How can I secretly kill a tree that is leaning on my block wall?

Question

There are two trees that have grown up behind my concrete block wall.  The trees are starting to bang on the wall and will surely destroy it. No one wants to cut the trees down because they are on County property and the the County laws state that no one can go on that land or remove vegitation, including trees. County states that the trees were there before my house was built so they are protected.  They suggested that I should build a stronger wall!  Please help me kill two trees without anyone knowing why they died.  Using a ladder, I can look over the top of the wall if that helps.  There are many dead trees on that land so a couple more will appear normal.

Answer 1

drive a couple of copper nails into the roots. This is an old trick used by utility linemen etc to get rid of nusance trees w/o the owners permission/awareness.

Answer 2

The answer that was received assumed that I can get over the wall, which is 8 feet tall.  There is no way I could do that and other entrances are also blocked.  I was hoping to receive an answer like, FILL A BALLOON WITH POISON AND THROW IT NEAR THE TREE!  That Balloon method sounds good but I don't know what kind of poison to put in the balloon.  Throwing something at the tree is about the only way. The wall is meant as a boundry  around  our hamlet.                                                                                                                            Any other ideas or type of poison that could be used? 

Answer 3

You may want to consult a lawyer.  If the trees are doing damage to your property you may have some legal rights.

Comments

I did consider using an attorney and I did speak to one who lives near us.  He said that litigating this type of situation would be very expensive and we would, in the end, have to follow the property law.  Here is the law in a few words:
Any tree that is causing a problem can be trimmed, but only the area within ONE FOOT from the wall.  His advice is to follow the law and save my money and ask the county if they trim the one foot or is it up to me to hire someone.  The attorney suggested that if there is damage in the future, even after trimming, to put in a claim with my property insurance company and they could handle the matter.

Answer 4

You could ask your insurance company to call the county.  any part of that tree that hangs over your property you can cut right to the property line. I should ask if you had your property surveyed and do you know exactly where you line begins & ends.

Answer 5

If the tree is that close to the wall there is a good possibility that its roots are in your yard. Thats what happened to us, our neighbor had a tree that had branches hanging in our yard and we were constantly digging up, pulling or cuttung out small trees from thiers that were making themselves at home all over our yard and in planters. The roots from that tree were pretty much up and down our fence and into our yard, they were not that far down. If there is a place you can dig down a little ways and check, it might pay off and you will be able to use the answer about the copper nails. Good Luck!

Comments

Thank You. I am going to the hardware store to buy the copper nails.