Would you cut down an established and beautiful tree?

[Cheeriosaddict]

I’m in a bit of a dilemma so looking for some thoughts.
We bought a house last year and intended to remove a tree which is 2 metres from the dining room as it blocks out a lot of light and the roots have made the patio very uneven. I’d like to make it clear I’m in no habit of removing trees and we’ve actually planted two trees and lots of shrubs and plants since we’ve moved in.
However, as this is our first summer in the house, the tree has blossomed and it’s beautiful. Not only that, birds nest there and the bees love the flowers.
Before the spring, we had a tree surgeon thin the tree but it still blocks out a lot of light. The downside of the birds is that they go to the toilet over the patio so whenever we want to use the garden to eat dinner, it’s a big clear up operation. I can cope with this, it’s the light issue that’s the main problem. I’m so torn that I would be destroying habitat of birds and bees and I would feel horrible about it and not sure I can bring myself to do it come October.
what would you do?

I mentioned it because that's been another frequent complaint about trees on here - that they drop leaves.

Saying that you need a massive clean up operation to even use the patio seems a similar level of hyperbole

What is 2m from the dining room? The trunk or the branches?

I would think about it more. You really don’t want to regret something like this. Cut it down and that’s it. You can’t bring it back.

@Kitchen12345 From the trunk. The tree is planted right by the fence and overhangs onto our neighbour’s garden but they’re content with the tree (spoken to them re it) but they’ve extended so it doesn’t impact their light thankfully.
It was a stupid place to plant a tree but it’s there now.

It's only going to get bigger! I'd chop it down.

I chopped down loads of trees in my garden when I moved in. Several were huge laylandii and other were scrubby native trees. They were planted too close together and too close to my house and my neighbors houses.

I now have plenty of birds and beautiful trees. I get a tree surgeon in every few years to maintain the trees.

It's stupid keeping trees that are too big and located in the wrong place.

I replanted several native trees

Your description sounds more like a laurel (sometimes known as cherry laurel) rather than a cherry tree. Very vigorous growers that can reach 8m high. If that’s the case, I think removing it is a good plan as it’s too close to your house.

Do your bit for nature by working on habitat creation in the rest of the garden - native hedges instead of fencing if possible, lots of native plants that flower and fruit at different times, maybe a pond, don’t use pesticides or herbicides.

@madrush Yes! Just googled the images and it’s a cherry laurel. Thank you!
Tree surgeon didn’t mention it likely growing so tall (although I didn’t ask and he wasn’t much of a talker). It’s currently nearly the height of the house so I assumed it was an old tree.

What way does the room face? Think about whether it's keeping your room cool, before you make your decision.

The room faces South but there are no concerns about keeping cool where we live.

We have just had a beech removed from our garden. It should never have been planted in such a 'small' space. Not fully mature it was already 15m tall and would grow to 40m! It totally blocked the light at ghe back of our house plus several of our neighbours (all detached properties). It killed the lawn and we had very little space where anything could grow. It was a shame but the tree would have been OK if we lived in a massive mansion - we don't so after years of trimming it we had to have it removed.

I've been able to have a washing line for the first time in years!

I think it’s too close to your house. I would be tempted to remove it and plant another in a better place.

I had exactly this dilemma with a huge type of eucalyptus tree. I loved it, it was beautiful but the bird shit everywhere was disgusting plus it was so big pretty much all of the garden was unusable. I hit the bullet and got rid of it. Whilst I feel we're much more exposed to neighbours - I know we made the right decision to remove it.

I don't think you need to feel bad about removing a laurel. You say you've planted other trees already. Do it after Sept when the birds have finished nesting.

I sympathise with your feelings though. I'm currently debating removing a teenage apple tree. It isn't thriving. But I still feel like, it's a tree, I shouldn't!

I would never be able to look at myself in the mirror again if I did.

uts too near your house it has to go

@Hiddiddleyho can I ask what different it being a laurel makes? I’m new to gardening (clearly!). Is it because they grow so quickly? Or are common?

2 metres is far too close to the house and will be affecting foundations etc., so sadly get rid and plant a replacement in a more sensible location.

I would cut it down

Hmm, good question, I'm not a great gardener either but I think of them as no particular value for wildlife over and above bird nesting which you could mitigate for with new planting or bird boxes, quick growing and common like you say, I think of them more as a hedge species.

We inherited a large, established, beautiful but massively overgrown garden with our new home. I felt massively conflicted about making changes, especially removing anything, but after going through a garden redesign process have realised the best decisions you can make with an established garden are what to remove. We had several trees and shrubs that were beautiful but poorly placed or massively overgrown relative to space. We paid a garden designer to basically give me permission to remove lots of stuff that was no longer working. If the tree isn’t working, and especially if it is causing structural damage, just remove it. If it makes you feel better, plant another tree elsewhere. It sounds like you have lots of trees, shrubs elsewhere, cutting down one tree won’t affect wildlife.

Well the good news is if it’s a cherry Laurel it’s practically an oversized shrub. You can cut that right back to where ever you want (including the trunk itself) and it will still live.

I'm a tree-lover, but that is definitely too close to the house and I'd have it out. Was any mention made of it on the survey when you bought the property last year? Cherry tree roots can cause structural damage to patios etc as their roots are fairly shallow, but that means that nearby utilities could be damaged also.

Cherry wood is good for log fires, apparently.

I don’t really get the angst some people have about removing trees. I assume they are people who don’t plant them.

I lived in my last house for 25 years. There were 5 meter high trees that I had planted as saplings myself, but they got too cramped as they grew so I removed some. I don’t see how that’s any different to when I did the same with my roses.

@Cheeriosaddict
No, as I prefer trees and nature

2 metres from the house? I wouldn't even hesitate to get rid of it, especially if you have other trees in the garden.

The important thing here is to cut to the heart of the matter. Not the lack of light, birds mess, leaves, nesting or any other minor concerns but to concentrate on the serious issue of damage to the foundations. It is far too close to the house and needs to come down, no question.