"God is the experience of looking at a tree and saying "Ah!"" Joseph Campbell.

Trees provide beauty, shade and sense of permanency. Homeowner association developers often plant them generously around the property in starter sizes of 8 to 12 feet to satisfy both building code and marketing purposes. And due to the small sizes, they often over plant to make a bigger impact.

With the trend toward smaller lots and bigger housing, there is less landscape space, which squeezes available real estate for trees. Small trees in constricted areas eventually become big trees which cause problems with roofs, gutters, buildings, sidewalks and paving. Besides the inconvenience, this causes real repair and ongoing maintenance expense to the HOA.

Another frequent tree issue is view blockage. Huge money is paid for view and trees can steal it away. When views becomes obscured, certain members become rightly riled up and demand action. Some don't even quibble about the money and offer to pay.

So the winds of a tree war begin to blow and the leaves begin to rustle. It's the View People versus the Budgetary Forces versus the Tree Huggers. Each has a different and reasonable objective with the trees caught in the middle. How is it all to be sorted out?

Winning the tree war requires grasping certain issues:

Poor Placement. Some trees have simply been placed too close to buildings and no amount of pruning can fix it once they get to a certain size. They overhang the roof causing damage and dumping debris which clogs and causes the gutters to overflow which damages the building. They only real solution is removal (of the trees, not the gutters).

Wrong Species. In an attempt to make the biggest impact with the fewest dollars, developers often choose less expensive and faster growing trees to populate the landscaping. These species often are ill suited for the location. For example, trees planted near sidewalks, parking lots and driveways should be deep root varieties that won't damage surrounding installations with surface roots. Planting birch trees next to buildings virtually ensures a year round cascade of gutter clogging debris that, in turn, drives a huge gutter cleaning cost. Again, the only real solution is removal.

Too Closely Planted. Close placement produces overcrowding as the years pass. Tree crowns grow together and sunlight no longer reaches the grass, flowers and bushes below causing them to wain and die. The overgrowth blocks area lighting and causes security concerns. This issue can be addressed by thinning.

View Pruning. Many view blocking trees can be selectively pruned to provide view "windows." View pruning is not the answer to those that want sweeping views. It's a compromise between warring factions. It provides some view without removing trees.

Relocating & Replacing. Much of the tree dispute can be refocused with a replacement plan. The plan can call for replanting trees to replace those that are removed. The plan should call for different species which are better located. This approach generally satisfies most members. Of course, big trees will be replaced with small trees -- but better small trees than no trees.

The Arborist. One of the most valuable consultants available is the certified arborist. Hiring one to assess the entire treescape is advisable at the earliest point. The arborist will inventory all the trees and recommend proper maintenance according to species. If there are problem trees in the making, the arborist can advise early when replacement is cheap and damage has yet to happen. If the arborist is brought in later when trees are larger and causing problems, she can make many recommendations for pruning and replacement that will take the board out of the political target zone.

Proper tree planning produces proper tree planting. Doing it right the first time avoids inevitable and expensive corrections. If faced with the latter, use an arborist to sort out the issues and to recommend a comprehensive plan for correction.