Why do they plant tall trees under power lines?

Question

The poor things need trimming regularly and can never reach their full potential. Surely there are naturally small trees that can be selected for power line areas?

Obviously some of the trees would have been there first but not the majority of them. In my city there's not a lot of old areas but rows and rows of stunted looking trees. You see streets lined with the same type of tree at regular intervals. This suggests planning, but evidently not far enough ahead. I'm thinking the intelligence of these planners could possibly be level with a couple of people who have answered this question.

Answer 1

I work at a plant nursery and here are the reasons for that that we deal with the most.

Sometimes the trees were there first. Much of the time people aren't thinking that far into the future and they want a large tree in little time, not thinking of the affect years later. Some folks know that the tree will be to tall, but for what ever reason it's the one that they really want and they know that they won't be there 10 years later to have to deal with the problem. Some don't know that there are "shorter" growing trees available. But my favorite one is when somebody was told or read what the height would be and thought that the tree would know to just stop growing once it reached that height!

It's a not widely circulated fact that when most plant tags are printed (or other plant info sources) that the height given for the tree is estimated at 10-15' years of age. One may not consider that the tree is already several years old when it was planted! So, one can see how the trees can get out of hand!

Answer 2

Given enough time, most any tree will get too big for the spot.... Crepe myrtles, and Magnolias grow pretty slow, so they tend to be decent choices, if you're interested.

However, many cities plant the trees as an investment. Larger trees are worth far more than smaller trees, and they usually plant with the idea of selling the trees once they reach a certain height....

but then a decade or so after the fact, the people that wanted to buy the trees are long gone, the folks that had the idea are long gone, and the local homeowners' associations petition to keep the trees as historic landmarks, and since the only people that will buy want the trees delivered, and the city doesn't have the vehicles to do that, they stay until the power company chops them too short in the wrong season, and then they get diseased and die.

If you're in a position of authority, PLEASE, don't be a moron and plant palm trees under the power lines. Every other species of tree can grow around the lines, but palms have to go straight up. Trust me, you'll forget about them until it's too late, and then there will be a row of dead trees that you have to pay to get removed.

Answer 3

It depends on the situation. Sometimes, nobody thought about the eventual height of a tree when it was planted. Other times, the tree pre-dates the power line (I lived in a hundred-year-old house for a while, and the trees were there LONG before electricity came along). And, of course, sometimtes people just don't THINK!

Answer 4

I agree with you about the planners not being very smart. I used to work for TXUED and all we got was complaints about the trees growing in to the lines causing power outages and lights to flicker every time the wind blew. There's also a new housing addition going up near my home and there were already power lines there...the stupid builder or whoever is responsible for the landscaping came in and planted oak trees right underneath the power lines..duh! Planning and common sense can do so much good in today's world.

Answer 5

Good question. You ought to see what happens when miles of power poles and lines get torn down due to a hurricane.....like Katrina, leaving MILLIONS of area residents without power for WEEKS!!

I chalk it up to the arrogance of progress; the ineptness of electric company leaders unfit to hold their CEO jobs--and our elected officials for ignoring potential problems, best avoided if laws were laid down to have a 100 foot clearance between lines and nearby trees.

Answer 6

they clear the area before running the lines. you have no way of knowing what kind of trees are gonna pop up over time. they just don't choose to plant trees under ower lines silly!

Answer 7

Dang trees just wont stop growing.....did you see em plant the trees or were they there first? Ill stick my neck out and bet the trees were there first. God Bless and Ty for 2pts

Answer 8

because the trees are small when planted,and most people have a hard time looking in to the future !!!!

Answer 9

lots of people just dont look up or around when they plant trees ! birds land on power lines and deposit seeds under them..

Answer 10

powerlines emit all kinds of harmfull rays
better not have anything under them especially people
they found that a lot of people got cancer from living under power lines
so they cannot be too good for the trees as well