Thread: Help Identify the Culprit

The tree in the Naturestrip is a London Plane,(Platanus x acerifolia) not a liquidambar. The native is a Willow Myrtle - Agonis flexuosa
It could be either, but you should be able to tell. The council arborist should be able to identify the root and its parent. The willow myrtle will have a slightly eucalypt smell about the bark or wood if you cut into it. The plane will be heavy. Sorry, thats best I can do without closer pictures. But basically, the root is wood, and it will match the wood of the parent tree
Council should definitely come to the party on repairs. They may not pay all, but this is a very common problem, especially with cracked Fence foundations etc.

If you do what us consultant arborists normally do which is a root map it will tell you what tree it belongs to. Depending on if the root is within the structural root zone or tree protection zone you may or may not be able to sever the root. It would be best if you called council and talked to the tree preservation officer to discuss options.

I can see I wouldnt do well living in the big smoke: I'd take a saw to both the things just in case.

When she moved here Mary used to complain about a couple of trees that made a mess on the lawn.
So I pruned them, maybe more aggressively then she expected.
Then she complained about mowing around the stumps which I'd left a foot high for toe stubbing avoidance.
Then she complained about the ruts I'd left walking a bulldozer over the lawn to remove them.
My wife is pretty easy to live with (got to be to live with me), so its got to be a cultural divide thing, I'm sure of it.

Originally Posted by John.G

I can see I wouldnt do well living in the big smoke: I'd take a saw to both the things just in case.

When she moved here Mary used to complain about a couple of trees that made a mess on the lawn.
So I pruned them, maybe more aggressively then she expected.
Then she complained about mowing around the stumps which I'd left a foot high for toe stubbing avoidance.
Then she complained about the ruts I'd left walking a bulldozer over the lawn to remove them.
My wife is pretty easy to live with (got to be to live with me), so its got to be a cultural divide thing, I'm sure of it.

I'm sure it's a cultural divide thing

After a lot of digging I finally got the offending bit of wood out of the ground.
Root.JPG

Received a letter from the council today, saying that they will remove the tree, but tough luck about the damage, they are not liable. They quoted a previous NSW Land & Environment court ruling (Robson v Leischke [2008] NSWLEC 152) that the owner of the tree is only liable after they have knowledge of of a particular issue relating to the tree & fail to take action within a reasonable time.

CSIRO used to do wood anatomy identification for free. Piece of the root, no less than 2cm diameter. Same for branch segments from each of the suspect trees.
Back in my day and time, it was Forest Products/Melbourne.
Wood anatomy is like fingerprints = usually very straightforward. Easier in this case as matching is all (?) that's needed.