Can anyone identify this tree?

[Irish_Tom]

To meet building regs for my new garage, the foundation has to meet NHBC guidance for building near trees.

I'm no arborist and I have no idea what type of tree this is, but it's right next to where the garage is going, so I need to identify it.

Unfortunately I only have one photo from the spring/summer, and it's from a distance, so I have no detailed record of what its leaves look like. I have a photo of one fallen leaf but I can't be 100% sure it actually came from this tree…



The trunk has been ravaged by ivy at some point:


The younger branches have much smoother bark:


Thought these pics of the buds on the new branches might help, but I can't get close enough to tell if they are sticky or not:




This is the top of the tree. You can see the new branches are very long and thin, and are shooting almost straight up vertically:


Potential leaf:


Summer photo — it's the darker leaves in the top-right corner.


Any help would be appreciated!

 

[bremen1874]

Beech?

Try one of the apps such as Identify Trees With Our Tree ID app - Woodland Trust - Woodland Trust

 

[Nathan]

Willow

 

[Irish_Tom]

Beech?

Try one of the apps such as Identify Trees With Our Tree ID app - Woodland Trust - Woodland Trust

Thanks. I think the bark is too rough and too dark to be a beech?

I should have mentioned, I've got that app but I'm not confident enough with any of the suggestions.

Based on the criteria in the app, it could be a Pussy Willow, or it could be an Elm…

Willow

Thanks, it would make sense as the site used to be a pond and there's a weeping willow about 10m away.

My wife says she remembers Pussy Willow-like catkins from last summer. Can't say I remember that myself but my memory is terrible.

The signs are pointing to a willow then. We're going to need some deep foundations.

 

[NoobCannon]

Its defiantly 100% a tree

 

[Irish_Tom]

Its defiantly 100% a tree

Thanks, Noob, I knew I could rely on OcUK for this kind of help.

 

[Hotwired]

Pussy/Goat willow is my guess.

https://www.treeguideuk.co.uk/willows/

Your example leaf is manky but there's a suggestion of a twist at the tip which alongside being a rather wide leaf for a willow is what the above is known for.

That and the catkins are kinda distictive fluffy and grey.

 

[DB_SamX]

Its defiantly 100% a tree

Defiantly??

At OP, you also need to know your ground condition to work out the foundation depth to NHBC. Have you been told it or can find out?

 

[robfosters]

It’s a wood tree called Roger

 

[Irish_Tom]

Pussy/Goat willow is my guess.

https://www.treeguideuk.co.uk/willows/

Your example leaf is manky but there's a suggestion of a twist at the tip which alongside being a rather wide leaf for a willow is what the above is known for.

That and the catkins are kinda distictive fluffy and grey.

Thanks again, I'm going with Goat Willow. It's one of the thirstiest types of tree so if we base the spec on that, we should be well covered.

At OP, you also need to know your ground condition to work out the foundation depth to NHBC. Have you been told it or can find out?

Yeah, we're in clay country so I'm using the NHBC 'HIGH shrinkage soil and HIGH water demand tree’ table. Given the proximity of that tree to the site, we fall into the 'Foundations greater than 2.5m deep to be engineer designed’ category. Which is fine, we were expecting to have to pile and ring-beam rather than do a strip-foundation anyway, this just confirms it. Now it's up to the structural engineer to determine how deep the piles need to be.

It all seems a bit over-kill for a single story timber frame garage, but building regs is building regs…

It’s a wood tree called Roger

Dammit Roger, why did you have to put down your roots so close to my new garage.

 

[DB_SamX]

Thanks again, I'm going with Goat Willow. It's one of the thirstiest types of tree so if we base the spec on that, we should be well covered.

OK you seem to have it covered and you are correct in your assessment. Micropiles should be sufficient for single storey garage - steel piles eg by Helifix may be an option.

Alternatively I believe a raft slab may also be acceptable if you dug out the clay and replace with granular backfill.


Yeah, we're in clay country so I'm using the NHBC 'HIGH shrinkage soil and HIGH water demand tree’ table. Given the proximity of that tree to the site, we fall into the 'Foundations greater than 2.5m deep to be engineer designed’ category. Which is fine, we were expecting to have to pile and ring-beam rather than do a strip-foundation anyway, this just confirms it. Now it's up to the structural engineer to determine how deep the piles need to be.

It all seems a bit over-kill for a single story timber frame garage, but building regs is building regs…


Dammit Roger, why did you have to put down your roots so close to my new garage.

 

[Irish_Tom]

Thanks, @DB_SamX, that's reassuring.

I'll report back with the SE's recommendations.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

Not a beech and not an elm, might be willow of some kind but its large for a goat willow.

Thanks again, I'm going with Goat Willow. It's one of the thirstiest types of tree so if we base the spec on that, we should be well covered.

All willows are thirsty they naturally occur along river banks where their requirement for moisture is met

 

[koolpc]

Its a wooden tree!

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

That is no tree

https://www.youtube.com/watch/gyxzsVKaD0g

 

[413x]

Definitely a willow. You can literally cut it into logs. Leave a log on the floor and it will grow a new tree from that log. Crazy

 

[Irish_Tom]

Not a beech and not an elm, might be willow of some kind but it's large for a goat willow.

All willows are thirsty they naturally occur along river banks where their requirement for moisture is met

Yeah, maybe not a Goat Willow — my tree surgeon friend said it could be a large Goat Willow or a Grey Willow… or a Poplar!

It doesn't make a huge difference, to be honest. Willows and Poplars are both in the NHBC 'High Water Demand' category so either way, that's what the calculations will be based on.

Its a wooden tree!

Thanks, @koolpc

That is no tree

https://www.youtube.com/watch/gyxzsVKaD0g

It does actually look like a wizened Ent.

Definitely a willow. You can literally cut it into logs. Leave a log on the floor and it will grow a new tree from that log. Crazy

They do grow like crazy. There's a Weeping Willow in the other neighbour's garden. It was cut back last spring and it's already bigger than it was when it was cut back.

 

[413x]

Oh. I don't think that leaf is from that tree. Because it doesn't look like a willow leaf

 

[Irish_Tom]

Oh. I don't think that leaf is from that tree. Because it doesn't look like a willow leaf

It's quite possible that it's from another tree. There's a number of them in that location so it was a bit of a lucky-dip.

However, it did look similar to the reference leaf on the Woodland Trust Tree Identification App:



The bark and twigs look close as well, and my wife insists that it had catkins on it last spring, so together it was a good a guess as any.

As I said, if we base the foundation calculations on it being a Willow and it turns out to be a less-thirsty tree, we won't have done any harm.

 

[413x]

It's quite possible that it's from another tree. There's a number of them in that location so it was a bit of a lucky-dip.

However, it did look similar to the reference leaf on the Woodland Trust Tree Identification App:



The bark and twigs look close as well, and my wife insists that it had catkins on it last spring, so together it was a good a guess as any.

As I said, if we base the foundation calculations on it being a Willow and it turns out to be a less-thirsty tree, we won't have done any harm.

That does look like a the leaf to be fair. It's quite possible I've never seen a goat willow. All the willows I've come across have been the pussy/crack (seriously these names ) willows. Which I both think have the long leaves

Willows love water. They can literally grow in bogs.
Have 2 oaks in back garden . And the are also heavy water users.