can anyone help with a bit of advise?

[Lyndon]

Hi guys, I've got a few questions but first i will explain what happened.......

 

I parked my campervan outside my house and a 60ft ash decided to give way and flaten it like a pancake and take all the power lines with it

 

The ash is just outside my neigbours back garden and he claims its not his ( no suprises there!) and no one else knows who the land belongs to. The reason the tree fell although in high winds is due to a river running right next to it undermining the bank and a huge amount of fungi all around the base which has clearly affected the roots and their ability to hold up the tree.

 

My questions are

 

1. any idea what i need to approach land registery with to find out who owns the land?

 

2. can anyone confidently identify the fungi? ( i will try and post the photos now) and what its affects are and how long it has taken to get to its current stage.

 

3. my neigbour said he has had a tree report done by the previous tree officer and it had no recomendations for any work and the tree is healthy. It clearly is not so what are the implacations of his report.

 

thanks all i know its a big ask but im in need of some arb talk back up on this one

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

looks like armillaria mellea to me, and it loves damp conditions and ash!

 

I wont say any more.

[Lyndon]

looks like armillaria mellea to me, and it loves damp conditions and ash!

 

I wont say any more.

 

anyidea how long it would have taken to get to this stage ? im asuming it would take more than 24 months to rot out a set of roots that size? but my asumption is based on very little fungal knowledge so please correct me if im wrong and thank you for the quick response!

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

If i where you I would be looking for the date of the report, Im not keen on making other pros lifes difficult but suffice to say if this tree was inspected in the last 12 months somebody needs to do some explaining.

 

though the ivy may have been a hindrance to assessment, hard to say without all the info.

 

Armillaria doesnt just kill trees overnight, put it that way.

[RobRainford]

I agree on the honey with tony. And that if the tree was inspected recently then they should have Looked harder IMO. although the inspection could have been outside fruiting season!

 

Any pictures of the tree?

 

If the inspections haven't been regular or report recommendations not followed the tree owner can be deemed negligent and liable for damages caused.

[Al Cormack]

If the the tree is covered in ivy it would have played a big part in it coming down in the winds, coupled with river undermining decayed roots, it didn't stand much chance...

[Grandad]

What time of year was it inspected? If there were no fruiting bodies to see...?

Remember the "hurricane" years back ('87?) that the met office said not to worry about? It blew down a lot of trees in Westonbirt arboretum which proved to have root rot due to honey fungus, nobody there seemed to have noticed it..., or realised the unseen damage.

[Jesse]

If the the tree is covered in ivy it would have played a big part in it coming down in the winds, coupled with river undermining decayed roots, it didn't stand much chance...

 

If the tree is still covered in ivy id say it was never inspected as any one doing a survey would firstly recomed removel of the ivy to prop assess the trees stuctural and physical condition.

[Mesterh]

I think your first port of call is to find out who owns the tree.

 

Although, who removed the tree and whole did they send the bill to?

 

Regardless of the condition of the tree you need to be awarded the costs of damage to your property and youre inconvince.

[easy-lift guy]

Perhaps once you have determined who owns the property that the tree was located on you may be able to file a claim against that persons homeowners policy for losses sustained. I do not know how helpful the tree report may be with your claim esp. if the report is inconclusive. I wish you the best with your investigation.

easy-lift guy