Mark Wright ‘at war’ over £30,000 trees that died at £3.5m mansion he shares with Michelle Keegan

MARK Wright is locked in a row with the landscaping firm that supplied his home with £30,000 of trees, according to reports.

The radio and TV star, 36, was less than impressed when the 60 bay trees he had imported from Tuscany to surround the boundary of his and Michelle Keegan’s £3.5m home died.

4

4

4

To make the situation even less palatable, the Mail reports that Towie’s Billie Faiers, who lives just seven miles away, has the same trees at her new property and they are in fine health.

Mark was allegedly told he’d used the wrong soil when he complained to Lush Landscapes, who provided the trees, however he is adamant they weren’t suitable for cold British winters and should never have been recommended.

Speaking on Heart radio last week, Mark explained: “It’s that kind of weather outside where you start thinking about planting your spring/summer plants. I had a little bit of a nightmare, I’m not gonna lie.

“I planted some trees in my garden and they all died, and it’s devastating because I spent so long watching them thinking ‘please grow’.

“They were my boundary trees to give me a little bit of privacy, and the company blamed it on the soil because obviously the wrong soil can make your plants go bad.

Read Related Also: Katie Price risks stomach-churning infection as she makes huge tattoo blunder

“[I] ended up finding out they recommended the wrong plants to me, and it was because they’re not supposed to be out in the open in anything below minus five degrees and at Christmas time it was like minus 15 when it snowed.”

Experts believe the bay trees, which have grown in this country for centuries, could have been overexposed to the elements or not cared for correctly.

Rebecca Bevan, Senior National Consultant for Plant Health and Sustainability at the National Trust, said: “Looking at photographs of the trees at the bottom of Mark Wright’s property, where they have little protection, the brown colour does suggest damage from cold prevailing wind. It’s not an ideal spot, they’re too exposed.

“This problem would have been even worse for recently imported trees which were probably even less prepared for the sudden cold. It’s possible they have completely died from the shock.”

Lush Landscapes confirmed they’d spoken to Mark about the issue but weren’t prepared to go into further detail.

Mark and Michelle initially hoped to build a 2.1m wall and install electric gates at their home but were told they were not allowed to close off the public footpath.

The local parish council said in a letter of objection: “The design of the high walls, together with the pillars and the gates, are out of keeping with the rural setting, and would detract from the rural nature of this particular area of the Parish.”

Instead, the couple employed a team of landscapers to plant scores of laurel and conifer trees to provide a leafy barrier to stop people seeing into their new property.

4