Janet Baraclough wrote in
:

The message
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

"Michael Williams" wrote in
:

The canopy spread is nowhere near the house but what will the
situation be like in 10 years time?


If it's not affecting the house at the moment, and you will see any
problems in the wall and pavement first, what about getting a tree
surgeon to reduce the crown, or even pollard the tree (cut the
branches and trunk back to about 14 feet so you end up with a sort of
lollipop shape of smaller branches).

Pollarding increases the lifespan of a tree, keeps it relatively
small in size, and is a very old method of tree management -

Pollarding doesn't reduce the vigour and spread of the root system,
or
the potential risk from it..which is what he's concerned about.


His second post mentioned the canopy rather than the roots, and his first
seemed to be concerned that the roots were already under the house and that
therefore felling the tree might cause damage (rather than that the roots
themselves were causing problems).

From that, it doesn't seem clear, to my mind, that the problem is
necessarily that the tree is undermining the house. I thought maybe he
didn't want it dropping leaves in the gutters, blocking the view or
dropping a branch onto his car or something like that.

I didn't tell him to go away and pollard the thing regardless: I suggested
he ask a tree surgeon if that would be a suitable solution in this case.

Victoria