Greetings from New Zealand.

I have a sort of a problem. I have a tortured willow tree growing in my
section, and it is getting quite large. It was there before I moved into
the house ten years ago, and it looks as though it has been there another 30
or so years. The tree is not only getting large, it always grows over the
power line to our house. Coupled with that, there is a quite a boggy area,
(I think that it is a natural spring) near the tree.

What is the best solution, cut it down, or prune it? I want to put a garden
around the area of the tree, but the roots are well embedded in the ground.
I have just last weekend planted some water loving plants (including Chatham
Island Lily) and at present not sure how they are going as yet. I dug the
area for planting, and have found that immediately the area had filled with
water, and the roots of the tree caused a bit of a headache when trying to
dig.

If I cut the tree down, would the water problem be worse? I need some advice
on what the best solution could be.

Glen L Madigan