oak tree in back garden

hoskins

My friend has found a bungalow they would like to buy but here is a large oak tree quite close (haven't measured yet but at a guess about 40' from the back door). Worried on at least 4 counts: keeping the light and sun from the house, storm damage, acorns all over the place, damage to the foundations, but they have fallen in love with this house

silvercar

We have a large oak tree about 20 foot from the back of the house.

We have it pruned every two years to keep it from spreading too much.
In answer to your worries:

"keeping light and sun from the house"
It would if we didn't keep it pruned; it also supplies some welcome shade in the garden.

"storm damage"
Not had any in 13 years of living here.

"acorns all over the place"
True - and leaves in the autumn. Bought a leaf hoover the year we moved in.

"damage to the foundations"
Remember the tree is probably a lot older than the house. Obviously you need to check on this before you buy, but chances are the foundations were layed correctly.

We find the tree a nice feature.

alanobrien

We moved last year into a place with a leylandi of a similar size about 20 ft from our front door in front of the neighbours extension window.

What the original owner was thinking planting it there beggars belief. We removed it within weeks of moving in and made instant friends of our new neighbours.

I also have a wood next door with similar size oak trees within 30 feet. they are not on my land and are kept cut back so thats fine

If they love the house simply get rid of the tree.

crossleydd42

A general rule of thumb is that a deciduous tree's roots spread out about as far as the tree's height. It doesn't work in the case of poplars, but these are rarely planted in people's gardens.

Ian_W

alanobrien wrote: If they love the house simply get rid of the tree.

After checking that the tree isn't covered by a tree preservation order or that the property isn't in a conservation area - both of which, if not known, should come up on local searches. Fines for breaches are up to £25k in the Magistrates or unlimited fine in the Crown Court.

nelly_2

theres a way of poisioning them with diesel I think you drill a hole and pure it in put some bark back over the hole

Doozergirl

nelly wrote:

theres a way of poisioning them with diesel I think you drill a hole and pure it in put some bark back over the hole

Noooo! Poor tree! _pale_

Could you potentially damage a house by removing such a long standing tree?

silvercar

Could you potentially damage a house by removing such a long standing tree?

You can. There is something called "heave"; opposite of subsidence. Instead of the roots sucking all the water out of the ground and the foundations collapsing (subsidence), the removal of the tree causes water to remain in the ground that previously would have been taken up the tree, the ground then swells and the foundations are shoved around. Whereas subsidence can be dealt with by underpinning the foundations, heave is very difficult to treat.

Most trees don't cause problems if well established and well cared for, remember the chances are the oak tree was there when the house was built.

[Deleted User]

I have an oak tree and an ash tree at the bottom of my garden, about 70 ft from the house, they can be messy but they are lovely and screen the garden from the sun. As long as you prune them every 2-3 years, you should be ok.

kenshaz

Leave the tree alone and buy another house

mummytofour

Oak treee are a total PITA having grown up in a house with an oak tree in the front garden I would NEVER buy a house with an oak tree with about 100 mile sof the place.
Our house was under pinned twice same as the houses either side, oh and just about all the houses in the street, there was bascially an oak tree in every other garden!

Oak trees drink many many gallons of water a day, which dries out the soil not good for foundations, ( esp in older houses that have shallow foundataions)

Oak trees are all protected, you need planning to prune and remove.

Just dont go there!