On 8 Oct 2003 19:03:46 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
martin wrote:
On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 18:48:07 +0100, "ned" wrote:
bilbo-bj wrote:
There is a Silver Birch tree 3 metres from my house on suspected
shrinkabkle sub-soil. The tree is appox 12m high and is on Coucil
property. I am concerned that the tree could cause damage to the
house. I have written to the Council asking them to inspect it and
possibly replace it with a smaller tree. They have written back
advising they will reduce the crown in June next year and then
inspect
it every 3 years. Is this satisfactory or should I still be
concerned? Any advise would be most welcome!

Its not the crown I would be worried about - although at 12m tall
there is a risk of it wiping tiles off the roof, I would be more
concerned about possible root damage. A 12m tree only 3m from the
house does not sound good to me.

They tend to fall over in gales. We got rid of ours when it was about
15 years old.

Not quite. One of the reasons that they are popular with planners
is that healthy ones DON'T blow over!

They do. Unhealthy ones break.

Actually because they grow quick and look nice on architects drawings.

They have extremely strong and
tenacious roots that get everywhere, and don't catch the wind much.
They are one of the few trees that will grow in really windswept
locations, though perhaps not as windswept as ordinary birch.

We got rid of our tree because 95% of the silver birch planted at the
same time as our tree, in our part of the town, had already blown over
in autumn gales.
--
Martin