Council tree too close to my house!

[PQP]

Hi

I have identified a Goat willow which is situated 3m from the corner of my house. It is on council land adjoining my property, with my brick wall boundary between the two.

 

The tree is as tall as the house and many branches are over hanging my roof and causing various issues with my guttering.

 

My bigger concern is the fact the tree is so close to my house and its a willow.

 

The house was build in 1989 and the trees(many of in the area) planted around the same time.

 

The borough council has a strict policy on their trees, and even if I could get it removed, would this be a smart thing to do? Heave is a potential problem and I think the soil in this area is clay.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[monkeybusiness]

Write to your tree officer expressing your concerns and put the ball in his court would be my advice.

[treequip]

Why would heave be a problem? Its a situation that exists when a house is built on a desiccated clay soil with a high shrink ability index.

 

The fact that you "think" you are on a clay soil only indicates that you need to establish facts. find out what the soil is and take it from there.

[coleman]

heave wont be a problem. I have never seen or heard of it happening in my 10 yrs in arb.

[Le Sanglier]

I would think it is unlikely to have been planted by the council, these trees are very rarely planted as amenity, speak to the tree officer ASAP, I reckon he'll ok any works you suggest.

(It's probably snuck in unnoticed!)

[Gary Prentice]

As it appears that there are other trees alongside the side elevation of your property, from the photo, volumetric change in the soil is less likely (or to a lessor degree).

 

Soil movement ie subsidence/heave is a complicated issue, involving a number of factors such as water uptake by vegetation, plasticity index of clay soils (certain clays have the ability to shrink/swell more than others), foundations and average temperature and precipitation.

 

Your property should be young enough to have suitable foundations to resist soil movement. Although there has been a situation where an estate was built, on shrinkable clay, where no trees were initially present. The structures were built with shallow foundations which didn't take into account that future occupiers would plant trees. The ensuing soil moisture deficit caused subsidence. As I said it is a complicated factor, but in your situation there isn't just a single tree, so volumetric changes should be to a lessor degree anyway.

 

Start with the local tree officer anyway, with a view to at least reducing the encroachment problems. If he decides that removal is the best option and problems occur at a later date, well....

[Andy Clark]

This is a tricky one......

 

The TO will look at several factors - most of which will involve the arising issues several years to come down the line.

 

For example if they start pruning it back away from the property, chances are that with the amount of re-growth that will occur as a result, you'll need them back in 2-3 years time to do it again; and probably every 2-3 years thereafter until the end of time. They're certainly not going to like committing to that level of regular pruning.

 

You mention heave - a few comments have aired that this can be waffle. Sorry folks, but it is the real deal and an issue that does need to be taken into account. .

 

If the tree predates the house, then that of course means that the house was built on already partly desicated/contracted soil. Take away the tree, and the chances are (depending on other vegetation in the nearby locale), that the soil will expand to it's original condition - which will of course be beyond the volume of what it was at the time the house was built. Thus we have heave.

 

If the tree/house are of a similar age, then yes, clay soil or not, heave won't be an issue - as the soil will only ever re-expand to the volume that it was at the time the house was built.

 

Talk to the local TO as has been said, and get his standpoint first. In the meantime, do a bit of legwork on google and try and find out your soil type, and also old photos of the area to establish the tree cover prior to building the house. Also try and get the DBH of the tree and use something like the forestry commissions FC IN12 to age the tree and compare to the age of the house.

 

Personally I think the TO will try and plump to strongly remind you of your common law right to prune it back to the boundary yourself, and will shy away from touching it with a bargepole...... but I may be wrong. .

 

 

Sent from my BlackBerry 9700 using Tapatalk

[difflock]

When did you buy the house/how long have you lived there?

[PQP]

I'm the new owner, one month at the house.

 

House as built 1989, but I don't believe the tree(s) were here until after the house was built.

[PQP]

I will try and establish the age of the tree and post my findings