Dead Tree

[Ben from Vic.]

Hello all.

I have this Liquid amber in my backyard, must be almost 15 years old.
Any way, it's dead. The guy next door has complained about it a few times, seems its roots are effecting his flower bed.
We suspect it was poisoned, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me what he might have used, how you can tell if it was poisoned, etc. As a second treee has died on or near the border of our properties and its getting beyond a joke.
I am aware that there is very little I can do about it legaly, I'm just curios to know what he used and how he did it, so I can keep an eye out (if he did it).

Thanks

Ben

[Cliff Rogers]

G'day.

The trick is to bore a hole in the trunk, an over hanging branch or dig down & expose a root & bore a hole it that. Fill the hole with a strong poison IE: Blackberry killer, sit back & wait.

I had a rented shop in Townsville with a magnificent mango tree in the back yard. One day it all turned brown & died.
I had a close look & found a big hole in the fork with something black in it.
One of the blokes that worked at the pub next door told me that the pub owner had done it 'cos the Flying Foxes were making a mess of the patrons cars in the carpark at night.
To make it worse, the landlord had the whole tree removed & shredded one weekend without me knowing it was going to happen.

[glenn k]

When you cut off the trunk look for stains in part of the trunk wood transports along the grain much more than across from this you can often tell where the entry point is.
To find out what was used is not so easy. I use nasal spectroscopy (smell the wood). To be sure you would have to take it somewhere with a liquid gas camatograph, but you will need a sample with and with out. A nuclaer magnetic spectrometer would be better but most labs don't have these. The cheapest way is to find a chemistry student who needs a project.

[Zed]

I've heard that hammering copper nails into the trunk of a tree will kill it.

I've also heard of digging out a root (dont kill it), coiling it into a large can, pouring in a poison then reburying it.

Never tried it so dont know for sure.

All illegal tree killers should be cut up with bandsaws. the bastards!

[silentC]

Just on the topic of what you can do leaglly: Don't know what the situation is in your shire but our local council has a Tree Preservation Order which prohibits cutting down or damaging trees without consent and they can enforce it in the Land & Environment Court. That means if anyone gets caught doing it, they can cop a fine.

Of course your problem is you need proof of who it was and that will be very hard to get. Plus there's always the possibility that it died of natural causes. Just be wary of coming to the conclusion that your neighbour did it. Complaining about it is a long way from doing something about it and you have to live next door to the guy.

[Wood Borer]

Perhaps you could make some food utensils from some other timber and offer them as a Christmas gift to your neighbour stating you made them from your dead tree.

If he hesitates to accept them or hesitates to use them then your suspicions will be confirmed.

Revenge can then hinted at, do nothing and let the idiot live the rest of his life in fear of the revenge that will never come.


- Wood Borer

[Eastie]

Sounds like a great recipe for a neighbourly fight.
In Melbourne’s outer east most non-indigenous trees are not protected under local government planning and protection schemes. With liquid ambers this normally means you can remove them without permit – check with your council of course. As such the council will likely not care about the situation as the tree is not an indigenous species to the area.
Some arborists offer the service of taking a sample and having it analysed for herbicides, but then this leaves you with a situation of finding where it was applied. If it was applied on your neighbours property there are issues of access. Anyhow if you are able to pin it on the neighbour it often becomes a matter of common law – messy and costly.

Have the tree removed and in its place do the following:

Plant a row of black wattles approximately 3 metres apart. Between each black wattle plant a something along the lines of a mountain ash (consult your council about trees indigenous to your area). In one year the black wattles should be around 4-6m tall and have spread out creating a great shield from your neighbour. The ash/eucalypts would be around 2m tall coming up through the foliage of the wattles. At the end of the second year the ash/eucalypt should have taken off and be taller than the wattles – around 7+ metres. After three years you can start thinking about removing the wattles – you could plant new ones or just rely upon the mountain ash/eucalypt to tower above clogging their gutters, blocking their sun, etc. If you have planted eucalypts that are on the councils register of plants indigenous to your area and the bastards try and poinson them the council will be very interested. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

[Ben from Vic.]

Thanks for all your replies guys.
Ill lop off a branch and give it the ol' snif test, but the most conclusive test will probably come when we chop the tree down, and have a look for a stain.
We've already had contact with the local counsel about the same neighbours burning rubbish in their fire, and are, unfortunaly, well aware the there is basicly nothing we can do about it.
We figure it's the same with the tree.

After much thought, we decided long ago that the neighbour-war often has no winners.

I thought someone in here might be able to shed some light on the situation.

Thanks again

Ben

[Oldblock]

After much thought, we decided long ago that the neighbour-war often has no winners.

Good decision Ben, don't sink to their level.

Ray

[glenn k]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Zed
[B]I've heard that hammering copper nails into the trunk of a tree will kill it.

This would have to be the most popular falicy to do with trees. I have heard it many times, I have cut down many trees with copper pipe hammered or drilled into them. It doesnot affect them. In the old days 1960's & 70's some tree surgeons drilled holes in trees and put copper pipes in to drain cavities, these generally fell out as the rot spreads around the drill hole. But the trees didn't die.