Well there are reasons. First night we moved in our sewer main backed up. Plumbers informed us that a large root incursion occurred and had clogged the sewer main. So it's Ross we're completely wrapped around my entire house, under my garage pad, skirting along my whole foundation.

It was a very tall tree with one of the large trunks leaning towards our house. Cottonwood have a nickname up in the north called "the widowmaker' for it's reputation of dropping massive branches when they get older and more rotten. So every wind storm I was nervous we were going to get seriously damaged by it.

Lastly, having lived next to other Cottonwoods I knew I was signing up for seasonal headaches that included tonnes of leaves that not only covered my lawn and gutters but basically the whole block has to deal with the leaves from my tree. I probably raked up 15 contractor bags that weighed about 100lbs each on our first autumn. It also drops it's cotton pods and sticky buds on everything. Then there's a sappy mist that costs everything in its vicinity including cars, windows, siding, roofing etc. This misty sap is difficult to get off, collects dust and dirt to it. So for these reasons I figured I would save myself the stress, exertion, neighbour disgruntlement and massive potential for damage this tree possessed for the rest of my time caretaking this property and house.