Property worries.

BlackIrishBeauty

BlackIrishBeauty

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Hi all,

I'm looking at a property that is in an area that is heavily wooded.

It is surrounded by a variety of trees which are all TPO's due to the area that the property is in.

The facilities at this property used to be a well established competition yard so has previously had horses on it; but has not had horses on it for some time. The hacking is absolutely amazing, and the facilities and property fit our needs perfectly- I'm just worried about the trees.

From what I can see, there is Sycamore and Oak only on the border of the field. If we were to purchase, then I would fence off anyway but I don't want to be stuck with a property where I'm constantly stressing about the horses.

Would this put you off? What are your thoughts?
 
Oak is only an issue at this time of year really (when acorns drop) so you could rotate the field to leave them resting from sept to dec to give the acorns time to rot down or you to clear them.

I'm not any help with the sycamore I'm afraid. My friend has trees round her field and worries endlessly in autumn and spring when the seeds fall and the shoots sprout.

Do you know exactly what tree's are TPO'd? usually only specific tree's not an entire area I believe. I be inclined to speak with the powers that be and see what can be done then make a decision from there. If your really keen then a site visit with planning maybe useful to talk through each tree you consider an issue.
 
I have dealt with sycamores before- I have 4 around my current property which I manage via field rotation, spraying and picking. I'm going to view it on Saturday to see 1- the height of them, 2- how many and 3 how I would be able to manage.
 
The oak wouldnt worry me, only harmful when the acorns start falling. Easy enough to rotate them away at this time of year and then clear up any acorns that fall
 
If the tpo woodland was going to be owned by me, then no I wouldn't consider it. If just neighbouring my property then maybe, dependent on setup
 
BlackIrishBeauty said:
Hi all,

I'm looking at a property that is in an area that is heavily wooded.

It is surrounded by a variety of trees which are all TPO's due to the area that the property is in.

The facilities at this property used to be a well established competition yard so has previously had horses on it; but has not had horses on it for some time. The hacking is absolutely amazing, and the facilities and property fit our needs perfectly- I'm just worried about the trees.

From what I can see, there is Sycamore and Oak only on the border of the field. If we were to purchase, then I would fence off anyway but I don't want to be stuck with a property where I'm constantly stressing about the horses.

Would this put you off? What are your thoughts?
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There are TPOs on sycamores?! Sycamores are giant weeds!
You could offer to cut down and replace with lovely beech or similar, but getting round any TPO isn’t straightforward, probably easier to just murder them on the quiet!
I wouldn’t worry about oak, horses do develop a taste for the leaves, but you can fence off in the autumn when acorns and falling leaves are an issue.
Sounds a lovely place, although lots of trees and foliage usually also mean a great many more flies and midges - if any of your horses are susceptible?
Good luck.
 
DabDab said:
If the tpo woodland was going to be owned by me, then no I wouldn't consider it. If just neighbouring my property then maybe, dependent on setup
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Not owned by me- It's in a nature reserve...

Pollarding sounds a good idea and I would check- I've submitted the request for which trees are TPO's as I may not even have an issue. All poisonous trees bother me- I lost a horse to colic caused by an Acorn... and obviously sycamore are the devil.

@Exasperated The sycamores around my current property have a TPO on one of them. I've got one pony with sweet itch but he comes in and it's managable. Our current property is in a heavily tree'd area but this is another level. The field is in the middle of a wood basically!
 
I find that Saus picks around acorns but she’ll occasionally eat a branch off an oak tree. Don’t know about Cob yet. Oak doesn’t worry me much, most of my land is bordered by oaks and it’s fairly manageable, the large resident squirrel population helps as well.
 
BlackIrishBeauty said:
Not owned by me- It's in a nature reserve...

Pollarding sounds a good idea and I would check- I've submitted the request for which trees are TPO's as I may not even have an issue. All poisonous trees bother me- I lost a horse to colic caused by an Acorn... and obviously sycamore are the devil.

@Exasperated The sycamores around my current property have a TPO on one of them. I've got one pony with sweet itch but he comes in and it's managable. Our current property is in a heavily tree'd area but this is another level. The field is in the middle of a wood basically!
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Substantial pollarding is unlikely to be allowed. Generally with a TPO tree (or a tree covered by a tpo on a woodland), the council will dictate how much you are allowed to reduce it by. Typically if you ask them they will allow 15-20% cut back - if the owner is a nature reserve then they might be able to make a case to the council to cut off more.

I agree with exasperated, it is annoying when a sycamore has a tpo - they are not native, are poisonous to some animals, out-compete native tree species, and sooty bark disease (that I've noticed a lot with this year) is no joke for humans inhaling the spores.
 
BlackIrishBeauty said:
Not owned by me- It's in a nature reserve...

Pollarding sounds a good idea and I would check- I've submitted the request for which trees are TPO's as I may not even have an issue. All poisonous trees bother me- I lost a horse to colic caused by an Acorn... and obviously sycamore are the devil.

@Exasperated The sycamores around my current property have a TPO on one of them. I've got one pony with sweet itch but he comes in and it's managable. Our current property is in a heavily tree'd area but this is another level. The field is in the middle of a wood basically!
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Nature reserve, eh?
So often managed by some of the least knowledgeable people imaginable, but even sycamores without TPOs are likely to be dear to their hearts....
If you have now alerted the reserve managers re TPOs, skullduggery might be too obvious, anyway! Shame, that.
 
DabDab said:
I agree with exasperated, it is annoying when a sycamore has a tpo - they are not native, are poisonous to some animals, out-compete native tree species, and sooty bark disease (that I've noticed a lot with this year) is no joke for humans inhaling the spores.
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I think part of the problem is the people that councils employ to do these job - a couple of years ago we needed permission to cut down an enormous fir tree that was growing (rapidly) about 20m from our house. It was 25m tall and growing at around half a metre per year. When the council chap came out, all he could say was "but it's very BIG....perhaps we should put a TPO on it". Well no s**t Sherlock, yes it IS very big...that's kinda the problem. He couldn't assess the value of the tree in any way besides "it's very big". :eek:

Fortunately for us he was then sacked / somehow shuffled out for his hopeless ineptitude (it's quite hard to actually sack people isn't it) but oh my goodness, that meeting left me with my jaw on the floor. We ended up cutting it down and building an extension out of it. Ever since then I have been somewhat sceptical about TPOs.
 
I have turned down a couple of properties because of nearby sycamores. I'm not going to spend all that money and then worry constantly about sycamores. However, it does mean that we have not been able to find anywhere so are still renting a field (with one nearby sycamore!). I maybe too risk averse. As I understand it, trees that have trunks of less than 70 cm circumference can be cut down without consultation in our conservation area but it may differ from place to place.
 
As a property landlord I had TPO's on the trees surrounding the house.

You may (just may) with a TPO get away with anything up to a 30% crown reduction on trees, but you would have to prove your case; either that they were overhanging a public highway and causing a perceived "danger", "loss of visibility" or whatever, or that they were at significant risk of damaging a building (in my case it was the neighbour's summerhouse). However for any other reason I doubt whether you would achieve any success.

I think OP you would benefit from professional advice with this. At the very least, if you ARE allowed to "reduce" or even "fell", you'd need to bear in mind that arboriculture work is never cheap at the best of times, and if there's a TPO on anything that seems to justify arbi's charging a small fortune for even the most routine work. In some cases, if there is a TPO in existence (and if there is a history of contravention of TPO's and the council are feeling particularly arsey), you will be lucky to literally be able to trim a twig.....

Personally I'd be inclined to cast my eye for another suitable property. Oaks & other trees with TPO's are one thing, but if you have TPO sycamores the seeds of which can travel a long long way (and which you might have problems reducing or felling), I'm not sure I'd be happy tbh.
 
ihatework said:
I just had the one sycamore on my boundary chopped down without asking anyone 😆🫣😬

Figured easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
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Haha yes same here, but my thinking was we have so many trees the worst offenders would not be missed in the jungle, ie close to house was needed chopping
 
I know as horse people sycamores are unpopular but down on Dartmoor they are incorporated in medieval hedge and bank lines. They have been here a long, long time. It would be a pity if these ancient trees were all destroyed.
 
Clodagh said:
I know as horse people sycamores are unpopular but down on Dartmoor they are incorporated in medieval hedge and bank lines. They have been here a long, long time. It would be a pity if these ancient trees were all destroyed.
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Don’t worry, don’t think anyone wants to annihilate all sycamores!
And they’d have a real job on their hands, damn things spread like wildfire, crowding out other native species....
Re Dartmoor, that’s interesting, are you saying the sycamores were deliberately planted within the hedge? Are there no/ few other tree species in the medieval hedges and banks?
Generally, and a thousand years ago, people only set trees with known extra advantages, such as oaks or beech for ‘pannage’, and do sycamores last long enough to become ancient, anyway? If there was just one sycamore within any hedge, anywhere, wouldn’t take too long to proliferate....as well they’re not all over the fields, or trying their luck on the moor....
 
Exasperated said:
Don’t worry, don’t think anyone wants to annihilate all sycamores!
And they’d have a real job on their hands, damn things spread like wildfire, crowding out other native species....
Re Dartmoor, that’s interesting, are you saying the sycamores were deliberately planted within the hedge? Are there no/ few other tree species in the medieval hedges and banks?
Generally, and a thousand years ago, people only set trees with known extra advantages, such as oaks or beech for ‘pannage’, and do sycamores last long enough to become ancient, anyway? If there was just one sycamore within any hedge, anywhere, wouldn’t take too long to proliferate....as well they’re not all over the fields, or trying their luck on the moor....
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I don’t know, I don’t live on the moor but when we were down near Widecombe last weekend we were looking at a beautiful enclosure and were amazed the trees in the banks were sycamore. Beech are far more likely.
 
We have several massive old oaks on our boundary that I tape off at this time of the year. Last year I didn't need to, there were almost no acorns. This year it's a mega crop. My neighbour has exactly the same and doesn't tape off, she reckons her horses have eaten them without issue for over 30 years, so I don't worry if my lot get a few (we have a branch overhanging my stables, which hit the roof and ping into the yard).
There are a few sycamores in the wood behind us, down wind. My husband occasionally slips with the chainsaw when he's working on our boundary, they make quite nice burning once seasoned!
 
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