….I know, I know. Won’t someone consider the baby robins?

Before I moved into Chrispoffer towers there was a two story extension built on the side of our detached house. This was about 10 years ago. Fastforward to today and there’s cracking that needs sorting, some bricks need to come down etc etc. Builder has given his opinion that the trees next to our house (on council land) are to blame, sucking all the moisture out of the soil as trees do. Coupled with a couple of dry years obviously.

Now looking at the extension I can see it was built too close to the edge of our land and consequently too close to the trees. The trees have obviously got a lot bigger since it was built, we’ve had to have the Sky dish remounted etc.

Problem is, what can I do? Is it legal to trim council trees? Do I need to speak to them about it? Can the trees be cut right back without destroying them – or do they need to come out?

Advice please wise ones.

This is what it looked like back in 2009 before the extension was built:

This is a crap aerial snip showing the extension (lighter roof tiles) and the trees:

You can prune to your border and that’s it.
Beyond that it’s the council’s land and, therefore, trees.

You could try asking them.

It’s probably not related to the trees and more to do with the dry weather and some poor building.

If they affecting the structure of your house they will need to come out and the stumps poisoned. So you’ll need to get the council to do it, or you’ll need their approval to do it yourself.

Even if they were pruned the roots will continue to grow and you won’t solve the problem.

The extension was always to close to the trees. I would suggest leaving the trees and cutting back your extension.
To be serious this year gas been very dry and other years might not as bad. I would try to leave the tree alone as they are a key resource for wildlife. Trees the get continually cut back don’t do that well.

…and even if they are treated as mentioned above ie: cut down and the roots poisoned then after the remaining root structure has rotted away you run the risk of subsidence, if of course it is the roots that are causing the damage.

Looking at those pictures (and adjusting for 13 years growth) i’d be very surprised if its the tree roots causing the problem.

The link between trees and subsidence isn’t general, it happens with specific types of clay soil. Look at a map such as here and see if you’re in an area likely to be affected.

Are we talking large structural cracks or small cosmetic ones? Small cosmetic ones are pretty normal in the dry weather and often close up again when the rains come.