to be gutted that there are workmen outside

[MargotLovedTom]

.. cutting down all the trees in the street. It looks shit. Bare and shit. I know there are reasons to do with tree roots but I loved those trees. In the spring and summer the view from the windows was lovely: loads of greenery, blossom and birds flitting around. Now it looks bare and crappy .

Are they pruning them or cutting them down?

Cutting them down. All the branches are coming off, trunks still there but cut down to about 4m tall at the moment and they're still working on them. Murderers!

I might go and hug the last one standing .

Do it! Go and hug a tree and ask the murderers what is thier intention!

Bare and crappy beats subsidence IMO

Do you have room in your garden for a tree or two?

Magnolia are gorgeous (but only for a week each year)

Are you in London?

Could they be coppicing them maybe?

Get in touch with your local council and ask what they are doing.

The same thing happened to me recently, and I got a lovely email explaining that they were cutting down the trees because they were no longer suitable for the street/area (too big, too shady, and causing structural problems with walls and houses) but that they were going to replace them with smaller, prettier trees in future

Socks .

No, not in London.

We have a tree in the front garden but I don't know exactly what it is. Lovely white blossom and quite flat and wide - looks a bit Japanese. It doesn't seem to grow, whereas these other trees were huge.

Don't think they're coppicing. I think they'll take the whole lot out and replace with tiny saplings, and we will be long dead before they get anything like as impressive as the beauties they replaced. Oh well.

Sorry x post struggling. I hope they will.

If they're ash trees they may be taking them down to prevent disease spreading?

Also I think a lot of councils get sued by people due to damage caused by trees so perhaps that's why?

They were horse chestnuts and oaks. Pfft, what's 70t tree coming through your roof when it's as lovely as these ones were? Hmm?

(I am joking btw ).

That is diabolical.

I hate seeing trees chopped down.

Of course you know if you live in an Avenue, the council will have to change the name of the road!

Avenue = tree lined road

I was going to suggest they were pollarding the trees, which doesn't kill them but as you say they are horse chestnut and oak I dount it's pollarding.

Horse chestnut and oak do seem strange choices for a residential street. We have mainly maples, larches and limes.

We used to get conkers and acorns off them in the autumn.

Sob.

.

Exit you're right, it is diabolical, and not very Green at all.

Cutting down oak trees?? Blimey that is sacrilege!

Wetagust, plenty of horse chestnuts lining streets round my way and some have been quite heavily pollarded. the ones outside my sisters house look brutal. Limes are very common in West London and I now a lot of people complain there about the sap particularly on cars.

Are you sure they are not being pollarded ?

Are any of them fit though?

tsk Tsk Innogen the OP is mourning the loss of majestic trees here.

Were they fit then?

I couldn't really see beyond the hi-vis vests and big helmets . The one up on the cherry picker wielding the chainsaw looked quite manly I must say, even if he was a MUDERER!

Now, what is 'pollarded'? I've already had to Google coppicing.

Sometimes trees do need to come down tho. It's sad but too often we hang onto trees because they are there rather than managing them properly. This means trees can become too big for there situation, making them dangerous or unwieldy, diseased or unstable. They can have a big impact on foundations, drainage and ground conditions.
Yes it's an awfully sad thing to lose a tree but if you manage them properly, trim / maintain where possible and replace where not you should end up with a healthier overall local tree population.
We are taking down some trees on our land this year as they haven't been managed properly over the years. We will be replacing with new specimens in more suitable locations.

Dh just come back from work, all face and said "They've cut all the bloody trees down!!!".

X post wonkylegs.

I know you're right, they were just such lovely, impressive trees and made a massive difference to the appearance of the street.

Hopefully they'll be replaced with something.

I read your post while ds2 and I were being prevented from napping due to pollarding.

It's when they give a tree a haircut to stop its roots spreading. It looks awful, as they hack them right back, but it's necessary.

So a bit like cutting plants and shrubs right back? Can't be though can it, as that's done to promote growth.

I've just realised I wrote 'muderer' upthread; the shame! The distress has obviously affected my mental faculties.