Suggestions re a dangerous tree..

PaulJM

Hello all,

Any suggestions here - forearmed is forewarned (or whatever way round that should be!)

I'm lucky enough to have a long, narrow garden, so the bottom is is frankly a mystery to me. I quite like it that way, it's hidden from the house, and I justify my lazyness down there by thinking about the wildlife it's harbouring (all tatty thorny berries and holes and stuff)
There are three trees, mainly in the people behinds' gardens, which shield it from the sun, so I couldn't do too much if I wanted to anyway.
One is (I think) a medium Elder tree (or could be an Ash, looks like an Elder, but way too tall!), and I've been a bit worried about it for a while - it's covered in ivy and some other creeper, which was pretty for a bit, but has started strangling the tree, so there's now only leaves at the top (about 20/30 metres)
A largish branch fell on the kids trampoline the other day, and got me thinking that this will probably happen more and more, and might squash a passing child of mine, or worse, me

Spoke with the old guy behind, perfectly amicably, and said I'd pay some towards - at that point I thought I was being nice, as I thought it was in his garden fully. Had another look, and there is a bit of the trunk growning from our side (I say that, but the house is 80 years old, so boundaries are dodgy!)
So anyone know the legalities here? The plans mearly draw an outline of the gardens, so there'll be no chance we could ever prove who owns what.
I expect it'll work out to be a case of paying half each, but I could see potential issues if it ends up highly expensive to get it sorted. He's a skint pensioner, and we're a skint family! Either way though, needs to get done, and I don't especially fancy having to get a branch removed from my head!

aliasojo

PaulJM wrote: »

He's a skint pensioner, and we're a skint family! Either way though, needs to get done, and I don't especially fancy having to get a branch removed from my head!

Regardless of who should do what, the skint pensioner may not have the means to pay for this? So you'd have to consider how badly you want this dealt with?

Tell him what's happened, tell him you now think the the tree is on both properties and ask if he'd be willing to meet some of the cost of removing it/cutting it back? Doesn't really matter what the theory of ownership is if he's not got enough money to pay for it?

Only way to find out is to ask him, but maybe get a few quotes in first so he knows what kind of figue is being talked about?

PaulJM

Might be an Ash. The leaves and arrangement are just like an Elder, but it's 20/30 metres - just read that Elders only grow to 10.

PaulJM

aliasojo wrote: »

Regardless of who should do what, the skint pensioner may not have the means to pay for this? So you'd have to consider how badly you want this dealt with?

Tell him what's happened, tell him you now think the the tree is on both properties and ask if he'd be willing to meet some of the cost of removing it/cutting it back? Doesn't really matter what the theory of ownership is if he's not got enough money to pay for it?

Only way to find out is to ask him, but maybe get a few quotes in first so he knows what kind of figue is being talked about?

Thanks for this.
I don't really have any reason to think he won't pay some, our conversation was completely cordial.
Should be ok, I guess like you say, it might just be one of those things I HAVE to afford.

Mojisola

You could try asking on your local Freegle/Freecycle site if anyone wants the tree for the wood. In our area there would be people queuing up wanting to cut the tree down for you as long as they could have the wood. You would need to judge whether you trust them to do a safe job without leaving the gardens in a mess but it's one possible way forward.

PaulJM

Just as closure to this, and incase anyone is looking through the boards for advice on anything...

All ok with neighbour - he's fine to pay half, no probs.
I've had three tree surgeons around, and they seem to be an honest bunch - infact probably the most honest group of tradesmen I've dealt with. Might be the fact that they can charge more because it's a dangerous job that not many people have the skill/guts to do.

Anyway, it's an Ash tree, and they've all explained that it's quite healthy. Ash is a brittle tree, so it will drop wood, especially as it's probably 70 plus years old.
They're going to 'ring' the ivy - which is cutting a foot of it out of the base around the tree, so it will die at the top. Apparently it'd be an expensive and time consuming job to pull it all out, so if I can put up with it looking scruffy, I can leave it, or drag it out when it is dead. I'm happy with scruffy! The stuff that's still in the ground I can either leave, it will grow back up, but take years to get to the same level, or pull it up at some point.
Apparently ivy doesn't take nutrients out of trees, it just lives its life to get higher and bigger, so eventually it would stop the tree from getting any leaves, which would kill it - but that would take years.

They're going to take some dead wood out too, and get rid of a branch which is overhanging the trampoline - all that is £120 - pretty much the same from all.

Aside from that, I've asked them to get rid of a Pyracantha (which is like the Whomping willow off Harry Potter, but smaller and with more lethal spikes ) and a medium size willow - that is pulling the fence up. That is £80.

Anyway, just thought I'd close this off, I hate it when posts just trail off when they are the perfect question for my needs too!

PaulJM

In addition to the above - I might just get the Pyracantha cut back - seems it's really good for bees, and I like bees

Poosmate

Thanks for the closure Paul and I'm glad you called in the professionals. I wouldn't advise anyone to offer the cutting of a large tree to any Tom, !!!!!! or Harriet off the street - very dangerous and any damage to property or accidental deaths would not be covered on insurance policies I'm pretty sure.

What did you do with the branch that fell? Did you cut it up for fire wood - I think ash is good fire wood, you could cut it up into decent logs and sell it to reclaim some of your dosh.

Poo

P.S. Did you know that oaks (and possibly other trees) can shed limbs in long, hot, dry, spells? Apparently it's a survival mechanism if there is little water available they will sacrifice a limb if they can't keep it healthy - so a tree officer I used to chat with told me. But I guess it makes sense.

PaulJM

Poosmate wrote: »

What did you do with the branch that fell? Did you cut it up for fire wood - I think ash is good fire wood, you could cut it up into decent logs and sell it to reclaim some of your dosh.

It's probably not big enough to do anything with, but it's a good idea - I'll have a look at it. I might even kick it lightly in a faux knowledgable fashion. I find this works with a lot of things
Like one of the guys said, even a small branch falling can make a huge cracking noise, and indeed hurt quite a lot. He said this with a wistful look on his face

Poosmate

Even better if it's not that thick! At least you only have to saw it in slices rather than half or quarter each slice!

Go on! Get your saw out and saw it up! It'll make you feel all manly! lol

I just checked it out and apparently Ash is one of the best firewoods. Go on, go get yourself some free exercise and earn yourself some free spondoolies and give the tree branch a fabulous send off - it's what trees are grown for! lol

Poo

PaulJM

Poosmate wrote: »

Go on! Get your saw out and saw it up! It'll make you feel all manly! lol



Poo

You should work for Rocky as a motivator!
Forget the saw...I'm off to Millets tomorrow for a checked shirt! Grrrrr!