Tree safety and how to report safety concerns or a potentially dangerous tree

Duty of care

Trees, like any living thing, can become ill (caused by poisoning, pests or pathogens) or damaged (through structural weakness or physical action).

Most trees will live for a long time and are perfectly healthy with little or no maintenance but some may need intervention from time to time.

If a tree is located on your land, you have a duty of care to make sure that your tree(s) are kept in a safe manner.

Things to look out for in an unsafe tree

Damage or structural weakness

• Splits or cracks in the trunk or branches.
• Branches that are broken, hanging or that have dropped.
• Sections of bark damaged or stripped to show the wood beneath (remember that some trees, such as Plane or Eucalyptus, naturally shed their bark – so identifying the species is critical to determining).
• Soil movement around the base of the tree.

Ill health – poisoning, pests or pathogens

• Sections of the tree with signs of decay.
• Growth of fungi on the tree or around the base of the tree.
• Evidence of holes or pest activity.
• Foliage dying back or going brown for no apparent reason on evergreen trees, or out of season (Spring / Summer) for deciduous trees.

Common factors contributing to tree damage or failure

Weather damage: Trees are sometimes damaged during storms and may be struck by lightning. They can be affected by heavy snowfall in winter and unseasonally strong winds in spring and summer. Therefore, it is good practice to check their structural condition after such events.

Ash dieback disease: Ash dieback is a serious disease of ash trees caused by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. More about the disease - including a video showing how to spot the symptoms - can be found on the Forestry Research website.

Various diseases and pests that can effect trees: Further information regarding tree diseases and pest impact on trees can be found on the Forest Research website.

Tree pests and diseases: Some pests and diseases are notifiable. If you find a pest or disease that you aren’t able to identify or that may be notifiable, you can log a report using Tree Alert.

Choosing an arboricultural professional

If you feel that your tree(s) may be unsafe, then you should obtain advice from a qualified person. This person must have undertaken relevant arboricultural training to identify any defects in your trees. It is important to engage tree professionals for consultancy and/or tree work. They should hold appropriate insurance for the work that they are undertaking, and you should ask to see this before instructing them to undertake work or surveys. 

A list of Chartered Arboriculturists and Chartered Foresters is available on the Institute of Chartered Foresters website.

A list of Arboricultural Association-approved contractors that can be engaged to undertake tree care or removal is available on the Arboricultural Association webpage. 

Who to contact about a dangerous tree

There are a number of different organisations that deal with tree issues.

See the table below to help point you to the appropriate organisation for a range of circumstances.