help I've moved into a house with gigantic pollarded sycamore trees

[seeyounexttuesluv]

and I had no idea the expense involved in maintaining them!

I did a local authority mutual exchange and these trees are at the back border of the property, 100 feet from my house and some 300feet from the privately owned property behind.

There's 10 of them all 60ft high sk far .... pollarded at some point, but no one told me the costs involved in maintaining them! I can't afford to have them trimmed or removed and I'm dreading a high hedge complaint or potential wind damage . I've just moved in and Im already heightened with stress but I worry that the tree hassle was the main reason these people swapped with me. They had planted now overgrown hedges to the front as well but these can be managed by us as they are 10ft. The guys said he knew nothing about gardening .....i think he may have been lying 😭
please can anyone tell me their experiences of sycamores in the garden, costs and responsibilities . im worrying myself sick in case I get taken to court at some point. I'm working full time but just fall outside universal credit entitlement so i can't yearly manage 5k to 10k for all trees to be pollarded!

As I understand it, high hedges applies to a hedge where the majority of trees/shrubs are evergreen. Are the sycamores planted with evergreens? If not, you don’t have to worry about high hedges.

Get a little chainsaw on a stick to keep them pruned. It'll be fine.

🤣🤣🤣🤣 she said they are 60ft!

The trees are the responsibility of your landlord and need cutting. Let them know. If they're 60 feet then they've been neglected for years. Hardly your fault.

Landlord should be responsible for them. Especially if you're a social tenant. I'd contact them and ask for them to be cut. Either now or early spring before they start to leaf again is the perfect time.

Surely if it’s a LA property the LA are responsible for pruning and safety of the trees? They own them not you. Contact them if you are worried.

I would check your tenancy agreement because in my area, council tenants are responsible for their own gardens, including trees.

If you’re worried about them, find a reputable tree surgeon to visit and advise you. They will be able to tell you what work might need doing. No one is going to take you to court - any damage to other properties will be dealt with via insurance.

Do not, under any circumstances, allow anyone going door to door to work on them as they will not be proper tree surgeons.

https://www.trees.org.uk/ARB-Approved-Contractor-Directory

Check the preservation orders, but sycamore are often seen as a weed so I doubt that they will have one.

Speak to the neighbours, see if they see them as a problem. If not then don't worry. If they do then they might help. I cut down a sycamore that was at tall as a house jointly with next door. Beware then getting back from the stump though!

Just because they have been pollarded in the past doesn’t mean they have to be again. Just leave them be

Check your tenancy agreement before you worry any further. At the HA I work for tenants are responsible for general garden maintenance but NOT trees.

People often say that sycamores don’t have TPOs but this is not true. Your council’s tree officers can tell you if there are TPOs.

Hugh hedge legislation is to preserve light only and evergreens only. If they are 300 feet from another house they wont be causing them a problem anyway, the other house may be happy they are there. They may be your landlord's responsibility anyway.

If your responsibility hiring an access tower, buying a pole saw and cutting them back yourself would be less than a tree surgeon as long as they dont have tree protection orders. The pole saw would be good for the front hedge, which you could reduce to a level easier to maintain.

Are they 60ft up and then pollarded [I'd like to think not] or pollarded at about 8ft and then have grown 60ft from there?

Either way, pollarding is a skilled job and the landlord should be covering that cost. Otherwise they would have removed the trees themselves before renting it out.

whose trees are they?? in your garden or the neighbours garden? contact council re the trees and how close to your house they are. will they fall on your house in this stormy season we are having?

My HA landlord have told me I'm responsible for the tree in my garden but they have said I cannot cut it down as it belongs to them.

OP, could the person who owns the house the trees back onto write to your LL requesting that they are removed as the roots are damaging their garden? Bit of a longshot but it may work.

Can people please stop telling the OP her landlord is responsible? Different councils have different agreements and rules around what social tenants are and aren’t responsible for.

The OP will need to check her tenancy agreement and/or contact the council to find out if she is responsible for the trees or not.

@seeyounexttuesluv The above is the first thing you must do. Only then can you start looking at what may or may not need to be done with the trees.

It’s a common misconception that trees have to be regularly cut back. Just because trees are tall or near houses does not make them dangerous. If it turns out you are responsible for them, my previous advice about contacting a tree surgeon is the next course of action. They will be able to set your mind at rest by giving you proper advice.

Thankyou everyone for replying, really helpful responses :) I think I was panicking way too much and they are not subject to high hedge legislation so I can relax abit there. I'll just leave them be unless someone says anything or they become dangerous and ask LL to deal with it or at least help with costs going forward. Thankyou again

You might want to find out if they are your responsibility anyway - look at your lease. If they are not you can safely leave them but if they are and there is no tree preservation order I would look to cut them back before they get even bigger. A tree surgeon could charge nearly £200 for cutting one back and the bigger they get the more it costs.

Good idea, thankyou , just needed peace of mind.

Hi, ok i have 3 sycamore trees and 2 absolutely huge alpine fir trees on my property and i was quoted £10,000 and this was 4 and 5 years ago, to get them removed, the fir trees are on my neighbours tpo land, although he wont accept that they are his, and we cant afford to get them taken down, and the 10 tree surgeons that quoted me, wont touch them or go near it because its on tpo land which is not on our boundary line.. so we regularly have moans and groans from neighbours about the trees, but unless we win the lottery it just isn’t happening

Is saying the word ‘Female’ deogortory and offensive against women.

In the same context that you would never mention the C or unspoken words, the F word is included in this. It’s forbidden

So myself saying in a conversation “me as the female i am”

confusing I know

Your posts are ‘confusing’ in the sense that they’re totally incoherent.

Ivanovag doesnt make sense, even when not posting on the wrong thread.. Trees are on her land, then her neighbours "tpo land" (god knows what this is supposed to be, tree protection orders are for trees not land. I also seriously doubt £10,000 for 5 trees 5 years ago.

Well thats what i was quoted by 10 tree surgeons, for my trees

£6000 to £10,000 to take them all done, as i said, mine are massive, like 70 foot high