Neighbor killed english walnut

dirtguy

Greetings, I am from Oregon USA. A year and a half ago my neighbor killed our beautiful English walnut tree which had been a fixture in the neighborhood for 50 years. He insisted on trenching through 40% of the tree roots, only 2 feet away from the trunk, right on the property line. He had plenty of room to go around, so needless to say there is now a lawsuit and he is in for triple damages because of the timber trespass deal.

Anyway, that is not my issue (it is too late for any of you arborist experts to help the tree -- it is a goner).

My question is -- what would be a good replacement tree? The former tree was like part of the family; squirrels lived in it, my wife's shade garden thrived under it, the tree kept the house shaded in the summer. I would like another big shade tree but would like something more fast-growing than another walnut? We don't know.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Eric Frei

Maybe these links can help.

Oregon Trees

Many water-wise trees are available for home gardens

http://magissues.farmprogress.com/WF...t07/wfs024.pdf

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dirtguy

Thanks, Ekka, those are some good resources. I'm thinking either a couple of dogwoods or a big ash.

I have one other question -- we had the dying walnut tree removed on the advice of our arborist. Now the other side is demanding sections from the removed tree. They say they want to run tests to determine if the tree was in fact dying. I have never heard of such a test -- is anybody aware of one?

Thanks,

Eric Frei

I dont really understand who wants what tested here.

You own the tree right?

And your neighbour wants to test it?

I understand it that tree owners can do what they like to their own trees dead, dying or healthy unless there's some sort of protection order upon the property.

Maybe he's some botanist scientist type who wants to make sure it wasn't a pathogen, maybe he's looking for traces of glyphosate etc to see if it was poisoned?

I dont know, could you expand.

But to answer, can a tree be diagnosed as dying at time of cutting by examining a cut off piece ... I suppose if it was recent enough you could look at moisture and cells.

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newguy18

If its your tree,your neighbor doesn't have a right to do any test on it without your permission,he probabley wants to prove something else killed it besides removal of the roots,with if it was as bad as you say,could have thrown the tree into shock and being a mature tree,it couldn't recover.Shame really,can we get pics of where the ditch was dug?

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old schooler

dirtguy

Unfortunately my neighbor is a malicious SOB. My wife asked him to move the trench over to avoid damaging the tree; he wouldn't do it even though there was plenty of room for avoidance. It's a lawsuit now.

We let the tree go one season even though our arborist recommended it be removed immediately for safety reasons. Last year it put up huge amounts of suckers and dropped hundreds of small, immature nuts. Other walnut trees in the area had bumper crops of good nuts.

Anyway, we finally had the tree removed. The other side (basically my neighbor's lawyer) wants pieces of the tree now that it has been removed, for some kind of analysis. I don't know what it is.

Check these pix:

Attached Files

	walnut tree pix 1.pdf (3.20 MB, 93 views)
	walnut tree pix 2.pdf (2.45 MB, 79 views)

newguy18

Those pics will definatly come in handy in court,yuor neighbor,may not have killed the tree,but he sure as hell didn't help it,Did yuor arborist find any pathogens or dieseases affecting the health of the tree?Did he say what killed it?An arborist's report will go a long way in court,oh and unless your neighbor has a court order,he has no claim to any piece of the tree,my mom works for a law firm so i know a thing or 2 about the law.

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old schooler

dirtguy

Ekka, at this point it's more legalistic than scientific. The other side (my neighbor's lawyer) is demanding sections of the tree based on the rules of evidence here in the US. If we don't allow it we can apparently be accused of destroying evidence or something...

FWIW, I'm very glad I hired a certified arborist; he was on site the day the damage was done and has been a great help since. The poor chap will probably wind up having to testify in court now, but I think he gets double his usual rate for that so he shouldn't complain...

Thanks for your input.

dirtguy

I think these laws vary state by state; at this point I'm just doing what my lawyer tells me. Yea, the pix will help and I have a bunch of video too. We're pretty positive we'll win the lawsuit but to be honest I'd rather have the tree back. It's going to be hot in this old house come this summer...

My arborist did not test for any pathogens. He had worked on that tree before, though, and was of the opinion that there was nothing wrong with it until the roots got chopped out on the one side...

I'll ask him about the pathogen thing, though. Thanks for the tip.

Eric Frei

Here's your best angle.

There's rules for tree roots when developing.

In USA there's likely something like ANSI A300 standards.

Also there's Dr Kim Coders chart in this post.

In Australia we are developing one.
AS4970 Draft| Australian Development Tree Protection

Basically there's two circles out form the trunk for roots. One is considered larger structural roots (no go zone) and a further out area for smaller roots so the tree survives.

Get the dia of that tree and work out the CRZ (or SRZ in Australia) and see how much it was violated. Then calculate from the TPZ (further out tree survival root zone) what % of total root loss the tree received.

Or, give us the DBH of the tree, also the dia of the tree just above buttress roots but close to ground and we can provide the figures. In effect you'll soon discover the tree's CRZ was compromised and it lost around 40% of it's root system.

However the root system could be biased to a particular location by either wind or hard obstacles. Trees will tend to have more roots on the side the predominant wind blows from, however they will also chase moisture and nutrient. If your side has less favourable root environment and his side better then the circles could be egg shaped meaning more that 40% root loss. I hope you are still with me.

Here, this diagram may explain.
Typical symmetrical root layout


But imagine a building there now, asymmetrical root layout.


So determine the root layout, calculate % loss, logically show CRZ root severance breach by distance.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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Oldtimer

Like any good lawyer he would try to show that your tree was sick or dying and that his client trench did not cause any damage. As a part of the "Discovery Process" their lawyer can ask your lawyer or the judge to provide sample(s) of the tree or of the soil around the tree to be examined by his "experts" that will testify in court later on at trial if they go that far, instead of settling out of court which is the better situation for both parties anyway. The tree is gone and you got a lost and he should pay up some reasonable amount but I am sure that he would probably will try to drag this through court even if it cost them more than just paying for the tree damage and move on.

Some people just have more money than common sense.

dirtguy

Thanks Ekka, I'm still with you. The CRZ probably is egg shaped in his direction. Caliper tree diameter at 4 feet was I think 14 inches but I'd have to check my arborists report. At the base, more like 3 feet diameter.

dirtguy

No, these idiots won't settle, it's going to court. I think you're right about the discovery process, although the lawsuit was filed over a year ago so their experts have had plenty of opportunity to look the tree over before its removal.

pcarborist

A couple of things.
1)One it sounds like the tree trunk was not on the property line therefore it's your tree and not a boundary line tree, therefore the neighbor trespassed if he did not have your permission. If your property is not posted and he trespassed, this is a civil trespass but not a criminal trespass.
2) Did the neighbor ever complain about the English walnut? This is a very important point.
3) Has the oak been appraised? If not it may still be possible if you have the stump. I was involved in post mortem appraisals for a green ash and London plane tree last year and both were upheld in court.
good luck.

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parkcityarborist

dirtguy

Thanks for the input, PCA. Apparently the laws vary quite a bit from state to state, but there is some good case law here in Oregon to support our claim. The tree was not directly appraised, but our arborist did some valuations, one based on timber value and the other based on replacement value. It should hold up okay. Of course the other side has an "expert" that will testify there was nothing wrong with the tree, even though 40% plus of the roots were destroyed.

Nothing like a hired gun, eh? Gotta love our legal system.

Thanks again.

BTW, I spent several of my formative years in beautiful Kamas Valley, not far from your fair city.

Have a good one.