Tree trimming: too much off the top?

Sands Point residents Rick and Marsha Crawford were frustrated when they returned to their Islandside condominium Tuesday morning to see tree trimming crews on the property cutting back five ficus trees. The Crawfords said the trees were being stripped of all their leaves.

Rick Crawford told the Longboat Observer he was able to stop a trimming crew from severely cutting the trees back two years ago.

“All we want is some greenery left on the trees,” said Crawford, who said his requests were ignored by Sands Point President Julian Hansen. “This isn’t normal tree trimming, and the Sands Point board should not have the legal authority to do this.”

Hansen, however, said that the trees are cut back to their limbs every one to two years to keep the trees from becoming unmanageable.

“The way the trees were cut is the standard trimming for ficus trees,” Hansen said. “We hire professional tree trimmers to trim them correctly. Cutting them like this every so often keeps the trees from getting too big and ensures the roots don’t get large enough to disrupt the concrete pavers in our community.”

Hansen said all tree-trimming decisions are made by the board.

However, he said he understands the Crawfords’ concern.

“When the trees are cut back considerably, they don’t look super good,” Hansen said. “But I am told you can’t kill a ficus.”

Hansen’s comments did little to assuage Rick Crawford’s concerns.

“The Hansens will head back to Chicago next week and won’t have to look at these barren trees all summer,” Crawford said. “We will.”

Town planner Steve Schield said the trees on the property were not trimmed correctly and violate town code.

“It’s not good to ‘hat rack’ a tree like that, because you end up with hundreds of tiny, little new branches that are badly connected and a tree that’s now shaped liked a hat rack,” Schield said. “The only saving grace is the ficus is the only tree that will survive such a trimming shock.”

Schield called the trimming at Sands Point “extremely improper.” He said the town’s tree code allows staff to hand out fines of up to $500 if staff observes improper trimming.

“There are other ways to cut a ficus tree to make it stronger and not weaker,” Schield said.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected]

IF YOU GO
Tree Pruning Educational Session
Longboat Key Town Planner Steve Schield will hold a Tree Pruning and Permitting Educational Session at 9 a.m. Thursday, April 21, at Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road. The session will discus ways to properly prune trees and palm trees. The event is open to the public.