak trunk.

I guess when someone mentions killing a tree we could say, "Put a cork in it!"

Put a quercus in it.

Taxonomists? Ha! Daft muttonheads.
Unsarcastically: why do taxonomists change the name of families? The whole legume thing drives me nuts. If the family represents the same group of plants, why did it change?

This is a photo of the "Seven Sisters" live oak. It is estimated by foresters to be over 1200 years old.

That's terrific! I wish you and I could have been there on a day with such nice lighting. What happened to the owners?
Guy S.

Mr. Seiler passed away in 2004 from Alzheimer's --you remember meeting him in 2002? After Hurricane Katrina Mrs. Seiler felt as though she wanted to be nearer family.

I NEED TO GET DOWN THERE. I have stayed away from the south too long. It is time to get in my canoe and paddle down the Missouri and into the Misissippi to see these great trees. Now off to trap my beavers and make it profitable. How is the ermine prices LOL in New Orleans.