Trees along a driveway

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

I have a long, narrow driveway and am wondering how I should prune the trees growing along it. The branches are encroaching on the driving portion enough that I brush them as I go by. I could remove the trees, prune the lower branches on the driveway side, or prune the lower branches all the way around (to keep them more symmetrical). The trees are mostly deciduous and have grown up since the driveway was put in, about 5 years ago.

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Comments (10)

Christopher CNC
2 years ago
A picture would help to see what kind trees you have. In general you limb up trees, remove the lower branches so you drive under them. Problem is, for a significant bulk of humanity the word tree can mean any green plant. If they are not actually trees, limbing them up might not be the correct approach.
mtvhike
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Here is a photo I just took:

It's the area on the left just at the curve.
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Sigrid
2 years ago
You appear to have a mix of older trees, which I woukd recommend limbing up and new saplings, hich I would reccommend removing. Figure out what you have (beech and hemlock?), how large it will grow and what width you want your driveway.

Wooded areas with adequate rain will always encroach on areas not weeded or mowed.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
agree... i see a couple 1 inch sapling on the road edge.. cut flush to the ground ... and apply a stump killer to the cut ...

then limb up just a couple of the worse offenders.. back at the trunk ... else you will have more trouble soon enough ..

you dont have to do this all in one fell swoop ... tree time is counted in decades ... so it will be an ongoing process to fine tune it ..

most of us would consider the vehickle the bigger investment as to scratching it all up ... or walking in from the road to the house all the time.. i dont even like scratching my beater ... lol ...

if you prune out at the shoulder of the drive.. you will get multiple new shoots.. and the problem will only get worse next year ...

you are either a tree hugger... or a property owner who wants access to your biggest asset.. the house ...

besides.. this isnt suburbia.. it looks like you have tons of trees around ... so what if you need some selective removal.. and pruning ...

if you need help .. just ask ...

ken

ps: does the road hook around to your bat cave????
krnuttle
2 years ago
If I were had the driveway I would widen the drive clearing by removing the small brush from the drive to the larger trees. I would then cut back the branches on the remaining trees so they are above a vehicle moving along the drive.

Until I saw the picture, I was seeing a tunnel created by the trees, however from your picture it appears the the drive runs through 2nd growth trees. Any asymmetry in the trees will not be noticeable as it will be disguised by the trees behind them.

By widening the drive clearing, this will be beneficial as the trees grow large. The large trees will be far enough from the drive they will never be a problem regardless of what vehicles you need to move down the drive.
mtvhike
Original Author
2 years ago
Ken - I'm both a tree hugger and a property owner who wants access to my house. Actually, the road hooks around to the main road; the house is behind me.

The driveway follows an old power line ROW which was abandoned by the utility in the '70s. It was repurposed to be my driveway in 2015 by ditching both sides, but I don't think any big trees were removed then.
Christopher CNC
2 years ago
This is more of a road maintenance issue than a tree pruning issue. You need to maintain a shoulder that is free of trees and that is done by mowing the shoulder once or twice a year. Do that first. Define your shoulder. Then you can assess the remaining trees and start selecting the ones you want to keep. If you hesitate removing any tree, limb it up and reassess.

From what I am seeing, in general, limbing up the trees so they don't whack the car is what you want to do. Limb things up symmetrical.
mtvhike
Original Author
2 years ago
By symmetrical, you mean front and back, right?
Christopher CNC
2 years ago
Front and back and all the way round. Basically you don't want any tree to have a lot of lower branches on just one side. It doesn't have to be perfect unless you are in to that. As the trees you keep grow bigger, they will help shade out new trees. Limbing them up all the way around will make working around them and keeping the drive tidy easier.
ShadyWillowFarm
2 years ago
Beautiful area! I’d get rid of the brush and saplings and see what’s left.