The catalpa tree in bloom. It had limbs stretching over the roof of the garage and the house before it was cut. Photos courtesy of the author.

This column was written in response to the article “Insurance Pruning: Cut Risks, Not Canopies,” by Jim Kasper in the July 2025 issue of TCI Magazine.

I just went through this (scenario) with a new insurance company. We were advised that several limbs of our catalpa tree had to be removed. We had something like 30 days to make a decision, or they’d cancel our insurance.

My tree was up for a state record. It had been fertilized for many years, and deadwood was removed every year or every other year. Plus, it was cabled and braced – in fact, it had seven cables. I wanted to cry, because my grandfather had planted the tree the year I was born.

We’d gone with this insurance company because they were new and more reasonably priced. Others were almost twice as expensive. I wrote a two-page letter, because we’d taken care of trees like this for our customers for many years.

“After the insurance company made us take all the big limbs off the garage and over the house, it looks awful,” says Marie Hawkins, adding that it makes the house and garage hotter in warm weather.

These companies don’t care; it’s the bottom dollar. “Do it, or we’ll just go somewhere else.” That’s not right and should not be allowed. They don’t care if somebody’s smarter than them and has more facts – it’s going to be their way or no way.

We had one of our former employees, an arborist who now has his own business, come in, and we took off the limbs. That made me sick to my stomach. My tree is no longer up for a state record. And now the sun beats down on the roof of our house and makes it hotter.

I’ve been sick to my stomach since the first of June because this happened to my beautiful, big catalpa tree.

Marie B. Hawkins is the retired co-owner of American Tree Experts Inc. in Loogootee, Indiana, and a former frequent contributor to TCI Magazine.