oak tree in back garden

silvercar

Oak trees are all protected,

Not true! I have a 200 year old tree with no TPO.

If the tree was well established before the houses were built there should be no problem.

elisebutt65

alanobrien wrote:

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

Nooooooooo!!!!

Oak trees are wonderful(says the treehugger) My M& D have 2 gorgeous Oaks, I used to virtually live in one of them when I was going through my turbulant teens.

BobProperty

I'd keep it. It must be part of the character of the area. I'll try and get a professional opinion off a friend regarding the potential damage, root spread etc.

margaretclare

Hi

There is absolutely no comparison between an oak tree and a Leylandii.

The oak is a native species and gives shelter to more than 400 species of wildlife - birds, insects etc.

The Leylandii is a hybrid and it is a pest. It is NOT native, it grows at an astonishing rate, it dries out the soil and causes shade in neighbouring gardens. The oak, being deciduous, does shed its leaves, so that plants can grow under it before the leaf canopy becomes too thick. Leylandii is evergreen and it always looks the same. The oak looks different at different seasons of the year.

If I was lucky enough to have an oak tree in the garden I would cherish it. A few years ago my daughter and I were raising some from acorns, also sweet chestnuts and other native species. She presented some of them to the National Forest.

After she died, we planted an oak tree in the grounds of the agricultural college she'd attended - it's a long way from anywhere, but we did it because the oak was her favourite tree.

We suffer from Leylandii in next door's garden. Why they were planted there is a mystery, because there's also a high fence, so they weren't needed for 'privacy'. I have warned our neighbour that hedges now have a maximum height, and as these Leylandii are so close together that they form a hedge behind the fence, they need chopping. They do throw shadow and prevent the afternoon sun reaching part of our garden - no wonder my sun-loving plants, like lavenders, refuse to thrive in that part of the garden.

Margaret Clare

crossleydd42

Well. kenshaz, it's certainly worth considering!

courtjester

mummytofour wrote:

Our house was under pinned twice same as the houses either side, oh and just about all the houses in the street, there was basically an oak tree in every other garden!

Oak trees are not in themselves a menace to property - I suspect the real reason for the problem in your particular road was the nature of the soil (probably shrinkable clay) upon which foundations of this street were built. This tends to be the case with Victorian houses built on shallow foundations in high risk areas.

If there was a problem with local soil type /conditions, the presence of a mature oak tree (as with any large established tree) would already have caused movement in an older property which would come out in any survey or more likely be obvious to the casual observer.

The trees to be very careful about are poplars and willows - if these are anywhere in the vicinity of a building, there is a strong chance of direct damage.

Thefunkygibbons

I have three oaks in the garden and they are fantastic, but I guess they are also over 100 ft from the front door as well

Leaves, acorns and dead branches don't bother me, but then again mine is not a showpiece lawn