Is that the sound of a chain saw?

[Pete Presland]

The Planetary imaging window at the bottom of the garden just got bigger this afternoon. I could hear a chain saw buzzing away and after a very friendly chat, he removed a lot of branches that were blocking the view. I think i will now be able to see Jupiter and Saturn at 45 minutes earlier, probably before they start to loose altitude.

Not too much to get excited about i know, but anything is better than nothing. 😀  I will have a quick look tomorrow morning hopefully, before i try and see Comet Neowise.

[Craney]

I could do with some chainsaw action at the bottom of the garden.... alas, tree doesn't belong to me...   This is looking more or less South....

.

 

[Pete Presland]

It certainly is a pain!

[fozzybear]

20 minutes ago, Craney said:

I could do with some chainsaw action at the bottom of the garden.... alas, tree doesn't belong to me...   This is looking more or less South....

.

 

drill some holes in its base and inject Tordon under the cover of darkness

[Floater]

2 minutes ago, fozzybear said:

drill some holes in its base and inject Tordon under the cover of darkness

Ah! That joke (hopefully) is not good.

I’m always torn when these posts come up. I understand the frustration - surrounded by trees, some mine - but I love trees. Go easy with the chain saws ... 🙏

[fozzybear]

Just now, Floater said:

Ah! That joke (hopefully) is not good.

I’m always torn when these posts come up. I understand the frustration - surrounded by trees, some mine - but I love trees. Go easy with the chain saws ... 🙏

in jest of course...… just knock on the neighbours and pose the question or your local council.

[Paul M]

I'm a bit of a Prince Charles but I apologise to shrubs when I just prune them!

Indeed there is a tree in our back garden that is starting to get in the way of my southerly horizon. I'll live with it and the biodiversity it houses. Bugs and insects...lovely

I'm in Cumbrishire eighth now and have already noted how much the trees on our southern boundary have grown since lockdown. My south view is gone!

Oh well, trees, gotta love em!

[Craney]

21 minutes ago, fozzybear said:

drill some holes ..........

Alas... down wind of the tree ( due East)  is my hand built shed. !!!

The tree has put on about an extra 6ft in height over the last decade, but it is now more exposed to the prevailing winds, as a couple of Leylandii to the West were removed.  Given the winds today, and the heavy coverage of leaves, nature might just do the job for me.

 

[Pete Presland]

Leylandii's are just too big for nearly every garden. The conifers that have been trimmed near me were planted 30 years ago and are at least 40 feet high. The wildlife seems to love them, but in recent years my local RSPB has removed most of the coniferous tress from their reserve. The reason that they do not support anywhere near as much wildlife as the native deciduous trees support. 

That said they make a fantastic hedge/wind break when kept at a reasonable height.  

[Tenor Viol]

Leylandii are a pest. They are not native. They are only cute when they're small, which is not very long. If maintained as a hedge they will continue growing, but  they don't regrow if you prune them when they're trees. They affect the acidity of the soil and they take a lot of water out of the ground so very little grows near them

[Swoop1]

Reasonable height being the operative phrase. My neighbour has a Leylandaii hedge (8 feet tall) between us and at the top of the garden(NW corner of mine, the last two trees are taller than my other neighbours house and are very full. They really obstruct my western aspect. For the last few years, my wife and I have trimmed the hedge whilst the neighbours have been away (with their knowledge of course) to stop it getting overgrown.

I approached my neighbours landlord about trimming the big trees and getting them under control. He said I could have a go but must not cut back beyond green and was responsible for removal of the waste. He laims the trees are there to screen the ugly view of the house ane the top ofour gardens. The scope of these trees is far more than I can handle and, to be honest, they are his responisbility. I asked a question of the council about the anti social aspect of these trees. It would cost me just shy of £500 for an anti social tree assesment! I am very tempted to trim every branch that is growing over my boundary to as high as I can reach and stacking the waste in their garden- it is their property that is encroaching on ours.

[JamesF]

I'm not a fan of Leylandii either.  I understand why people planted them, but they have many negatives and very few positives in my opinion.

Given the way our climate is changing, with storms apparently becoming more common at all times of year, I am starting to question the sense of having large trees anywhere near houses any more (which is a bit of a shame as I love seeing tree-lined avenues).  We've lived here a little over sixteen years and the incidence of large trees getting blown down seems to be increasing, I'm guessing because it's not that uncommon for high winds to occur when the ground is wet (and therefore soft) and the trees are fully in leaf.  I removed one a couple of years back because I wasn't happy with it being so close to the house (it was actually touching the walls), particularly as we have quite shallow soil, and we had another removed just after Christmas because it really wasn't safe and it's likely direction of fall would have meant it landing on our oil tank and then the house.  I'm going to give a third a very aggressive prune this winter too.  I will replace the ones that have gone, but either with smaller trees or plant further away from the house.

James

[John]

I have some rather tall Leylandii along the side of the back garden. Yes, they block the sky to some extent to the N and E but also they also block neighbours lights very effectively thus making observing much more feasible from this garden. So I'll forgive them the chunk of sky that they hide from me and wait up later for targets to rise above the Leylandii line.

 

 

[Tenor Viol]

10 hours ago, Swoop1 said:

...I approached my neighbours landlord about trimming the big trees and getting them under control. He said I could have a go but must not cut back beyond green and was responsible for removal of the waste. He laims the trees are there to screen the ugly view of the house ane the top ofour gardens. The scope of these trees is far more than I can handle and, to be honest, they are his responisbility. I asked a question of the council about the anti social aspect of these trees. It would cost me just shy of £500 for an anti social tree assesment! I am very tempted to trim every branch that is growing over my boundary to as high as I can reach and stacking the waste in their garden- it is their property that is encroaching on ours.

My understanding is you are entitled to cut anything back to your property line and hand the debris to the neighbour

[johninderby]

re: returning the cut branches to your neighbour.

“Ironically, even though the branches belong to your neighbour, you cannot simply throw them back over his fence. That could be deemed to be fly tipping of garden waste. Advise your neighbour that you intend to burn them or take them to a recycling centre.”

[Pete Presland]

I had them all back willingly, they all went in a rustic low fence I have been making. The smaller green parts have been chopped up and scattered around my raised beds. 

[Pixies]

Before:

and after:

Unfortunately, I have now allowed more light from the streetlight into the garden. Swings and roundabouts....

[Slingshot]

Leylandi - the curse. Non native species, drains soils and reduces biodiversity. The winds here have been over 120 recently and blown over a whole row that was blocking a neighbours westerly viewpoint. Several people have been around there to fill trailers of wood.  Said neighbour is delighted with it. In view of this event, some of us planted lots of native trees in thanks. 

[JamesF]

The chainsaws will have been out around here this afternoon.  On the drive back from the swimming pool I found the road blocked by a tree that had fallen across it, blocking it completely.

James

[fozzybear]

some serious wind here brewing 70km and trees struggling so natural selection will take it's course....

 

[JamesF]

2 minutes ago, fozzybear said:

some serious wind here brewing 70km and trees struggling so natural selection will take it's course....

Quite.  The anemometer on my observatory which is very sheltered being in the lee of the house and the hill it is built on as well as having trees relatively nearby to form a natural windbreak, still recorded it's highest ever speed for a wind gust today.  Things do look set to calm down towards dawn, at least.

James

[Pete Presland]

Not the evening for Telescopes, hopefully some clear skies later in the week.