how to kill a tree

[Dave&Olive]

hi

 ok big problem !! we have an old oak tree in the garden and it dropping it`s leaves into the pool .

have had a few people around to cut it down but they just take one look at it give the french shoulder shrug mumble in french and drive off, it is quite big rekon the trunk is say 3.5 mtr dia, somone said if i hammer copper nails into it this will kill it ,any comments would be welcome

                   dave

[Cassis]

3.5m diameter is rather large.  [8-)]

This sounds like a very significant oak.  Does it really have to come down for the sake of a (swimming?) pool? [:(]

[Chris Head]

I've never seen an Oak of that size diameter, you must be talking circumference.

Dave, would you really want to kill a tree of that stature just because it drops it's leaves into a pool? I think you might be winding us up mate? It might be that the people you're asking to quote to drop the tree don't believe what you're asking them to do? Perhaps it's a good thing you dont understand their mumblings Dave. Might I suggest you buy a net or something, fish the leaves out and let the tree live?

Got a piccy?

[Deimos]

I've tried copper nails in a small tree that was growing right next to a wall of the house (hence my wanting to kill it) and they had no effect at all.

Why kill it. Once it is dead it will still need need cutting down (or if it falls down on its own you will need to post "trees keep falling in my pool"). You will still probably get the same French people round to shrug their shoulders at the now dead and unsafe tree tree.

Just my thoughts.

Ian

[chris pp]

Killing the tree is the easy bit, and I would have thought that most people knew the simple method, no nails, no chemicals, just understanding how a tree works.

BUT, Ian makes the point, what do you do with a dead tree that is still as large as the living tree, although it will of course no longer have leaves to fall in the pool. If its oak, as you say, it should stand even when dead for up to 30 years, after its dropped some of the smaller branches and branch ends, but it could become very dangerous and logically all the heavy branches would need removing anyway.

I like dead trees, they have as much, if not more, value than living trees if left standing.

Chris

[Alan Zoff]

12 foot wide oak tree? It's not this forum you need, but Guinness Book of Records.

If this was a serious post but with wrong size for the tree, I would definitely favour keeping the tree unless there are other very good reasons for getting rid of it. A net will catch the leaves. Or if it's a small ornamental pond, perhaps you could consider filling it in and digging another one elsewhere - it's in the wrong place beneath a large tree

 

[Jonzjob]

From what you have said the tree has to be hundreds of years old and before you even think of getting rid of it you should ask at the Marie. If it's cut and they have not given their permission they may well throw ALL of their toys out of the cot and you would not be popular. But as has been said, why cut down such a tree. Think of the history that has past it's feet. It must have been around to witness the revolution and must have been old then? If it is as big as you say it will probably have a preservation order on it anyway.

There is an oak of a similar size in Herefordshire, but I can't remember where. It is lots of hundreds of years old and is hollow. In the 1800s the local families used to use it to have celebration meals in. It is still growing and  is claimed to be the oldest tree in the U.K.

[Bud]

How inconvenient! Can you not just move the pool?!

[Chris Head]

What do you think Dave? C'mon back!

[powerdesal]

[quote user="chris pp"]

Killing the tree is the easy bit, and I would have thought that most people knew the simple method, no nails, no chemicals, just understanding how a tree works.

[/quote]

Chris,

Can you tell me the simple way to kill old Leylandii, I have umpteen metres of the stuff all round the perimeter of the garden and we all hate them. I estimate (make that wild guess!) that they have been there for many years as the height is about 3+ metres, heaven knows how deep the roots go. Subsequent removal of the roots is going to be an 'interesting' exercise I am sure.

All advice will be most welcome.

[Suze01]

We had a Leylandii hedge along one length of our perimetre.  We cut them to the ground with a chainsaw, had a mega bonfire, and subsequently interplanted the stumps with our preferred hedging. We did not dig out the roots but left them in to eventually rot down naturally. The new hedge, three years later, is thriving.

With regard to the original poster, we had two scrub oaks near our pool when we moved in and we chopped them (or rather had a tree surgeon in - see my photos).  They are not quite the same as the magnificent oaks you see in England - they are 'weeds'.

[chris pp]

"They are not quite the same as the magnificent oaks you see in England - they are 'weeds'."

Not quite sure what that means, Suze. If they were oaks, then they all start of small, but maybe you meant something else and I didn't get it.

As far as Leylandi go, I'm sure that if you do the same as Suze and cut them of at about 30 centimetres from the ground and leave the stumps in situ, they shouldn't produce new growth and will simply die and rot. This method will not work for trees that benefit from coppicing, as they will produce new growth.

It's much better if you can leave them in the ground to decay slowly, maybe drill some holes in them of varying diameters, 4mm to 12mm, excellent for mason bees which in turn are excellent as early pollinators.

Chris

[Alan Zoff]

If slicing off a trunk, make sure the remainder - and the surrounding large roots - are left well below ground level. A good way to kill an expensive lawnmower is to run over the forgotten remains of a tree....

When removing trees from the garden of our English home, we were fortunate to have access to the JCB that was digging trenches for an extension. It made light work of yanking out large tree stumps and roots which meant we could be sure the problem had gone for ever. (The power of a JCB is awesome - some of the roots were under a neighbours old shed which was also destroyed in the process but thankfully he had been meaning to take it down!)

I wish I could get hold of a JCB in the French village for an hour or so. I'm still trying to work out how best to deal with the stumps from several large conifers that were felled last year - the chap who helps with the garden seems reluctant to try to dig them out with his tractor bucket and he can't get his hands on a JCB.