Unwanted tree!

[SDD]

We have a very large lime tree (not the fruit tree) in our neighbour's garden which we would like to get rid of as it drops slimey stuff all over ours and our neighbours gardens to the extent that you can't sit or leave anything under it, and blocks a lot of light. Our neighbour would also like to get rid of the tree but it is in a conservation area and the council will only allow a 20% prune. The roots are ripping up our garden and destroying garden wall. Any ideas?

[Robert G]

It might be worth an approach to the local Council pointing out that the tree is now causing structural damage. In this circumstance they may give the owner permission to fell the tree but may require him to plant another one in his garden as a replacement. They could probably suggest more suitable tree species for the location.

[logman]

The sticky stuff that comes out of the tree in summer is known as "honeydew", which is the result of aphids feeding on the leaves, often a black mould will grow on it afterwoods,

As a compromise i would suggest the tree is pruned/lopped in the summer when its in full leaf, i've seen street trees managed in this way..

[andyjevs]

Remove a 2" strip of bark all around the bottom of the trunk....it'll be dead soon

[alan30]

Under the Planning legislation there are exemptions for certain works to trees covered by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) or within a Conservation Area (CA). One exemption is to abate a nuisance; nuisance in this case being defined as an actionable nuisance rather than dropping leaves or shading. Damage to your property, the wall, is actionable. The difficulty comes in deciding how to abate the nuisance; you cannot fell the tree if pruning on a regular basis would do the job. You have to show that the only course of action to abate the nuisance is to fell the tree and the local authority will/may contest your reasoning. Of course if the LA refuse to allow the tree to be felled they can become liable of part laible for continuing damage caused to the wall. The other thing that springs to mind is that within a CA the council cannot allow a 20% reduction if you have told them you are going to fell the tree. CA requires 6 weeks notice of intention to carry out work and if the LA don't want to see the tree felled they can only control the works by making a TPO. The nuisance issue is likely to be only decided by getting a proper report from an arboricultural consultant. If you 'decide' to follow the nuisance line without expert backing and fell the tree you will be prosecuted by the LA and fines can be heavy up to �20K if they are successful.

[logman]

May i congratulate Alan on his expert answer, which could potentially save SDD and others a lot of money.

Is it true that reducing the crown of the tree also reduces root activety ?

[alan30]

Recent research (see link at end); quite technical but interesting reading

Crown-reduction reduced soil drying by trees in the year of pruning, but the effects were
generally small and disappeared within the following season, unless the reduction was severe, in
which case the effects were larger and persisted for up to two years.For practical soil moisture conservation, severe crown-reduction 70-90% of crown volume
would have to be applied. Reduction of up to 50% crown volume is not consistently effective
for decreasing soil drying. In practical terms I have reservations about the use of crown reduction for controlling water uptake. The degree of reduction required is probably detrimental to the long term health of the tree but, in cases of tree related building subsidence, it may be the only way forward short of removing the tree. I think the implication is that correct species choice and planting distances are required in the first instance. The problem today however is that we are dealing with trees that are already mature and few options are open to us.

http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/Water_Use_report_May_2004_final_submitted_exec_summ.pdf

[SDD]

Thank you all, that's very useful advice, particularly re. nuisance and crown reduction. something to put to the council anyway..