Poplar problem

[brazenberg]

Hi guys, I need some advice on some poplar trees. I have 20-30 80ft tall poplar trees on my boundary, the other day my neighbor came round and said a branch had fallen off and was worried that the trees weren't safe(the branch was 4 inch in diameter) he suggested that I cut them all down to ground level. i'm going to get a tree surgeon to tidy up where the branch snapped, remove any dead/diseased/hung up branches and to give the tree's a good checking over, however I don't think the neighbor will be happy with this and he's suggested he'll get the local council involved. What are the legality's with tree's on boundary lines? and do you think i'm doing everything i should be doing?

 

There are two tree's that are causing damage the the neighbors drive so I'm taking those ones out as well as two either side of them, I'm taking them down to the ground and poisoning them.

 

Any help/advice would be much appreciated

[sloth]

He doesnt have to be happy with it, and the council will not want to know. What he thinks is dangerous might not be. All you need to do is all that is reasonable to be sure they are not a hazard. What may be reasonable for you and your available finances is to get a reputable tree surgeon to remove dead/broken/obviously dangerous branches and advise whether any are decayed or otherwise hazardous. A better option if funds allow may be a written report (to show your neighbours) by a consultant. It should be comprehensive, and may be just as cheap as a tree surgeon team for a day or two if it recommends little or no work is actually needed.

[redmoosefaction]

Don't poison them! they could poison the neighbouring poplars by root graft.

[woodyguy]

Encourage him to involve the council. Provided you get a reputable opinion you have nothing to be afraid of.

Just to explain "root graft"- many trees link up with their neighbours of the same species below the ground through their roots. So poisoning a stump of one can poison the next door tree as well. Not a good idea.

[Le Sanglier]

Take some pictures please, then we can help a bit more.

[brazenberg]

Cheers for the reply's guys

 

I was going to use potassium nitrate crystals to kill the stumps but hadn't thought for a second that it would damage neighboring trees, I'll cover stumps with a tied on bin bag or tarpaulin instead.

 

I thought it was over kill to remove the tree's because of one branch falling off but it's always good to get the opinions of the pros before making any rash decisions.

 

i think i'll get a tree surgeon to check the tree's out now rectifying any immediate issues, then I'll get them checked out again after the leaves have fallen and may get him to put in writing a plan of action for the future.

 

I'll try and get some pictures of the trees over the weekend.

 

Oh a couple of the trees were within four meters of the power lines so I've managed to get the power company to take care of those ones :-)

[Mark Bolam]

You sound as if you are taking very reasonable steps.

 

Don't let anyone BS you into 'topping them because they're getting a bit tall....'

[Le Sanglier]

One problem you may well encounter is that often when you fell a poplar without killing the stump you get a small forest of sucker growth from the existing roots.(even if you grind the stump as many roots will stretch many meters from the tree)

[Andy Clark]

 

 

i think i'll get a tree surgeon to check the tree's out now rectifying any immediate issues, then I'll get them checked out again after the leaves have fallen and may get him to put in writing a plan of action for the future.

 

 

 

 

 

Just to add a few points that have been missed.......

 

The Local Authority do have the powers under the Miscellaneous Provisions Act to get involved and enforce you to get any problems solved, but ONLY if the trees are posing a risk to public safety. And they can only enforce that you take the relevant action to rectify the problem, they can't enforce that you do more work than is required. ie, they can't make you fell them, if the problem is just a few bits of sizeable dead wood, or hung up/snapped branches etc, only enforce that you get the dead wood/hangers removed.

 

You seem to be being very proactive, so I really shouldn't worry about them being involved if your neighbour continues to try and hold it over you. .

 

The second thing relates to the quoted portion above.......

 

DON'T get a "tree surgeon" (contractor) to do the report, use a consultant instead.

 

A civil case several years ago (Poll vs Bartholomew) found that a "forester", in this instance, was not deemed of an adequate enough experience and/or qualification level to conduct an accurate enough level of inspection and therefore to give the appropriate level of advice - thus the case as a consequence set a precedence that only suitably qualified individuals should be inspecting trees and giving advice/making comments/recommendations in relation to tree health/stability etc.

 

Details of how to find and employ a suitably qualified party, can be found from one of the industry's professional bodies - such as the Consulting Arborist Society, the Arboricultural Association, the Institute of Chartered Foresters, or the International Society of Arboriculture, UK and Ireland Chapter.

 

http://www.trees.org.uk/

http://www.tree-expert-finder.co.uk/

http://www.isaarboriculture.co.uk/

http://www.charteredforesters.org/

 

 

 

Lastly, under NO circumstances just get the felling work done without at least getting some reduction or thinning works done on the remainder.

 

Trees grow to suit their surroundings. In this instance, they are growing and have historically been used to growing in a row, with each tree being sheltered, in at least some part, by it's neighbour.

 

If you suddenly put a big hole in the environment in which they have been used to growing, by felling several of the trees in one go, you will undoubtedly change the dynamics of the wind patern and air flow around the remaining trees, and expose them, or at least some parts of them, to forces that they have never been exposed to previously - thus have never grown in order to accommodate those forces.

 

Inevitably you are likely to end up with a domino effect, whereby suddenly exposed parts start failing, which in turn expose more parts, which in turn fail, which in turn expose more parts, which in turn fail...... and so on and so on..... until the inevitable conclusion comes that all need to be felled because their stability can no longer be guaranteed and clearing up broken branches and snapped stems outweighs the benefit. .

 

In short, treat the works as one project. Get all works done at the same time, not in different parts.

 

Again, a decent consultant worth his/her salt will take this all into account when doing you a report.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my BlackBerry 9700 using Tapatalk

[Tony.Price]

A comprehensive reply Andy but a bit bold for me; not having all the evidence!

 

"Lastly, under NO circumstances just get the felling work done without at least getting some reduction or thinning works done on the remainder".

 

It is best to recommend a holistic approach to a group of trees. However, I feel it would be best to assess this situation 'on site' to determine an action plan before recommending expensive, and probably 'cyclic' management needs to a group of over 20 trees.

 

A consultants advise is 'in my opinion' money well spent.

[rupert w]

Good comments,but surely some of us are qualified,even if we are just tree surgeons,Arborists with quals. where is the line?