Killing small trees

[mowgli]

we have several trees in undeveloped land next to our house which ar very close to the house (10ft). I believe they have grown from wild, but during the summer have shot up by 3ft. Can anyone advise me on how to if not kill them stunt their grow in order to prevent them from being a problem in the future. i dont want to open myself up to the potential illegalities of chopping them down!

[FTVS]

Who owns the land? Clearly your best solution is to get the owner to deal with the trees, particularly if you are concerned they may damage your property.You haven't said how big these trees are...? Topping trees is a skilled job - if you just hacked their tops off you may kill them anyway!

[woofgang]

check with your local authority to find out who owns the land

[sft42]

Napalm worked well for the US as a deforestation device during their small excursion in Vietnam.....why not start a fire as there has been no real rain to speak of for ages then phone the brgade when it has done it's job?

[quattro]

If you cut a three or four inch strip of bark all the way round the trunk it should stop the sap from rising and kill the trees and it should'nt look as evident as chopping them down

[honkytonkman]

I agree with woofgang, check who owns the land. Very often local councils have marked trees for preservation without us knowing. Any damage you cause to them could leave you liable to charges being brought against you. BUT, the fact that the trees have grown SINCE your house was built, will almost certainly not be a problem. The roots will 're-route' (excuse the pun) themselves avoiding your foundations etc... In any case they would be unlikely to make any detrimental affect, if any, for at least 10'15 years.

[coggles]

Ironic really, we are after some fast growing trees for the end of our garden!

[FTVS]

Are ytou sure Honkytonk man? Tree roots, whilst they may avoid the foundations, in periods of excessive dryness (like last summer for instance) will surely spread and drain more water out of the subsoil...? I say this as I understand the insurance industry is expecting substantial subsidence losses in the UK followoing tree root activity this last hot summer. Is that not correct?

[incitatus]

it depends on what the trees are! if they are birches, any of the cherry family or the larger natives (beech) then they are going to be a problem. you can dwarf them easily by taking out the lead stem repeatedly with a pruning saw. or if you wish to commit arbricide then for many species a couple of pounds of salt delivered to the soil around the trunk does the trick nicely.