Trees damaging our fence

[WinkyOrSmiley]

Our garden backs onto public land. Two trees on the public land are pushing our fence down.

In order to replace the fence we have two options that I can see:

1. Place the whole fence 30-50cm further in to our garden. This will give us a straight fence, but we loose garden. Possibly also cause issues if we sell the house.

2. put the new fence in the same location as the old fence, but with two doglegs around the trees. Much more expensive solution, possibly as much as doubling the cost of an otherwise straightforward job. Probably better in terms of the clarity of our boundary.

As the trees grow on public land, presumably the council are responsible for any damage they cause? But the trees do not appear to have Preservation Orders, so I'm worried that if I contact the council about this they may decide to cut them down.

Any suggestions?

Don’t give up any of your land. The trees need controlling- contact the council!

If you value the trees above your fencing costs or losing a small amount of land, you don’t have any option but to move the fence.

However talk to the council. They might pay for your fence! I agree about not wanting them cut down. I’m assuming you have a decent size garden because I might be more worried about damage to your house. Losing .4 m might worry me less if the garden is big.

Could you trim the trees back away from your fence?

The trunks and the roots are the problem.

Fortunately they are about 12m from the house.

I wonder whether there are any fencing options we haven't considered?

sometimes you see a fence that goes up to the trunk of a tree and then just stops with the fence panels cut to the shape of the tree trunk and a couple of nails to hold the panels to the tree. And the same continues on the other side of the tree.

search google images for 'tree in fence line' to see what I mean.

We put the fence support posts either side of the neighbours encroaching tree and a flexible bit of chainlink around the trunk (our side). This keeps our boundrey where it should be, gives the tree space to expand and stops our fence being damaged in the future.

Would you mind posting a photo of that, Noflora? I can quite visualise it.

I like the idea of the fence incorporating the tree trunk, but one tree's trunk hasn't yet reached the fence, its roots are doing the damage. Also the tree trunks are relatively slender, I would guess about 30-40cm diameter. Wouldn't they move in strong wind? Would it be possible to attach the fence to something that could move?

Just gap the fence. The tree will be in the gap so no issue but you might get the council to replace your existing fence as they have failed to manage the trees.

I don't want a gap. I want privacy and security.

The gap abuts the tree, there won;t be any access possible if done correctly

Like this?

I'd contact the council. They'll have an arboricultural officer and, as a pp States, they may pay for your fence. They'll have the trees checked for safety, etc. too.

And also you need to know what the trees are. How big will they grow? They can cause damage to foundations. 12m away isn’t far enough if they get over 12 m tall. They will then have roots doing damage and mature trees can drink 50,000l of water each.

Sorry no pic, it's now behind a shed.

They're mature ornamental cherries. I don't think they'll grow taller. Wider, yes.

Sorry no pic, it's now behind a shed.

No worries about privacy, then!

@WinkyOrSmiley what did you do in the end? We have the same issue with five trees where the roots and trunks have grown and are over the boundary.

You can chop the roots carefully to prevent further damage.

Thank you , also concerned the trees are pushing the fence over/damaging the retaining wall.

ENoeuf, nothing. I emailed the council…tumbleweed…chased…more tumbleweed. In the end the recent storms resolved the issue by blowing the fence down. We’ve decided to replace it with a hedge, which we hope we can train around the tree trunks. And it’s cheaper than a fence!

@WinkyOrSmiley thank you! I can’t find anything helpful on line about it, just branches but it’s the trunks. Think I’ll have to ask them what they think and show our side.