JaneC

Thanks treequip, that's good to know.

Thanks for all the replies. Removing one a year sound's like a good idea. Removing all 4 at once would be too much of a shock I think (for us and the wildlife). We could also see how much wood we could get out of 1 tree as we've got room under cover to store it, although getting tree surgeon to cut into small enough pieces could be expensive, (please don't suggest we get our own chainsaw, we can cause enough damage with a hedge trimmer ). Thanks again everyone.

That makes sense. It sounds like we're going to have to leave them alone or remove them completely. Thanks again

Thanks MATTMOSS, very helpful.

Many thanks for the advice. We weren't sure what "unravel" meant either

We've got 4 great big poplars in the middle of our garden. We think they're balsam poplars, (smell nice and have big red catkins in the spring). They have been dropping branches for a few years now and the dropped branches are getting bigger year by year. We've had a couple of quotes to have them removed, (will struggle to afford it as it's quite a lot of money.) I'd appreciate a bit of advice as to whether it's possible to reduce the size of these trees and let a bit more sunlight in. If we had the length of the branches reduced would this take some of the weight off and make them less likely to drop?. Somebody told us that removing branches from these poplars may cause them to "unravel"?? We only have wood heating in the house but we've been told these poplars are rubbish for firewood. Is this right? If we could use them for fuel this would help with the cost of removal. Lastly, if we had them cut down to say 15 ft. would they resprout or would new growth be really weak and more dangerous? Sorry if these are really stupid questions. Thanks, Jane