Protecting and Preserving Trees

A new sales-manager at one of our communities routinely asked prospects after a tour what they liked. The number one answer: The trees! We all know the look of communities, usually older, that have saved a lot of specimen trees. They have a special feeling, hard to describe yet unmistakable. Preserving large oak trees has become the standard for every Prospectus project. We start by designing the roads around major specimens. Wherever possible, we design public spaces around trees. Once they are located within the rights-of-way, parks or public spaces they become the responsibility of the HOA (homeowner association) and become permanently protected. Where possible we locate property lines directly through trees so future neighbors have to agree on removal.

Trees most lethal adversaries are individuals and utility companies. Some individuals just don’t like trees. They buy into a community with lots of preserved trees and immediately start cutting down trees. We help draft ‘covenants and restrictions’ that require permission to remove trees over a certain diameter and establish replanting penalties for any tree that is cut or dies. It can cost over a thousand dollars to plant a 12-foot to 15-foot high live oak. Having to replace several trees can be costly and word will spread throughout the community. We can’t save them all however, these steps can help.

The mindset of the utility company is a far greater danger to large trees during the community’s development. They want everything cleared to make easy access for their crews. When you look at a new community and see all the trees removed from the rights-of-way, you ask yourself: “Why did they cut down all the trees? So they can plat new ones?” This is your utility company at work. They tell developers to clear the rights-of-way or they wont install power, water or sewer systems. Few developer have the willpower to fight.