This single photo shows a large weeping tree with twisting, curling branches in the middle of a Solihull back garden. It stands close to a flat-roofed brick outbuilding and the back of the terrace, with a trimmed hedge on either side and a lawn in front. The picture is of the tree before work, so it shows what we were dealing with rather than the finished result.
What the photo shows
The tree has grown to the height of the first-floor windows behind it, and its hanging branches reach across the garden. Close to the outbuilding roof and the house, branches like these can brush walls, block light and drop twigs into gutters. Bare branches in the picture suggest the work was done in the colder part of the year, when the structure of the tree is easiest to read.
What to plan for
Trees this close to buildings are usually shortened and thinned, not cut flat, so they keep a natural shape. Branches are lowered in pieces rather than dropped, to protect the outbuilding, hedges and lawn. It is worth asking the council whether a tree is protected before cutting, and we look for nesting birds first. Cut wood and green waste can be taken away to leave the garden tidy.
