How tall should a tree be?

The taller the better. I find trees absolutely majestic.

I have to agree with Mitt; the trees in Michigan are just the right height. Here in New Jersey – not so much. And they can’t even marry each other yet!

When it starts blocking my 3pm sun, it’s time to go!

His opinion. I don’t care what height they are as long as they’re healthy and attractive.

LOL! Mitt was all manic there wasn’t he?
I do have to admit, we have some great trees in Michigan.
I’m not sure where he was going with the “right height” comment, and I don’t think he knew where he was going with it either!

Is this a trick question, like the right and wrong side of toast buttering?
Trees are as individual as everything else, let ‘em grow to their highest heights.
I am a tree lover and don’t believe in removing them for purposes other than potential safety risks. I have neighbors that took out about a 500 year old Heritage Oak to build a new driveway. Bah….I hope the tree spirits get you!

@Coloma ”I have neighbors that took out about a 500 year old Heritage Oak to build a new driveway.”

That should seriously be a crime.

Well, the right height really depends on the type of tree. A fruit tree is the right height if I can get to all the fruit with my ladder, for an old growth sequoia on the other hand that would be a badly stunted tree.

@WestRiverrat Yes, it should! I still miss that monolithic old soldier. It was an icon at the end of my road. But ya know, those elegant brick gate pillars were just so important. Murderers! lol

I prefer trees that reach all the way from the ground to the top, without skipping anything in between. Some reach all the way from the top to the ground, which is OK too for variety’s sake, but should be kept within reason.

@Coloma Well, you butter the top side, obviously.

That is one sad tree story.

@Keep_on_running It is a crime in most of California, if done without a permit. It can result in a pretty serious fine.

How tall should a tree be? High enough to cool in the summer and protect in the winter, big enough to hold a swing, low enough to climb, strong enough to hold a fort, gentle enough to sing when swaying in the breeze.

@dappled_leaves LOL…the toast buttering remark comes from someone I once knew that actually truly felt there was a right/wrong side to buttering toast. The toastier side I guess. Can you spell anal? haha

@thorninmud I also like my trees to have middles, and be tall enough for a good tree house.

@Coloma rotten Once-lers!

I can’t believe they did that @Coloma. Seriously.
I don’t like Poplar trees.

As long as the tree does not have any disease and it has sound ground, then it can get as tall as it is able. We have mature Douglas-fir trees surrounding our house on 3 sides. They must be well over 200 feet tall. I’ve had them inspected by a certified arborist and they are healthy. I love them for their unique beauty even though they block the sun as well as our view. Also Great Blue Herons and Bald Eagles roost up in the upper branches. Around dusk most days I see them circling far above in search of a good place to roost.

This tall

I have beautiful old trees, one covered in ivy that could take me out in an instant.

But being the earth loving hippie I am, I love trees in all stages of growth.

The trees in Michigan might be the right height, but do they make a sound when they fall when Mitt is not around to witness it?

I prefer the trees to reach their true height. I do not wish to control the trees.

As long as it’s shadow.

I love the comments posted on that video. I especially like the comment that says, “I love socks for keeping my feet warm too. And you know what else? I love pancakes, they’re wonderful (if they are the right size and have the kind of syrup on them I love).”

I love that comment. It wasn’t too long. I love internet comments. Long may they rule the world.

Free the trees to reach their right heights, take the oath for full growth! :-D

@Brian1946 They can’t reach their left heights?

@Brian1946 Please pass the whimsy in your heart my way ;)

@janbb

I couldn’t think of a rhyme for maximum or an appropriate one for full, unless a fully grown tree can be considered a bull tree, but then that could be construed as sexist.

I’ll ensure that the oath for full growth includes omnilateral (as opposed to the severely stunted Romneylateral) consideration. ;-)

@SpatzieLover Sure thing, but I’m saving its caprice for my niece. ;-p

Trees “should” be big enough that you have to hire a professional tree climber to rescue your kitten. Like I did last fall when my kitten went up a 100 ft. Oak and was stranded for 36 hours. It was quite amazing, this guy climbed the tree with spikes and stuffed my kitten into a pillowcase in a pulley on his belt.

I found that an odd comment when Romney made it. I’m pretty sure trees are supposed to be ject long enough to reach from their top down into the ground where their roots suck up water.

How tall should a tree be? Just tall enough to hug.

@bkcunningham Kind of the same as people!

Yes, (((( @janbb )))). Kind of the same as people!

Now, are all the states that don’t have Michigan sized trees going to be offended by Romney’s suggestion that their trees are the wrong size?

Well…I have 5 acres of hangin’ trees, just right to swing a few politicians from. I’ve got the horse and the rope too. lol

How tall should trees be? As tall as they want to be!

It’s sad the way they get trimmed to avoid the power lines in the suburbs, so sad! I lived in a place that was an official tree city and they would trim the trees in the middle to avoid the power lines. They would have chunks whacked out of them. Not only is improper pruning unattractive, it is unhealthy and makes the tree more liable to be unstable. Pruning is necessary and helps the tree grow better and be more stable but it has to be done properly.

Coloma That is so sad about the 500 year old oak! It would be bad enough if they did it for safety reasons. That I could understand. But for a driveway!!!!

I had to answer this question when I saw it. I don’t care about Mitt Romney’s comment. I didn’t really see it. It sounds so stupid I refuse to even look it up. Today I discovered the most amazing thing! The oldest living organism in the Earth is a single tree that grew into a forest! It has a stupid name for such a grand thing. It is called Pando(tree) which is Latin for “I Spread” It is a forest of Quaking Aspen which originated from a single seed.It encompasses 106 acres and has about 47,000 stems.They think it is 80,000 years old! Every tree in the forest has the same gentic makeup. Amazing.

”...quaking aspen regularly reproduces via a process called suckering. An individual stem can send out lateral roots that, under the right conditions, send up other erect stems; from all above-ground appearances the new stems look just like individual trees. The process is repeated until a whole stand, of what appear to be individual trees, forms. This collection of multiple stems, called ramets, all form one, single, genetic individual, usually termed a clone.”

I have been to Utah and I’ve seen the quaking Aspens near Park City and they are truly beautiful.

Take that Mitt Romney!!! Utah has Michagan beat.

@Earthgirl A girl after my own heart! A tree lover as am I.

I wouldn’t say that Utah has Michigan beat, just that they also have beautiful majestic trees!

Tree huggers unite! :-)

wilma I was kidding around of course! I hate being competitive! Man, if we start to be competitve over which state has the best trees, what’s next?!! I hate to think!

@Earthgirl exactly!

I live in CA, and I think our trees are too tall for Mitt’s arboreally Lilliputian perspective.

@Brian1946 Yep, The General Sherman will dwarf ‘em all. :-)

Brian1946 I suppose Mitt would say your trees are too damn big!

@Coloma

I’ve stood in reverent awe before the General, and I’d love to see the Hyperion Redwood.

@Earthgirl

I agree. He’d probably say that it’s unnatural for a tree, or anything that’s not owned by Bain capital, to be that big.

@Coloma

What would you say is the tallest tree on your property or in your neighborhood?

Here’s an Oak on the road near my driveway. In my avatar I’d say 80 feet, maybe more.
I aqlso have some huge old girth ones that have lost height from breakage but have huge girths, in the 300 yr. range at least. gnarly old ghosts! :-)

Wow Coloma! I love the character of those old trees. I have always loved drawing them. I used to play a game on my long bus trips home from from college. I would look at interesting trees along the way and try to think, if that tree were a person what would it be saying to me? Sometimes trees are so expressive!