Leaves :(

[Rev Jules]

A leaf blower does not get rid of the leaves it just creates hassle for someone else, I have three trees on a piece of derelict council land, they are no more than ten feet away from my boundry and are self seeded, they have caused me no end of problems with leaf fall on my two cars, I have the Pearl tucked away in an up and over Igloo, the V6 not so fortunate gets covered all over.
So I bought a half cover for £31 which comes down over the windscreen and a third of the bonnet and covers the same on the boot lid that stops the leaves from getting into the plenums and engine compartment.

Rev

[SD1too]

Wes, I'm going to put the opposite point of view!

Originally Posted by Dallas

We have tree's all around us, pine, silver birch and oak, they block out the sun and the light all through the year, they keep everything wet and damp through the winter (including our home), and if that's not enough, they shred all their leaves all over everything which turns our driveway and garden into a huge compost heap.

1. They block out the sun.
Trees (and other green plants) use sunlight to live and, in the process, they provide the air that we breathe. Without that, where would we be?

2. And the light all through the year.
Your silver birch and oak are deciduous. I'm not convinced that in the winter, their bare branches offer much of a barrier to light.

3. They keep everything wet and damp during the winter.
I don't understand this point Wes. If you rake up the fallen leaves then dampness during the winter is surely the result of the colder and wetter weather conditions.

4. Turns our driveway and garden into a compost heap.
Sweep your drive! The exercise is good for your heart. It's beneficial that your garden is automatically composted. It's natural, it recycles the leaves ans it saves you having to buy horrible chemical fertilisers. Left long enough, decomposed leaves form new soil. What could be more useful?

I'm not getting at you personally Wes but it concerns me that the public generally is obsessed with cutting down trees simply because they pose a slight inconvenience at certain times of the year. Trees are beautiful. Think of the pretty blossom in the spring and the rich colours in the autumn. They provide habitat and food for some animals and birds. They provide wood for heat and construction. They also make a residential neighbourhood an attractive place to live. Next time you're in a street where there are no trees and everyone has paved their front gardens for parking, remember how it looks and compare it to the alternative.

So, put the chainsaws away and celebrate what nature offers us.

Simon

[zedhed]

Originally Posted by Dallas

Its that time of year again. and its going to get worst, thats why I bought one of THESE

Tell me about it,our garden is surrounded by trees,so its a right nightmare.i just bag the leaves up and tip over the fence,as its only wasteland at the back.😀

Sent from my LG-M160 using Tapatalk

[bendrick]

Originally Posted by SD1too

Wes, I'm going to put the opposite point of view!

1. They block out the sun.
Trees (and other green plants) use sunlight to live and, in the process, they provide the air that we breathe. Without that, where would we be?

2. And the light all through the year.
Your silver birch and oak are deciduous. I'm not convinced that in the winter, their bare branches offer much of a barrier to light.

3. They keep everything wet and damp during the winter.
I don't understand this point Wes. If you rake up the fallen leaves then dampness during the winter is surely the result of the colder and wetter weather conditions.

4. Turns our driveway and garden into a compost heap.
Sweep your drive! The exercise is good for your heart. It's beneficial that your garden is automatically composted. It's natural, it recycles the leaves ans it saves you having to buy horrible chemical fertilisers. Left long enough, decomposed leaves form new soil. What could be more useful?

I'm not getting at you personally Wes but it concerns me that the public generally is obsessed with cutting down trees simply because they pose a slight inconvenience at certain times of the year. Trees are beautiful. Think of the pretty blossom in the spring and the rich colours in the autumn. They provide habitat and food for some animals and birds. They provide wood for heat and construction. They also make a residential neighbourhood an attractive place to live. Next time you're in a street where there are no trees and everyone has paved their front gardens for parking, remember how it looks and compare it to the alternative.

So, put the chainsaws away and celebrate what nature offers us.

Simon

I'm not obsessed with cutting down trees and I'm sure like most people would like to see more of them and more protection of woods and forests etc.


However since becoming a county councillor almost 7 years ago dealing with tree issues affecting residents over and over again ( rotten trees, blocking light, overhanging, roots affecting properties walls and drains, etc etc) it has taught me never to buy a house with any sort of substancial tree in the gardens or anywhere near the property.


I'm sure that I am as dismayed as anyone in the local town, Penarth. which has always been to my recollection a nice leafy victorian suburb with trees all over the place gradually having it's pavement trees chopped down one by one.

But given that so many of them have grown roots which are now lifting the pavements by such a degree that the surrounding tarmac / paving slabs now resemble Himalayan foothills and almost making sone of the pavements impassable I'm at a bit of a loss as to what the council is supposed to do other than cordon off the pavements and tell people to walk in the road.

So it seems that unfortunately there are problems with planting trees in urban environments ( other than in parks) as they mature over some years there will be problems that clearly have to be addressed by tree removal.

And of course the iinconsiderate neighbours with trees towering over neighbouring properties is a constant problem that causes a headache for all affected.


So I'm afraid there is not a 'one size fits all, love the trees' solution.

[Teflon]

Originally Posted by Rev Jules

A leaf blower does not get rid of the leaves it just creates hassle for someone else .........

But they're great for car drying - good fun too

Cliff

[planenut]

Originally Posted by SD1too

................................
I'm not getting at you personally Wes but it concerns me that the public generally is obsessed with cutting down trees simply because they pose a slight inconvenience at certain times of the year. Trees are beautiful. Think of the pretty blossom in the spring and the rich colours in the autumn. They provide habitat and food for some animals and birds. They provide wood for heat and construction. They also make a residential neighbourhood an attractive place to live. Next time you're in a street where there are no trees and everyone has paved their front gardens for parking, remember how it looks and compare it to the alternative.

So, put the chainsaws away and celebrate what nature offers us.

Simon

So you don't have to suffer like this then Simon? I'd be more than happy for someone to use those causing my problems to "provide wood for heat and construction".

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by planenut

So you don't have to suffer like this then Simon?

On the contrary Fred. Both my front and back gardens are decorated beautifully with fallen autumn leaves at the moment and, like everyone else, they collect on my Rover 75 but I just blow them off or remove them by hand. I don't consider this suffering!

Originally Posted by bendrick

However since becoming a county councillor ... dealing with tree issues affecting residents over and over again ( rotten trees, blocking light, overhanging, roots affecting properties walls and drains, etc etc)

Advise the residents as follows Kevin:

Rotten trees
Thank them for the advice and arrange for removal.

Blocking light
Legally, no-one is entitled to light but trees don't block it, they diffuse it in the growing season and provide great benefits as I explained earlier. In the winter the bare branches don't obstruct light to a significant degree.

Overhanging
Why is this considered a problem? Territorialism is the answer! I'd say view the overhanging tree as a thing of beauty, enhancing your garden without you bearing any responsibility for its upkeep.

Roots affecting properties, walls and drains
This is actually a common misconception. There are mature tree trunks in my area growing 2 to 3 feet from buildings. They have been there for decades and there is no evidence whatsoever of damage to properties. As far as drains are concerned, if a defect is already present a root will be attracted by the seeping water and make its way inside. When this is discovered the obvious incorrect assumption is made that the root has penetrated the hardware. It hasn't.
Another common myth is that tree roots undermine foundations. The next time we experience gales and trees are felled, look closely at the root formation. Note that it fans out very close to the soil surface. This is why paving slabs are lifted but building foundations are not.

And of course the inconsiderate neighbours with trees towering over neighbouring properties is a constant problem that causes a headache for all affected.

Why are these neighbours inconsiderate? What's the problem with the odd tree growing higher than properties? Why is it a headache? I don't understand this point Kevin, sorry.

Simon

[Nantwich 75]

Chainsaw? use dynamite !

[bl52krz]

Trees are lovely......................in a wood. We have no trees, but every day we have to shovel and brush leaves up from our property. It is not a nuisance if you like to waste half hour doing so. And with regards to overhanging branches from trees, whoever they belong to, they can be a nuisance if they are silver birch. Their seeds block gutters and generally drains which my friend has in his garden. If branches overhang your property, you should ask the owner of them if they would mind cutting them for you. If not tell them that if they can not do so, and you can not do it, then you will get a contractor to do it and hand the bill to them. They usually get it done.

[Dallas]

Originally Posted by SD1too

Wes, I'm going to put the opposite point of view!

1. They block out the sun.
Trees (and other green plants) use sunlight to live and, in the process, they provide the air that we breathe. Without that, where would we be?

2. And the light all through the year.
Your silver birch and oak are deciduous. I'm not convinced that in the winter, their bare branches offer much of a barrier to light.

3. They keep everything wet and damp during the winter.
I don't understand this point Wes. If you rake up the fallen leaves then dampness during the winter is surely the result of the colder and wetter weather conditions.

4. Turns our driveway and garden into a compost heap.
Sweep your drive! The exercise is good for your heart. It's beneficial that your garden is automatically composted. It's natural, it recycles the leaves ans it saves you having to buy horrible chemical fertilisers. Left long enough, decomposed leaves form new soil. What could be more useful?

I'm not getting at you personally Wes but it concerns me that the public generally is obsessed with cutting down trees simply because they pose a slight inconvenience at certain times of the year. Trees are beautiful. Think of the pretty blossom in the spring and the rich colours in the autumn. They provide habitat and food for some animals and birds. They provide wood for heat and construction. They also make a residential neighbourhood an attractive place to live. Next time you're in a street where there are no trees and everyone has paved their front gardens for parking, remember how it looks and compare it to the alternative.

So, put the chainsaws away and celebrate what nature offers us.

Simon

Lol, I should have known a thread about leaves on here would start a debate... My bad.

Hi Simon, I wish it were that simple... Don't get me wrong, I enjoy tree's as much as the next person. I know how important they are, and also know what a huge problem tree's can become when in close proximity to one's home, the damage they can cause can be never ending.

We have huge pine and oak tree's that tower over our home that have caused damage to our property over the years, this has left us with large expensive repair bills. This is why some years ago we had to have two pine tree's and two oak tree's removed, the threat these tree's had on our property was too great (thankfully no TPO's). The roots of these tree's would have eventually caused damaged to parts of the foundations to our home, they had already caused damage to our pathway, brickwork, water/waste sewage pipework, it was a very expensive time.

Since we had the four tree's removed, our property has never been so dry. The left side of our property was always wet/damp all due to being sheltered by these huge tree's, our exterior brickwork was in a shocking state, all had to be repaired of course.

The maintenance and costs involved when having to accommodate such tree's just never stops, its not just the ground maintenance, its the clearing out gutters and drains, the forever growing moss on roof tiles, the cleaning down walls, doors and windows, all exterior trim fascia boards etc, it just goes on and on. You could say all these jobs any home owner will have to make plans and take on such tasks, but when your property is surrounded by large tree's, the jobs/tasks are magnified and become more expensive.

Tree's can effect ones home insurance, tree's can be looked at to be high risk to ones property. We ourselves have had several tree's attended to over the years due to storm damage for that purpose, its just never ending. When living in close proximity to large tree's, they will always need to be maintained, tree work is important to the life of the tree, also to the local residents properties. I called my local council only last week, we have another two further dead silver birch tree's and one very poorly looking oak tree. Once these tree's that surround our home have been correctly maintained, the better us local residents will feel, its that simple really.

I sure you would agree that I'm aloud a little moan or two from time to time about 'leaves' there is no need for folk to point out the obvious how important tree's are to the planet, I was taught this back at school.

... and as for using blowers to blow the problem elsewhere, that's not always the case. When you have a large stone driveway and caravan, you don't want to be raking up stones and crawling under the caravan chasing leaves. I use the blower to blow the leaves off my car and out from all the awkward places from around my property and into one/two/three heaps, the leaves then go into large garden bags and off they go down the tip. I just have to watch my turbine blower doesn't blow the stones up from my drive and onto my cars bodywork or windscreen.