I have a tree (Silver Birch) at the bottom of my garden, about 2 feet from the bordering neighbour's driveway. Now, he's had a problem with the tree ever since he moved in. I try and keep it cut back so it doesn't overhang his property without affecting the stability of the tree, and would have no problem if he ever came around to let me know it's overhanging again and ask me to get the gardener back round. A few weeks ago, however, he preferred to just get somebody round and hack off big lumps of it while we were out, and leave the pile of branches next to our wall. I know he's legally within his rights to do that, so I have no complaints other than I think the decent thing to do would have been to come and actually talk to me first, in which case I would have actually arranged and paid for it myself.

The new problem is this: He now claims that his driveway is sinking in places and that it is down to the tree. I'm told by the gardener that this is highly unlikely with the type of tree involved. Does anybody know much about this kind of thing and how likely it is to be down to the tree, whether or not it is down to him to prove it, and just what we may be liable for if it is? I'm currently waiting to hear back from the local council with advice.

Has he got a heavy car?

Alternates between a Toyota Avensis Estate & a Fiat 500.

Is his driveway block paved or tarmac - both are susceptible to movement and sinking just by driving ordinary saloons over them, over time.

I'd be more convinced if he said his driveway was rising up in places and then it would be an easy task to simply dig down a few inches and find the root that is trying to push through the drive, but it would be very interesting to listen to his explanation as to how a silver birch tree causes a driveway to sink, what is it doing, stealing the soil out from under his property ?

I have lived in a house in the past that had mature (30-40 year old) silver birches both in the front garden and on the verges outside and we did have problems with a shared drain that got blocked by fine roots which forced their way into the pipes but we were never troubled with sinking pavements or driveways.

A few minutes research should tell you what the root systems are like on silver birches, shallow or deep, wide or shallow spreading, and what the effect of a dry summer and of cutting back the foliage has on the roots - hopefully it will confirm that they aren't that much of a problem and his sinking drive is down to bad workmanship - should be obvious anyway if the sinking parts are two ruts the width of a car.

It's Tarmac. Fairly thick hard standing underneath, too, as when one of the fence posts broke we had hell of a job digging, so the roots definitely aren't coming through, they're about a foot deep & underneath the hard standing. He reckons that it's the roots taking all of the moisture out of the clay underneath, but I just can't believe that when I have a fairly flourishing new lawn on the other side that isn't sinking anywhere. The gardener tells me that Silver Birches are not thirsty enough to cause that damage.

Should be simple enough to gather evidence to support what your gardener says.

Should be impossible for him to prove that your tree is extracting all of the moisture out of his garden even if he digs his driveway up all the way down to the clay base, its been a dry summer, could simply be the water table dropping by a couple of inches in your area.

How long has his driveway been laid and who by?

I think he would complain more if it was cut down because the ground water previously absorbed by the tree would hold round the roots and surrounding ground creating a boggy area which would cause sinking.

How much did he cut off the tree?

Avensis is quite a big car. Are the bits of his drive that are sinking where his wheels are when parked? If so, point that out.

Q/A from a newspaper: www.telegraph.co.uk/property/pro ... house.html

Q/A from a newspaper: www.telegraph.co.uk/property/pro ... house.html

I think it's dubious, but what you must do is immediately contact your household insurers as your policy should cover you for any liability to people claiming you have caused them loss. They would handle the whole thing and they would not want you to stick your oar in at all in case you prejudice their position. So get straight on to them and follow their advice.

You could also get a [url=http://www.savatree.com/freeconsultation.htmlfree consultation by a local Certified Arborist[/url just for your own information.

Been laid since before I lived there, but no idea quite how long. Our house is about 16 years old, but was built before his, so somewhere between 9 and 16 years. Would assume by Persimmon.

Cut off a couple of decent sized boughs and the branches attached. He did it exactly in line with the fence. I didn't realise it was overhanging quite as much as it was, but the ironic thing is the gardener was due to come and trim it the next week, so if he'd consulted me I would have told him. The gardener ended up with just the front one to do.

Not had a chance to see it without a car there yet.

I'm currently waiting to hear back from the council, apparently they might come and assess it, or point me in the direction of someone who will. The link seems to be for the US.

I thought I'd contact home insurance depending on what the council say. Unfortunate timing, we switched providers last month, don't want it to look bad.

Buy a wood burner, cut it down

I had subsidence due to my neighbor silver birch tree ,made a right mess of the Kitchen, dining room walls, floor & driveway .

Which LA are we talking, could well be a TPO in place for the full site....

Part of what the council are getting back to me on. The girl on the phone said it didn't look like there was, but need someone from the environmental department to confirm for definite. It's Castle Grange on the back of Noddle Hill.

Did he have the house surveyed before he bought it? The Surveyor should have noticed and made him aware of any problems.

I had to cut down a 20 year old silver birch. The roots were quite shallow and they began extending out just under the surface of the pavement at the front of the garden. This had the effect of pushing the tarmac upwards. It was the guy who cuts the lawn next door who pointed it out and after a few enquiries I found out that I was indeed responsible for any damage.

Don't know, but he's lived there about 3-4 years & only just brought it up this year.



He's said nothing about roots coming through & I haven't seen any, neither on his or my side of the fence. I honestly think it's just an attempt to get me to get rid of the tree because he doesn't like it being there.



Council never called back within 48 hours like they said they would, will have to call them back myself tomorrow.

If you have to cut it down, be sure to plant another one in its place - mess with his mind for the next twenty years.

You don't have to do anything until he provides conclusive evidence that it is your tree that is causing the problem.

If there is indeed a preservation order, I might have to even if they let me/tell me to cut it down.

That's what I'm really hoping for (and obviously that he then can't do so).

By the way, thanks everyone for the replies.

Your trees where there long before he moved in correct?

He must have viewed the house and seen the trees, its his own stupid fault, he should have looked into the matter himself in more depth instead of then coming round and moaning that there is a problem, like the people who move next to a church and complain that the bells are loud, if you dont like it dont move there.