Large trees in garden

[Rispithe]

I am buying a house but when I didn't go in the garden on my first viewing. I requested a second viewing and was chocked by what I saw.

There is a very large tree at the bottom and two large conifer trees as you can see in the images. I thought the big tree was outside the property but it turned out it's inside.

How much do you think it could cost to remove the trees?

Also, does the shed's roof look like those ones with asbestos?

Thank you.

Buy somewhere else. I cannot fathom people who want to chop down beautiful trees. I have a very small garden front and back with one full size and 2 small trees in it. Nothing on earth would make me chop them down.
They are full of birds and provide shelter for many animals.
Go buy a modern house on a barren estate.

No my point is that tress are great - in the right place. The one outside my house clearly wasnt in the right place.

We have trees in our garden. We have a tree surgeon check them out every two years and trim accordingly. It costs about £500 but varies wildly whoever quotes us, so I wouldn't take any mumsnet figures as for certain. Get a tree surgeon to quote and you will know.

Trees can be a problem also for insurance so note how close they are to housing.

Trees can be a problem if they are dead. Or die - we had three ash on our boundary with die back which we needed some sort of planning to remove - our tree surgeon did all the application and paperwork for it. They creaked in high winds whilst we were waiting and it was a bit unsettling at times. They've gone now.

Trees are often protected with TPOs although ours are not. It's worth knowing this if you are buying the house.

The shed roof looks like it could be asbestos. However we bought a house with an asbestos tiled roof which was correctly dealt with by the roofer who reroofed 10 years ago (20 years after we moved in). He had to test it, work with it in a special way and dispose of it separately and appropriately and, yes, it cost a bob or two but that was a whole 3 bed detached home with garage. I therefore can't find myself getting too excited by a garden shed with it.

They’re Tree Preservation Orders, not Tree Protection Orders. And you don’t need permission to cut an oak down unless it’s protected. I wish people on here would bother to familiarise themselves with basic information before posting total crap.

www.gov.uk/guidance/tree-preservation-orders-and-trees-in-conservation-areas

Thank you all for your invaluable responses. I'll think it through and will reconsider cutting them down.

definitely leave the beautiful tree in the first picture.

Personally I would remove the conifer / Leylandii if it’s an annoyance. second picture.

My neighbours have a large oak with a TPO that they themselves put on the tree. They need to apply to the council, to get permission, to employ an arborist team to trim it. I think every 2/3 yrs they do it, and its about £1,000 each time. South East. Even without the TPO, regular trimming is an additional cost going forward to consider.

We bought a property with a completely, overgrown garden. There was a falling down garage with asbestos on top. It was also covered in 1m of entwined ivy! Your shed roof does indeed look like asbestos. We found a specialist, skip company and they recommended a man who came and removed it all, piece by piece, whilst wearing a specialist mask and coveralls etc. We also found sheets partially buried in the soil! The skip and man (I think) was £600, but this was 4yrs ago. It still thought it was pretty cheap considering how much work it was for him. We then received a certificate from the skip company to show they were disposing of it correctly, incase the council asked I presume.

There are lots of people on here with good garden knowledge who can help with advice. It’s just frustrating when people should be planting more trees you are thinking of cutting them down with no good reason. I still don’t understand why you would be shocked. Can you give us an idea why you were thinking this? There will be people in your neighbourhood who love the tree and enjoy the privacy it gives them the watching the birds nest in it. You will be hated if you cut it down.

If you don't like the trees, don't buy the house.

With any luck, the big one (looks like an oak) will have a TPO on it anyway. It looks to be about 200 years old to me, and taking that down would be sheer vandalism. It has far more right to live there than you do.

Exactly

What mess? You can have them cut back by a tree surgeon so they look tidier but different species may or may not drop seeds and you might prefer the screening from neighbours and summer shade. A few hundred per tree is what we have paid . Probably too late now until autumn. Difficult to see re. Shed roof but not an issue unless disturbed.n

Be VERY careful about removing big trees anywhere near your house.

Roots can spread out up to three times the height of the tree, a 50 foot specimen could have a root spread of 150 feet.

The roots will wither away after the tree is felled, they will eventually crumble and you may end up with subsidence where the large roots were growing. If your foundations happen to be above/near them, you could be in big trouble.

All I did when I moved into my house before this one which was in a wood was check the location of the drains. I had a drain survey done and despite trees all around the house since the 1930s the drains were fine, no tree roots.
They aren't as invasive as you might think.

I would just chop the tree, pour concrete all over the garden and lay fake grass.

Get a tree surgeon round to look at the oak. Get the conifers removed. People used to shove leylandii saplings and similar in for hedging but if someone neglected them, you've got a 60ft tree in your garden.

I have 2 huge trees ( over twice the height of my house) in my garden, one is around 25ft away, I absolutely love them. Yes they drop leaves but I rake them up and bag them to make leaf mould. They are havens for wildlife, I have lots of birds visiting and nesting in the garden, the trees provide welcome shade in the summer and there are dozens of plants that are perfectly happy living under a tree.
I had a smaller dead one removed as it was leaning dangerously after Storm Darragh, cost over £1000. To me it's an abomination to remove a healthy tree, if you don't like it go and buy a house without trees.

This could be a beautiful area of your garden! You can tidy things up in loads of ways without chopping down these ancient life giving trees. Think hanging solar lanterns, fairy lights, birdhouses, or better yet just keep it natural and peaceful to sit and enjoy your space! You could spruce the shed up or replace it depending on budget- I guess it's a big garden given you couldn't see this from the house, so all the more reason to leave it as it is - it's a real asset and something people really look for when buying a house!

Check none of have tree protection orders on them or you'll really struggle to do anything with them, even routine maintenance is often rejected by the council.

Having a house with similar large trees just over our back garden boundary, so not on our land, we'd never buy a house with or close to them ever again. The roots have ruined our lawn and borders as they're very intrusive and keep coming through. The debris from the trees after a bit of wind takes a lot of clearing up and usually fills our green bin that we have to pay the council to empty - that's not just leaves, it's branches etc. Over the years, no fewer than four large limbs have been blown off, twice completely flattening our shed and every time damaging our fence meaning replacement panels/posts needed.

The neighbours whose land they are on don't give a shit. They've never paid to have them trimmed nor maintained as they don't care about the damage and debris to their garden. If we want the overhanging branches trimmed or removed, it's up to use to get council permission and pay for tree fellers, which is typically £500-£750 every time they come, even just to remove a limb or two or a few branches.

And that's without the darkness caused after 3pm when the sun goes behind them and leaves our entire garden and back of house in the shade.

As I say, never again.

Do you measure everything in pounds, shillings and pence @taxguru ?

Our neighbours cut all the established trees down in their garden when they moved in.
The noise from the nearby road was amplified to such an extent that we ended up moving house.

Just be aware what you may be letting yourself in for if you remove them.

My father cut down all the established trees along his boundary, meaning that the houses backing onto his long garden lost a lot of privacy and screening, now have a view of my parents back door, kitchen window and nasty shipping container shed -- and he is absolutely outraged that they weren't grateful, and that one actually complained! From his POV, he was 'making things neat' and preventing them from having to rake up leaves in autumn. He is absolutely baffled that almost all of them have planted trees against their boundaries. He would clearly have got on like a house on fire with @taxguru as a neighbour.

I don’t understand people like your father @Maydaylight What goes through their heads?
I like the idea they have in Australia where if someone chops down a tree illegally a huge sign takes its place, telling everyone what happened. The sign can’t be removed until a new tree takes it place. I love that.

I mean, how lazy do you have to be to not want to rake leaves? Probably the same people who buy a Starbucks every morning and throw the cup out of their car window for everyone else to have to look at.

No need to be shocked.
Just get a tree surgeon in for advice.
The oak might be protected but reducing the height might be ok. Take advice. Tree surgeons are very knowledgeable.

The Leylandi can probably be taken out & the stumps ground out. Leylandi are non native and a wretched nuisance.
It’s a learning curve being a home owner.
Get advice about shed roof. If it’s watertight, leave it be. Sheds are useful.

He still doesn't get it. I think he just has very little theory of mind (I suspect neurodivergence, but as he's now in his 80s, it's not something anyone is going to pursue) and literally can't see that there are priorities other than 'tidy' and 'low-maintenance'. He once decided, while my mother was out and he was mowing the grass, that a mature border at the front of their house 'looked untidy', and cut flowering roses and shrubs in full bloom in the middle of summer, right back to stumps.