Cottonwoods

http://youtu.be/W6lGSH_-ma8

I hate cotton woods. They are a vile tree. Not sure if this is where to post this, but this video was the fourth and final "limb" of two trees. This one had gotten too dangerous and too close to property namely the vet clinic (the left limb stick you can see that had been cut down already that was dangerously close to the White Barn/vet clinic) my house isn't in view because that tree had to be done methodically piece by piece. This video is of the only "limb" they could do as one chunk. When all was said and done it took 31 loads with a pick up truck with an 18 foot trailer attached to dispose of the branches and sticks and a grain truck and backhoe to take care of the chunks and trunks that weighed in at over 30,000 pounds. 6 days total of work for two trees... I don't want to tell you how many wolfman razors this cost.... Cotton woods are vile trees and they become dangerous when they get this big. For reference the man we had come slice the trunks has a chainsaw that cuts redwoods..... That's how big these were at the base.

Not sure why they are considered vile trees. I don't recall seeing any up here in the Chicago area, and what few I remember from when I lived in FL is that they survived in flood prone areas. I do know it's a pretty soft wood, but other than that I do not know much about them. Why all the hate?

I can say I hate the cotton balls that they release in late spring/early summer. Sometimes there's so much of it, it piles up like snow along fences and buildings. You have to remember not to leave the windows in your car down.

Not sure why they are considered vile trees.  I don't recall seeing any up here in the Chicago area, and what few I remember from when I lived in FL is that they survived in flood prone areas.  I do know it's a pretty soft wood, but other than that I do not know much about them.  Why all the hate?

Cotton woods I hate for several reasons

1. They grow massively large and being a "softer" wood have a tendency to not handle high winds well. Here in eastern SD, the wind blows all the time. I can't tell you the amount of branches and sometimes massive limbs I have had to clean up after strong winds.
2. They produce a tremendous amount of "cotton" in the spring when they bloom and the amount of it is massive. While I don't suffer badly from allergies, they reek havoc on two of my sons for 6 weeks a year, not to mention the stuff gets stuck in everything. There are about 10 huge cotton woods in a stone throw from my house and I "own three" however, soon to be none. There is so much cotton when they bloom I have to rake it up because trying to mow it is pointless, it simply clogs the mower and dulls the blades. The sheer number of hours I have wasted cleaning up after these trees the last 10 years is ridiculous. That's what finally put me over the edge to cutting down these monstrosities on our property despite the exorbitant cost to do so.
3. They are a "tough" tree. Meaning 4/5 of the tree could be dead from disease or bugs or whatever and the tree won't die. This leads to problem number 2 to being and issue and problem number one is exacerbated because now you have 100 foot tall tree full of dead branches and limbs and that's when they become very dangerous to property and god forbid, people.
4. The leaves... don't get me started about he leaves. So many leaves in the fall you can't see the road or the lawns.... just cotton wood leaves, which leads to more raking and more bagging and more anger....

As far as I will always be concerned cottonwoods are noxious weeds and they should never be planted and culled where they do stand.

Wow! They seem to be challenging trees.

I had a huge gorgeous cottonwood in my backyard as a kid. I used to love when the "cotton" would coat the yard. Good treehouse tree, too. I miss that tree....

I had a huge gorgeous cottonwood in my backyard as a kid. I used to love when the "cotton" would coat the yard. Good treehouse tree, too. I miss that tree....

You can have them seeing them on the ground in chunks and the last big ones being hauled away tomorrow give me great joy..... Each to their own as a kid We all love things we never have to maintain.....

I had a huge gorgeous cottonwood in my backyard as a kid. I used to love when the "cotton" would coat the yard. Good treehouse tree, too. I miss that tree....

You can have them seeing them on the ground in chunks and the last big ones being hauled away tomorrow give me great joy..... Each to their own as a kid We all love things we never have to maintain.....

Ain't that the truth!

I had a huge gorgeous cottonwood in my backyard as a kid. I used to love when the "cotton" would coat the yard. Good treehouse tree, too. I miss that tree....

You can have them seeing them on the ground in chunks and the last big ones being hauled away tomorrow give me great joy..... Each to their own as a kid We all love things we never have to maintain.....

Ain't that the truth!

To this day my dad hates fish tanks funny how growing up what we love alotnof times our dads hate. My four year old is still mad at me.... "Where will we get shade"