I have the same problem and would love to know the answer

I think that they may be poplar trees and the 'white, fluffy stuff' is from the buds. We have several of them outside our police station (don't know if there is any significance in that).

I don't know, either, Bulba. But talking of significance with regard to Police stations, there is a police building on an industrial park near Sheffield. It is the only building in a short road with the wonderful name "Lesby Avenue"!

I just had to google that Melchisedec Lol - and there it is and it says that the Guardian noted back in 2000 that when the road was built in the late 1990s, senior police officers may have had a hand in its naming. Hello hello hell......

There is a pub called The Aspen tree near us with a very tall narrowish form of tree that drops loads of 'fluff'',
it was got at earlier this year very drastically. It is now in great form with all the rain. Saying to itself 'Shredder...what shredder? Fluff.....moi? Stand by for blasting ye parked cars beneath me when I am fully loaded with 'fluffy stuff'. Is it an Aspen you are describing? I wonder.

We have willow/poplar type trees near us which produce loads of white fluffy stuff and I have to scoop it from the pond, but that is earlier - spring I would say?

Oh Mel that cracked me up!!! :0)))))

We have willows over in the fields near us and their seeds in the guise of white fluffy furry stuff flies everywhere and self seeds very easily, I spend most of my time pulling out the seedlings that grow so easily, they are a pain. Nothing can be done if they are on others property!

Yes, Drc and Pam - I went there with my son a few years ago when he hired a van from a firm just around the corner. I thought it was funny enough even before I realised it was outside a police building!

THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENTS ON FLUFFY STUFF MAY BE ASPEN OR POPLAR.... WHEN WE PHONED OUR LOCAL COUNCIL THE HELPFUL LADY SAID IT WAS SHEDDING THIS FL-STUFF BECAUSE IT WAS STRESSED DUE TO LACK OF WATER ..!!!!!!!!!?

Stupid woman! Sorry, Rickh to be so blunt, she doesn't know what she's talking about. We have thousands of poplar trees around this area, and when they decide to spread their seed, it's like a week-long snowstorm. The council in the city centre send out snowploughs to shift it so people can park properly. Mind you, this tends to happen back in May/June, so maybe this is another type of tree doing the same thing where you are. I think "aspens", by the way, are just a variety of poplar.

Willows do the same gatt. but that is back in May, I just hate it.

Yes, come to think of it Grandmage, you're right. The darned fluff gets in everything - it makes a terrible mess of the mosquito screens, and you can never get it off.

No its a b......nuisance.

The cats come into the house covered in it, and then try licking themselves clean and get into a terrible, distressing, whisker-clogged mess, poor things.

I Google imaged Aspens and they are a tall quite slim member of the poplar family. No mention of 'fluff' though. This pub tree is very mature indeed and very tall and really 'fluffy' when allowed to be fluffy. All trees are messy to a certain extent. In a forest or wood OK.....but in streets and gardens....very welcome, but the garden owner is going to have more work to do. Sweeping up and tidying and pruning or lopping. That's me with a mature Hawthorn, Laburnum and Hazel.

You should see our garden just now, Dorjac - great piles of cherry-tree prunings and loads of leaves to sweep up each day from the dying or stressed trees.

So sorry that your hot and probably dry July /August weather is stressing trees in your garden Gattina. Hope they don't die though. Our Hawthorn has dropped quite a few leaves but certainly not short of water this year. Just got to big for its boots and shedding to cope in a mini heatwave we had a few days ago.

You know, we still haven't worked out what Rick's trees are and why they're only producing fluff now, in August.

If you are really lucky, you may have a Black Poplar or two growing there, producing the fluff. They are now very seriously rare in the UK, so please stop your Council from damaging them before they have been properly identified. Rarer than giant pandas, according to one magazine....

Not sure they are black poplar TT. We had 2 huge ones at the bottom of my mum's garden and they never let down any fluff. We would never stopped hearing about it if they did that all over her rosebed! Just flipped over to Wiki and sure enough FLUFF gets a mention before you even open the entry. Have a look. Knowing what is the tree helps not a lot. The ASPEN TREE PUB TREE got a short back and sides off someone ,as it loomed over the car park. Probably has a prezzy order on it anyway but still got a good shave about 3 years back.