Scenario 1: Householder

Scenario 1 is a privately owned detached home and garden, which has several trees and shrubs; some are on the boundary. Two trees in the front garden overhang the council-owned pavement and a quiet, residential road.

0.2 ha

7 (inc. 1 mature walnut and 2 large apple trees)

General information

Ownership/control of management

Responsibility: The owners have responsibility and a duty of care.

Arboricultural competence: The owners are keen gardeners and although they have no specialist tree knowledge, they have some experience, having looked at, thought about and cared for trees over a number of years.

Access

Private access: there is no public right of way over the land. Two trees overhang the public road.

Benefits of trees

The owners enjoy their garden and the trees in it. As well as providing colour, shade and ornamental interest, the trees provide some privacy from the road and neighbouring properties.

The owners take pleasure in harvesting the fruit and nuts and also appreciate the wildlife they attract. They understand the contribution that their trees make to the wider environment, in terms of the ‘pleasant leafy neighbourhood’ and how this increases the value of their home.

Natural living organisms

The owners know that if the two trees overhanging the road were to fall or lose a limb, passers-by and road users could be affected. The road is regularly used by local traffic; occasionally people walk by on the pavement throughout the day. As far as safety is concerned, they see these two trees as the most important in the garden and, although they do not consider them to be of concern, they recognise that they have an obligation to prevent them from impeding access along the footpath and road.

If their property were adjacent to a busier thoroughfare, they understand that this would require a higher level of responsibility. The remaining trees are considered to be of low importance.

Strategy

Management

The owners check their trees as part of their general care for the house and garden, paying particular attention to the trees on the boundary that could impact the road if they fail. While there is no regular frequency to this process, they recognise that, based on their knowledge of their trees, checks should from time to time be undertaken with sufficient frequency to identify significant hazards that may develop and cause harm. They also recognise that the benefits the trees provide to them and the wider community have to be balanced against any disbenefit or risk.

If they detect anything unusual about them, such as an obvious defect that causes safety concern, they call a local tree surgeon, who can tell if any remedial work needs to be done.

Competence

As reasonable and prudent landowners responsible for trees, they are able to recognise and understand the significance of visually obvious defects and are able to carry out their own inspection that may result in needing to obtain further advice. When needed, they use a recommended tree surgeon who can advise them and undertake any work required.

Records

They do not keep any formal record of their ad hoc observations, but they do keep records of correspondence and invoices for any advice or work carried out.

Evaluation

They do not normally worry about their trees but are occasionally concerned that in strong winds parts of a tree could fall. Within the range of costs they have for their property as a whole they apportion a budget for managing their trees.

In doing so they aim to strike a balance between maintaining them in good health and condition while meeting their duty of care to others. They believe that they have an informal but effective plan for the care of their trees, which is affordable.

View all Scenarios

Householder