What are the pro's & con's of having a wooded lot?

[one l michele]

I've always wanted one, but perhaps that is because I've never lived on one? I would at least like mature trees in our yard and privacy, not being able to pass eggs to my neighbors through our windows - YKWIM? Having three boys, I just think it would be fun and a place for a lot of memories. What is the max commute time you would want your dh to do for a wooded lot? Would you downsize your home in order to do this, this would mean having the boys share a room, but they are close in age. I just think it would be more cozy then the 2300 square foot we have now?

[Scarlett]

This would mean your dh would commute longer and you would have a smaller house just to get a wooded lot? As much as I love trees I would not trade longer commute smaller house for trees. I would trade for neighborhood, as I believe location is more important than almost anything in a home. In fact, high on our list of wants when we were looking 6 years ago was 'trees'. But right above trees on the list was location, so when we found the perfection location with no trees on the lot we took it.

[Carol in Cal.]

However, it does make your home darker, and that can be depressing for some.

Also, if there are a lot of bugs in your area, sometimes the kids avoid the 'forest.' My brother has a wooded lot in Mass. and his kids almost never go in there. It's impassible in the winter (too dense for cross country skis or even snow shoes) and very mosquito-infested all spring and summer long. I couldn't believe that they would never go in there, and insisted that I would once, and just about got eaten alive.

[Scarlett]

However, it does make your home darker, and that can be depressing for some.

Also, if there are a lot of bugs in your area, sometimes the kids avoid the 'forest.' My brother has a wooded lot in Mass. and his kids almost never go in there. It's impassible in the winter (too dense for cross country skis or even snow shoes) and very mosquito-infested all spring and summer long. I couldn't believe that they would never go in there, and insisted that I would once, and just about got eaten alive.


They need to clean out their underbrush!!!!!

[elegantlion]

We have a 3 acre lot, of which about 1 acre is cleared. We moved here 2 years ago and it's been a long process to get that much done, of course it reminded me of Munster's home when we moved. :mad:

Anyway, I love our lot, we have 80ft pine trees all over our yard. It's very rustic and we do keep it woodsy. It's a lot of work, but it is fun to explore and play in. The hammock is hanging in between two trees right now. We have seen every creature known to man since we moved, our nature study is just outside our front door.

I do feel like we live in the middle of the woods and we are really in a neighborhood.

[Jennifer in MI]

I'm with Scarlett. I don't think I'd move to a smaller house with a longer commute just to get trees. I don't think the sharing a room issue should even be an issue as to whether you move or not - I think it's good for kids to share a room!

That said, we did just move to a house that has mature trees on our lot (6 of them!). We moved from a neighborhood like yours - we could pass eggs to our nearest neighbors without leaving our kitchens - to one where we have lots of breathing room. Anyway, the trees really do make the house dark. We've had to compensate with more lighting. It's not a huge deal, but something I hadn't considered before we moved here. Our house is so much lighter now that there aren't leaves on the trees! There are also more spiders (VERY large ones!) outside our house.

Oh - and then there're the LEAVES!!!! Holy cow! My dh and boys were outside every week for HOURS raking the darn things last fall!

We do have plans already for a tree house with a zip line for the kids. They are VERY excited! They love climbing the trees (well, they did last fall when we first moved - now it's too slippery with all the snow!). We're also loving watching the birds that visit.

Just some more things to consider.

[Dot]

Pros--great shade for the house means a bit less AC in the summer
Not having to look at the neighbors
Trees also cut down on noise from nearby roads
Tons of birds, deer, and other wildlife
Not so much lawn to mow
Cons-- Clean up of leaves around the house
Trees may fall during storms (but can be cut for firewood)
Have to be careful of idiot neighbors who enjoy burning all their trash
right against your property line.

[Staci in MO]

Lots of leaves to rake in the fall.

Also, big trees can fall. Sometimes they fall on your house. We've had some near misses in tornadoes and ice storms. One of our friends had a tree fall on their house during a thunderstorm and one of their children was injured.

[abbeyej]

We live on a fairly large in-town lot with lots of trees. It's great. *But* pine trees (which most of the biggest trees in our neighborhood are) can have weak root systems and a time of drought followed by heavy wind and rains tends to make them fall down. Some of our neighbors have lost portions of their roofs or fences.

My family would do almost *anything* to keep dh's commute short. It's a *major* priority for us. So the idea of moving further out for a better yard is almost incomprehensible to me.

Are there any possible compromises?

I do *love* that the kids have a great yard to play in with lots of trees...

[Claire]

I agree with Scarlett.

One thing. Considering how much it would cost to sell your house and move, could you perhaps invest those $$$ instead in planting larger trees in your yard? I think you could get a fair-sized tree planted for a few thousand dollars. There is machinery now that digs quite a huge root ball up so the tree can be transported right away and planted into the same-sized hole they have waiting for it.

[GVA]

And we are the only family whose children haven't had Lyme's Disease. Of course I'm also the only mom around who makes my children wear long pants and socks year-round and subject themselves to daily tick inspections during tick season...

Depends on where you live of course. I played in the woods growing up in the Southwest and no ticks there!

[Mrs. Readsalot]

One tree feel and hit the house,
branches became flying missles and damaged the roof and siding
ds was always getting ticks
large tree had to be removed cost $$$$
all this in 3 years.
net result we moved to a treeless lot.
We have been on our treeless lot for 8 years and don't miss the tree at all.

[Claire]

We have a wooded lot now, and also had woods behind our old house. We never actually go inside the woods because of Lyme's disease, ticks, mosquitoes, etc. There are lots of deer where we live, and I have never had a desire for my child to play in the woods.

Now, when I was growing up, our next-door-neighbors had several large apple trees that were fun to climb! Those I could see children playing in!

[KristineIN]

We have a wooded area even though we have a small yard, we have lots of leaves, I've noticed more bugs outside too as opposed to where we live before. We are closer to everything now and I LOVE it here. Thankfully the back yard is open so we can do a smallish garden and the side yard is where the trees are. (but it's also a gully area, so the kids love it for play)

Kristine

[Susan in IL]

We built in a subdivision that was a forest near an old creek bed. 200-400 year old white oaks are all around.

Pros -
Cooler in summer - the people up the street turn their air on a good month before we do and keep it running longer in fall.
Blocks some wind in winter - which can make the house feel less drafty.
Pretty in 3 seasons - spring, summer, fall
Attracts wildlife as mentioned before.
Leaves in fall are fun to play in for kids.

Cons -
Leaves
Branches falling - sometimes not even in a storm, just wind.
Leaves
Trees that die and have to be cut down can be expensive if very large or near the house. Our neighbor had a 200+ yo oak die and it was $6000 to cut it down. They had to piece it down because the branches went way over their house, and one people on the other side's house.
Leaves.
Can't grow grass well or a garden because of less sunlight.
Did I say leaves?

[Mamagistra]

We moved into a ten-acre wood three years ago, and I'd never go back to the world of cul-de-sacs. Then again, we were in a phony-tony master-planned "town" where, we discovered, phony-tony master-planned was not. for. us. Besides, we wanted chickens. ;)

We downgraded the house for the upgrade to nature yet, funnily enough, retained the easy short commute for dee-aitch *and* gained a monster garage/attic complex (literally, it's 4,000 square feet). The entire property is wooded, save for the immediate area around the house and two acres at the top of the property that were partially cleared last spring.

The only cons are simply those things that come along with country living, namely ticks, mosquitoes, and snakes. OK, and *maybe* the drive to the zoo and some culture. LOL All those inconveniences are easy to live with when I consider what we've gained:

~ Eggs...warm and fresh every day (oh, how I love them!)
~ Wildlife...visible from our wall of windows
~ Space...such that my closest neighbor is ¼ mile away
~ Quiet...Hear that? Ahhh! no mowers, school buses, weed-whackers, or solicitors (but occasionally a bald eagle)
~ Green...lush pines, cedars, and oaks full of birds and other surprises
~ Possibilities...to garden, raise meat, own horses &c
~ Freedom...for the children to roam, grow, learn, explore, think, and get dirty

I would not trade this for anything. YMMV. ;)

[Kate CA]

We moved into a ten-acre wood three years ago, and I'd never go back to the world of cul-de-sacs. Then again, we were in a phony-tony master-planned "town" where, we discovered, phony-tony master-planned was not. for. us. Besides, we wanted chickens. ;)

We downgraded the house for the upgrade to nature yet, funnily enough, retained the easy short commute for dee-aitch *and* gained a monster garage/attic complex (literally, it's 4,000 square feet). The entire property is wooded, save for the immediate area around the house and two acres at the top of the property that were partially cleared last spring.

The only cons are simply those things that come along with country living, namely ticks, mosquitoes, and snakes. OK, and *maybe* the drive to the zoo and some culture. LOL All those inconveniences are easy to live with when I consider what we've gained:

~ Eggs...warm and fresh every day (oh, how I love them!)
~ Wildlife...visible from our wall of windows
~ Space...such that my closest neighbor is ¼ mile away
~ Quiet...Hear that? Ahhh! no mowers, school buses, weed-whackers, or solicitors (but occasionally a bald eagle)
~ Green...lush pines, cedars, and oaks full of birds and other surprises
~ Possibilities...to garden, raise meat, own horses &c
~ Freedom...for the children to roam, grow, learn, explore, think, and get dirty

I would not trade this for anything. YMMV. ;)

Sigh... this sounds so nice!! (From cul-de-sac Kate) :)