Am I legally responsible for pruning a tree in my rented house?

Davesnave

ognum wrote: »

I would also be careful we pruned an old apple tree in our garden two years ago, it died! It had a preservation order and we did do it correctly with all the right permissions so it can happen.

I was unaware that fruit trees could have TPOs.

I lived in a conservation area and all trees over 10cm girth were automatically protected, but when I rang to ask about destroying a cherry tree that had been supplied on the wrong rootstock, I was told, "Go ahead, it's fruit and unprotected."

Maybe the law here has changed, or is/was interpreted locally in different ways?

Miss_Samantha

theartfullodger wrote: »

Not necessarily, certainly not if "unfair" - see

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unfair-terms-in-tenancy-agreements--2

Either you have an constructed argument that a clause making the tenant responsible for the upkeep of the garden is unfair, or you are mentioning unfair terms for the sake of it.

sgun

Pruning apple trees properly takes some skill and knowledge. It is now the wrong time to do it, even up here in the north east as the sap is well and truly rising. Perhaps get back to your LL and say you can't get to all the dead, diseased and damaged branches and that pruning now could compromise the health of the tree and that you think someone with specialist knowledge would be better suited to the job.


Personally if I had a nice old apple tree I would want to look after it myself as I know what I'm doing, but maybe she would prefer to take it out altogether if it is going to cost her money?

freeisgood

Our lovely landlord organised (and paid for himself) pruning/cutting back all the very tall trees for us...major job. He even regularly mowed the very large lawn for us for a few months as he knew it would be a hassle for us when we had our new baby.

pimento

If I were the tenant and the LL made me responsible for the tree, I would be pruning it once - to ground level.

nikki048

Thanks sgun. We wouldn't do it now anyway, it's already in full blossom, but I expect this argument to come round again in the winter!

I'd like the tree to be looked after but we can't manage the job ourselves and we just can't afford a tree surgeon at this time.

AnotherJoe

pimento wrote: »

If I were the tenant and the LL made me responsible for the tree, I would be pruning it once - to ground level.

And it would be very neat LOL

fishpond

There is a right way to prune an apple tree and many wrong ways. The older the tree then the more chance of shocking it so much you may well kill it if too much is removed in 1 go--It can take 3-5 years to restore an overgrown tree to being healthy and producing a reasonable amount of fruit. (assuming there is nothing seriously wrong with it health wise)
Do you know the rootstock and variety---& has the LLady informed you in writing what the rootstock and variety is?
Is it a tip bearer, a spur bearer, or a partial tip and spur bearer?
There is only one person I would trust and has the knowledge to prune my fruit trees and it wouldn't be a tenant nor a jobbing gardener or a supposed tree surgeon, and from the sound of it, not your LLady either.
Tell the LLady to bXXXXXX off!

agrinnall

I would agree with sgun and fishpond that pruning a mature apple tree is not a job for an amateur with no skill or knowledge of how to do it properly. The end result is likely to be worse than doing nothing and could leave the tenant open to an accusation of seriously damaging the tree and to the cost of replacing it. I'd say do nothing and if the LL tries to make a claim against your deposit then dispute it and present your reasons for not attempting to prune.

nikki048

Thanks for your help everyone. I have written to the landlady explaining why we don't feel we are responsible for the upkeep of the tree. If that does nothing else I will at least have a written record of the dispute to show the DPS.