Which Tree to take out?

[medianewbie]

Here is my very narrow garden. Camera is pointing South. Big tree on left v healthy but near the public lane (which has a drain right there). This tree type is planted elsewhere in village & will get considerably bigger. The Silver Birch is self seeded. Lovely. But already very tall (can I take the top off?) There is a small apple tree & a medium sized lilac Bush too, all crammed in the same 10ft (max) width. I hate cutting things down, & the birds enjoy the safe roosting but what should I remove, ideally?

Photo is missing

Sorry, here is pic.

Why do you want to take either out? Are they troublesome at the moment?

Depending on tree but most deciduous trees take well to either pollarding or you could coppice back to the ground to let it regenerate as a multi stemmed shrub.

I had a self seeded silver birch, it grew to be enormous, we paid a lot of money to have it properly pruned but it grew so fast that it needed doing at least every other year and eventually lost its proper shape. I wish we had just got rid to start with, over the years I must have spent best part of a grand on it

For me, I'd take the lower branches of the birch out and nip off the top. The only thing is, you may need to shape it. If it's a traditional birch it will grow very tall.

You could replace the birch with a smaller variety?

I would give them both the crown lifting treatment.

That is: taking off all the lower branches up to about 3 metres up the trunk or as high as you can reach. That will let lots more light into the garden, the branches won't be in your way, and they will look a lot neater. Silver birches don't get much wider than that and don't cast a lot of shade, so I think you can keep both.

Thank you for all replies so far.
Behind the trees is a very busy footpath (schoolkids on lunchbreak) so keen to keep lower branch screening. If I can take the top off the silver birch without hurting it that would be good.
I will need to move the small (6ft?) apple tree & lilac Bush (2ft×2ft?) which are both trapped in between these trees too.
Any advice on when best to move them please? (Lilac in flower & apple tree starting to grow fruit - it produced about 20 small apples last year)
Hoping to keep / not kill as much as possible but currently have 2 big trees & a growing apple tree & lilac needing more space. If I don't move 50% of it soon I won't be able to & will end up cutting stuff down / digging it out.

Any tree work needs to be done in winter when the tree is dormant.

Apples can be pruned into autumn but I wouldn't move any tree in active growth as the shock will likely kill it.

I would definitely keep the two large trees and move the smaller ones in the winter, you could easily fit smaller trees along the left to screen from the road/path there.

Those trees look lovely.

@Bovrilla @CatherinedeBourgh

Thank you. I will have to trim back the tree on the left as it is encroaching into the lane (big lorries use it, sadly). I've done this before & it seems to encourage growth not upset it so that's okay.
If I take the top 2m off the silver birch at this time of year will that be okay pls?

It's generally reckoned to be best to prune trees when they're dormant but not too severe weather I think, so late autumn/early winter.
Also that avoids any issues if birds are nesting at the moment as it's illegal to disturb them.

Some people recommend pruning birches in summer, as they ooze sap when pruned in winter or early spring, but I"ve never done it so cannot vouch for it.

In general, pruning in summer will restrict growth, in winter will encourage it.

I’d ask around and find a proper tree surgeon and get some advice. I think you’ll just be storing up trouble down the line with the silver birch.

moving trees is hard too, you might just want to buy a replacement apple and plant and bring it on.

Big lorries tend to do the pruning themselves The main roads near us are lined with trees with rectangular holes in their outline.

No, don’t prune the silver birch to this time of year, it will lose a huge amount of sap.

Winter’s fine in my experience. It’s spring when the sap starts rising. But I think of spring as starting in March when I know a lot of people think March and possibly April is still winter.

You will ruin the shape of the Silver Birch if you take the top off, which is a real shame. I would either leave it alone or take it out completely. I don't know what the other tree is, but it looks more shrub like so you may be able to prune and keep a sensible shape.

Can you leave the apple if you take out the Silver Birch? Moving it may be quite difficult and it may die. The lilac you can prune back hard to keep it in bounds, and it may be moveable they are fairly indestructible.

You can 'tap' birch trees and make Birch Sap wine. I had a friend who used to do this. So yes they can lose huge amounts of sap if you prune at the wrong time.

Again, thanks for advice. I may take a pic of the tree on the left to show how big it will get (council planted 2 more just down the lane).
Unfortunately I have a 'victor meldrew' type neighbour who just loves to complain about the tree. I'm not cutting it down for his sake when birds might use it but I will need to keep it pruned road side.
I'll leave the silver birch alone for now - it doesn't affect traffic or drains.
The lilac & apple I will move end of summer & hope for the best.

Better would be a close up of the leaf, then we’d recognise it and know the problem.

we moved a 6ft lilac successfully. Take out a bigger root ball than you thought possible, use planks as levers to get it up to ground level (you won’t be able to lift-it) and use a tarpaulin to drag it to the new position. It will need at least a couple of buckets of water every day right through to winter.

Get both trimmed but a decent tree surgeon IMO

@MereDintofPandiculation thanks for great advice re moving lilac later in summer. Will take leaf pic tomorrow.