Hi! We have a 10 year old Eucalyptus, grown to a mighty fine height that appears to have created a fault in a boundary wall. The previous house owners planted the tree too close to the wall unfortunately. I hate to see this beautiful tree cut down, but my husband feels it must be done. Do you agree? Or is there any way of saving the tree? Would it survive a massive prune job even?
From this photograph, it is not clear to me that there is competition between the wall and the tree. The branch above the wall could certainly be pruned. If you add a couple of photographs, including close-ups of the bark and mature leaves, someone may be able to identify the species for you, so that you can then research the ultimate size of the species in Ireland. A closer photograph of the "fault" in the boundary wall would be helpful as well.
I'd get a mason to redo part of the wall rather than cut down the tree (but then I'm a a fanatic :-). It does depend on what the fault is about, so a picture would help.
It looks quite close to the wall and many of these will develop large diameter trunks. If you decide to cut this down, plant another Eucalyptus further away from the wall. It's hard to say for cetain but E.gunnii (Cider gum) might be your tree. Be sure to cut away the lignotuber as it will regrow from the base. These grow fast from seedlings so don't be too worried about losing the existing tree. I have about 15 Eucalyptus species on my property ... very nice trees. Cheers, LPN.