State recognized tree in Wake Forest causes turmoil between neighbors

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (WNCN) — A centuries-old tree is creating issues between neighbors in Wake Forest.

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One wants the tree trimmed because it is hanging over their property; however, the other said cutting it back to the property line would cause bigger damage.

Angela Giordano, the tree owner, said she was given a plaque from the Capital Tree Program in Wake County back in 2012, recognizing her large red oak as a capital tree for the state. She purchased the property on Wake Drive almost 30 years ago.

“The tree is approximately 300 years old, so to think it’s older than the country and it’s been through the Civil War. This area also used to be a plantation,” said Giordano.

Now, Giordano said she is fighting to preserve it after her next-door neighbor gave her a notice last month, stating she has a few weeks to trim some of the limbs back to the property line, or they will do it themselves.

“The letter I received said that the tree was dropping branches and damaging property, but I don’t know what property it would be damaging other than the grass.”

Guy Meiller, a long-time arborist with Historic Tree Care in Durham, said he inspected the oak tree and disagrees with this claim.

“From what I saw, the tree branches appeared to be over a bare patch of ground where even grass is not growing. The garage is a bit off to the to the side, but it is a garage and not a home. So as far as risks to what we call ‘targets’ in the tree risk assessment industry, there’s a very low target rating to a garage or a vehicle,” said Meiller.

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According to his report, cutting the limbs back to the property line would cause severe damage.

“Taking the branches back to the property line would be unthinkable in terms of the consequences to the tree as a whole, because it would take cuts that are huge, could never heal, and it would create an imbalance to the tree in the wrong direction.”

Meiller adds that cutting the tree too much on one side and then cutting the other will only make it worse. He stresses the tree will eventually die with this proposal.

“If the cuts were made to the property line, all the branches and all of the foliage would be over the neighboring property, and it would be more likely to fail on the property of the trunk owner,” Meiller said.

He has suggested pruning the tree but said it would still have to hang over the property line.

CBS 17 has reached out to the homeowner’s legal team, who said they were unaware this tree was deemed historic, but they stand by their claims that it has damaged property.

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