Trees : Mon Sep 09, 2013 2:06 pm  

I have a tree (Silver Birch) at the bottom of my garden, about 2 feet from the bordering neighbour's driveway. Now, he's had a problem with the tree ever since he moved in. I try and keep it cut back so it doesn't overhang his property without affecting the stability of the tree, and would have no problem if he ever came around to let me know it's overhanging again and ask me to get the gardener back round. A few weeks ago, however, he preferred to just get somebody round and hack off big lumps of it while we were out, and leave the pile of branches next to our wall. I know he's legally within his rights to do that, so I have no complaints other than I think the decent thing to do would have been to come and actually talk to me first, in which case I would have actually arranged and paid for it myself.

The new problem is this: He now claims that his driveway is sinking in places and that it is down to the tree. I'm told by the gardener that this is highly unlikely with the type of tree involved. Does anybody know much about this kind of thing and how likely it is to be down to the tree, whether or not it is down to him to prove it, and just what we may be liable for if it is? I'm currently waiting to hear back from the local council with advice.

Re: Trees : Mon Sep 09, 2013 5:14 pm  

Has he got a heavy car?

Re: Trees : Mon Sep 09, 2013 5:58 pm  

Dally wrote:

Has he got a heavy car?

Alternates between a Toyota Avensis Estate & a Fiat 500.

Re: Trees : Mon Sep 09, 2013 6:14 pm  

Is his driveway block paved or tarmac - both are susceptible to movement and sinking just by driving ordinary saloons over them, over time.

I'd be more convinced if he said his driveway was rising up in places and then it would be an easy task to simply dig down a few inches and find the root that is trying to push through the drive, but it would be very interesting to listen to his explanation as to how a silver birch tree causes a driveway to sink, what is it doing, stealing the soil out from under his property ?

I have lived in a house in the past that had mature (30-40 year old) silver birches both in the front garden and on the verges outside and we did have problems with a shared drain that got blocked by fine roots which forced their way into the pipes but we were never troubled with sinking pavements or driveways.

A few minutes research should tell you what the root systems are like on silver birches, shallow or deep, wide or shallow spreading, and what the effect of a dry summer and of cutting back the foliage has on the roots - hopefully it will confirm that they aren't that much of a problem and his sinking drive is down to bad workmanship - should be obvious anyway if the sinking parts are two ruts the width of a car.

Re: Trees : Mon Sep 09, 2013 6:52 pm  

It's Tarmac. Fairly thick hard standing underneath, too, as when one of the fence posts broke we had hell of a job digging, so the roots definitely aren't coming through, they're about a foot deep & underneath the hard standing. He reckons that it's the roots taking all of the moisture out of the clay underneath, but I just can't believe that when I have a fairly flourishing new lawn on the other side that isn't sinking anywhere. The gardener tells me that Silver Birches are not thirsty enough to cause that damage.

Re: Trees : Mon Sep 09, 2013 7:09 pm  

carl_spackler wrote:

It's Tarmac. Fairly thick hard standing underneath, too, as when one of the fence posts broke we had hell of a job digging, so the roots definitely aren't coming through, they're about a foot deep & underneath the hard standing. He reckons that it's the roots taking all of the moisture out of the clay underneath, but I just can't believe that when I have a fairly flourishing new lawn on the other side that isn't sinking anywhere. The gardener tells me that Silver Birches are not thirsty enough to cause that damage.

Should be simple enough to gather evidence to support what your gardener says.

Should be impossible for him to prove that your tree is extracting all of the moisture out of his garden even if he digs his driveway up all the way down to the clay base, its been a dry summer, could simply be the water table dropping by a couple of inches in your area.

Re: Trees : Tue Sep 10, 2013 8:55 am  

How long has his driveway been laid and who by?

I think he would complain more if it was cut down because the ground water previously absorbed by the tree would hold round the roots and surrounding ground creating a boggy area which would cause sinking.

How much did he cut off the tree?

Re: Trees : Tue Sep 10, 2013 12:18 pm  

carl_spackler wrote:

Alternates between a Toyota Avensis Estate & a Fiat 500.

Avensis is quite a big car. Are the bits of his drive that are sinking where his wheels are when parked? If so, point that out.

Re: Trees : Tue Sep 10, 2013 12:22 pm  

Q/A from a newspaper: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/pro ... house.html

Q/A from a newspaper: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/pro ... house.html

Re: Trees : Tue Sep 10, 2013 12:29 pm  

carl_spackler wrote: ... The new problem is this: He now claims that his driveway is sinking in places and that it is down to the tree. ... whether or not it is down to him to prove it, ... I think it's dubious, but what you must do is immediately contact your household insurers as your policy should cover you for any liability to people claiming you have caused them loss. They would handle the whole thing and they would not want you to stick your oar in at all in case you prejudice their position. So get straight on to them and follow their advice. You could also get a free consultation by a local Certified Arborist just for your own information.

carl_spackler wrote: ... The new problem is this: He now claims that his driveway is sinking in places and that it is down to the tree. ... whether or not it is down to him to prove it, ... I think it's dubious, but what you must do is immediately contact your household insurers as your policy should cover you for any liability to people claiming you have caused them loss. They would handle the whole thing and they would not want you to stick your oar in at all in case you prejudice their position. So get straight on to them and follow their advice. You could also get a free consultation by a local Certified Arborist just for your own information.