The trees in your French garden have a worth - here is how to value them online

A new web tool, developed in partnership with tree surgeons and green groups, can help home owners put a cash value on the trees in their gardens.

The tool was originally designed to help councils learn more about local trees and avoid any cuts or changes for no reason. It can also be used as a base for cases that go to court when trees are damaged.

However, it has now been extended to property owners.

Notaires recognise that trees can add value to property in the same way as garages or barns.

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Complex but explanatory

The web tool is complex to use, but comes with explanatory notes. Technical terms such as houppier (the area covered by the crown of a tree) are explained, as well as the best way to measure it.

Links to associated websites allow common plant names to be identified by scientific names, which are needed for the tool.

A rough trial of a 12m horse chestnut in a garden gave it a lifetime value of €18,970, with the report including details such as its likely lifespan (200 to 250 years) and the fact it could grow to a height of 20m.

Augustin Bonnardot of CAUE 77, one of the associations that developed the tool, said: “It is not the value of the tree if it was bought in a nursery or garden centre, but that which takes into account its value over the years.”

For homeowners struggling to accurately identify, measure and/or describe a tree, members of the trade body Groupement des Experts Conseils en Arboriculture Ornementale can help for a fee.

Insurance firms do not accept reports generated by the tool for claims but it is possible they could be added to court documents in disputes.

So far, around 67 communes in France have adopted the Barème de l’arbre (baremedelarbre.fr) tool. If you would like your commune to do so, you should approach your maire.

Remarkable tree 

Another way to put value on a tree is to have it classified as an Arbre remarquable by the ARBRES association. So far, 750 trees are listed as having special status based on factors such as age, position, history or legends inspired by them.

The group also has a second classification for an Ensemble arboré remarquable, which uses similar criteria to classify woods.

The classification lacks judicial value but it is recognised by the office of the secretary of state responsible for biodiv-ersity, part of the vast ministry of ecological transition.

To make an application, email a_arbres@arbres.org, detailing why you believe it is exceptional. You must attach a photograph of the tree and any linked historical documents.

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Local planning

Classification can help individual trees or woods to be included as an espace boisé in the plan local d’urbanisme (PLU), which nearly all communes in France now use for local planning.

Again, getting support from your local mairie is key – it and the council can push to have the change made at the next review of the PLU, or even call a special meeting to discuss the matter.

In rural areas, this might take time as much of the administration of PLUs has been transferred to unelected communauté de communes structures, which are notorious for being slow to do anything.

Including a tree or wood as an espace boisé in the PLU means that developments that threaten it should be banned.

Permission is also needed, through the mairie and departmental bodies, for any trees to be cut down in the area.

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