Can you have trees in your garden protected?

EllaBeagle

This is going to sound so stupid but I have two extremely large conifers in my back garden and there have been generations of wood pigeons living in them a long long time before we even moved here.

If we were to sell up I'd hate to think that the next owners would cut them down.

Can you have them protected?

Leif

There are Tree Protection Orders. Chances are, if you want the tree, it won't have or be able to get a TPO, if you don't want it, it will have one.

Surely what the next owners do is up to them. Trying to protect trees against future owners seems unfair to me.

adouglasmhor

Even under a TPO you can get them cut down, The reasons you can use to get clearance are - non native species, poisonous and children in the area/household, dangerous condition, blocking out light, causing danger - slippy leaves on path etc. The local environmental or parks client officer can advise. So even an order can be got round.

EllaBeagle

Thanks for your replies.

Leif, I just think it would be unfair on the wildlife that lives in them. That has been their home longer than I have lived here. What right do we have taking their home from them?

Yorkie1

The birds will have to re-make their nests annually, so their 'homes' are purely transitory.

Are there many other trees in the neighbourhood?

If I was considering buying your house and there were 2 whopping conifers in the garden which I'd never be able to cut down (or prune?) then I'd look elsewhere for a house. Do you really want to risk that in the future?

Ectophile

I suppose you could have a restrictive covenant added to the deeds before selling the property.

In practice, if the conifers ever became a problem, the new owners would go to court to get the covenant removed again.

mjm3346

EllaBeagle wrote: »

This is going to sound so stupid but I have two extremely large conifers in my back garden and there have been generations of wood pigeons living in them a long long time before we even moved here.

If we were to sell up I'd hate to think that the next owners would cut them down.

Can you have them protected?

You might be able to protect the trees in the short term but the wood pigeons are regarded as a pest and can be destroyed anyway.

Davesnave

EllaBeagle wrote: »

What right do we have taking their home from them?

The same right that allows humans to alter their environment wherever they go. If you suspect that the trees might be cut down, despite the cost this will involve, then it's likely that you know they are having a detrimental effect on humans somewhere in the immediate area.

Like it or not, in the modern world, most of your actions have an impact on wildlife somewhere. Just because you can't trace them, it doesn't mean these are less harmful, or beneficial, because some actions can bring wildlife bonuses too.

So, being Devil's advocate for a moment, if the conifers were removed, what's the likely beneficial result to wildlife of planting something else there, especially something native?

Leif

adouglasmhor wrote: »

Even under a TPO you can get them cut down, The reasons you can use to get clearance are - non native species, poisonous and children in the area/household, dangerous condition, blocking out light, causing danger - slippy leaves on path etc. The local environmental or parks client officer can advise. So even an order can be got round.

Unfortunately TPOs are put in place by council wonks who often do not give a fig for the home owner. I had an offer accepted on a house with a modest 15m garden. Then I found there was a TPO on an oak tree in the middle of the garden. Somehow I'd missed that, and Google showed that in summer the tree completely shaded the house, and the garden. It was massive. No doubt it also sucked moisture out of the soil during the summer. It was totally out of place. The council did not want to know. They said the TPO could not be lifted. There was an order allowing pruning, but not much.

Leif

EllaBeagle wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.

Leif, I just think it would be unfair on the wildlife that lives in them. That has been their home longer than I have lived here. What right do we have taking their home from them?

Replace them with shrubs that produce berries in the winter, such as Cotoneaster. That way you'll end up feeding birds when food is scarce. Pigeons are a pest, they can destroy vegetable gardens. Whenever we build a house, or a road, we are removing trees and shrubs, and removing habitat for wildlife. The food that you eat is grown on farms that replace bird friendly land with farm land, that is sometimes barren for them. The best approach in a garden is to make is wildlife friendly. Add some shrubs that give birds cover. Add some plants that produce berries. Add a bird feeder. Create a wood pile, or just some large pieces of wood that can rot, which harbour insects that feed birds. Add a small pond that harbours newts and frogs that are food for hedgehogs. And so on.

aliasojo

EllaBeagle wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.

Leif, I just think it would be unfair on the wildlife that lives in them. That has been their home longer than I have lived here. What right do we have taking their home from them?

Thing is though, new owners would have paid good money for their home, the wood pigeons are !!!!!!!!!!s iyswim.

(Edit: Don't know why that happened...I was calling them f.r.e.e.l.o.a.d.e.r.s....that's not a swear. *confused*.)

So unless they were a protected species, which they are not, then I don't see that their 'rights' to keep the same home, supercede the rights of the people with the cold hard cash who have slogged to earn it.

It's a shame really, I do think we as a society should be more mindful of our other companions on this earth. However we do still have to be realistic.