How to Have a Better Backyard View
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we are blessed by all of the natural beauty that surrounds us. From lakes, mountains, and stunning forestry to the enchanting city skylines. Enhancing the view of these majesties from your property can significantly improve the value of your home if you plan on selling it, or can open up your property so that you love your backyard and can enjoy the beauty surrounding it.
Ironically, one of these natural beauties can also be a cause of an obstructed view: trees. While trees and other greenery can be a valuable and beautiful part of any property, sometimes overgrowth or poor tree placement can block your view. Luckily, view-enhancing tree services such as tree trimming and re-shaping, and tree removal exist to restore the view from your property. How do you know if you should remove the tree blocking your view or pursue tree-trimming methods? Skilled tree experts can be great advisors in this decision, as they bring an outside perspective and have knowledge on factors that will impact your property view long-term, such as the tree species and how it will continue to grow.
Tree Trimming to Improve Your View
Tree trimming is a great option to enhance your property’s view. Oftentimes, it is not necessary to remove a tree to create the view you are hoping for. Using advanced trimming techniques and equipment, experts are able to preserve the tree and its beauty while also creating a view of the Pacific Northwest backdrop behind it, producing optimal results for your backyard. There are several benefits to the trimming option:
Add Backyard Privacy
While you might think that removing branches and trimming trees could have a negative impact on the privacy of your yard that you enjoy, the opposite can be true. Actually, strategically removing and trimming back branches can decrease shade on privacy hedges which allows them to grow denser and create a better screen for your yard.
Increase Sunlight in Your Yard
Trimming or re-shaping branches on an overgrown tree creates more sunlight in your backyard, which can be crucial to the overall health of your yard and is good for garden beds that were once shaded by the overgrowth. Not only does allowing more sunlight help promote yard health, but it also creates a lighter and more inviting environment which increases the value of your home.I
Improve Your View While Preserving Your Trees
Trees can add so much natural beauty to a property. Trimming is a great option as it allows you to keep the tree and its benefits while also improving your view. It’s important to care for trees in order to help maintain their health, and by trimming them and getting rid of potentially dead or damaged branches you are taking measures to prevent future damage. Unmaintained trees can be more likely to experience damage from wind, which could cause damage to your home or be a safety hazard.
Removing a Tree to Improve Your View
While tree removal is an option when looking to improve your view, highly skilled tree companies look to pursue other options to get similar results. This is not always the case and there are some factors that make removal a good option when improving your view, such as a dead tree that has become hazardous, or one that is in a dangerous position to crash into a home.
What are Your Options if Your Neighbor's Tree is Blocking Your View?
With the abundance of beautiful trees in the Pacific Northwest, it is not uncommon for the tree blocking your view to be on your neighbor's property. It might seem like a daunting task to convince a neighbor to have work done on their trees for the sake of your view, and even more challenging to find a solution that both neighbors are happy with. However, this is where highly skilled tree service companies can make the process less difficult. These companies have workers who possess the technical skill to find a mutually beneficial tree solution to satisfy both you and your neighbor.
Potential mutual benefits of strategically re-shaping & trimming the tree on your neighbor's property can be:
- Maintaining tree health by thinning and removing dead branches
- Preventing tree and home damage from storms
- Increasing sunlight to improve yard health
- Promoting the growth of privacy hedges
It’s always a good idea to pay attention to the trends of a tree that will potentially interfere with your view. Unfortunately, coming to an agreement with your neighbor about tree work to improve your view involving their tree does not always work out. If you are proactive and aware of the trending view obstruction, however, you will be able to take action when the opportunity presents itself. Whether that be when there is a change in property ownership or a change in their interests.
How to Negotiate View Obstruction Removal with Your Neighbor
Sometimes, common interests don’t align between neighbors, and coming to a solution can be stressful and challenging. This is one of many reasons to hire a highly skilled tree service company, as they can assist in neighbor communication. Having an arborist communicate with neighbors on a view enhancement project is a way to reduce conflict because they are credible advisors on tree service and are objective. When you have an objective party during a negotiation, it’s much easier to identify a solution that meets both neighbors’ common interest requirements.
Splitting Tree Work Cost with Neighbor
You may think about trees differently than your neighbors. There is a spectrum of perspectives on trees in terms of aesthetics, privacy and screening, hazard prevention, or benefits versus liabilities. A good way to look at tree financing with your neighbors is to consider who the beneficiary is, or who cares. If one neighbor wouldn’t pursue tree service without the other neighbor pushing for it, then it is likely not a priority to them and they are not the beneficiary. In some cases, it’s in your best interest to proceed with financing the tree service on your own, even if it is not on your property, to reduce conflict and ultimately get the results you are hoping for your property view.
Why Hire a High-Skilled Tree Company to Improve Your View?
If poor tree service is done or mistakes are made, it can take years to restore. Hiring a quality, highly-skilled tree company is essential, because all it takes is one bad cut to create a real mess for yourselves and your property. A good tree service company takes safety measures very seriously, follows legal practices to avoid poor practices, looks for the option that will be optimal for both your trees health and your interests, and has the skill and quality equipment to create the best solution for both you and your neighbors’ tree needs.
If you want a tree service company to evaluate your view and see what changes to your trees can be made to improve it, schedule a no-cost consultation online or with one of our field representatives to have one of our local, professional arborists consult with you on the best way to proceed.