Neighbour has cut 5 of my tree's/bushes down!

@ExtraOnions Law says 31 July. We have had a reminder from the council about this. Second broods etc

I'm sorry OP, but people have complete brass neck in these situations. Give them an inch and they take a mile, and you've learned this the hard way I'm afraid.

Our neighbour did this to us, and MIL's neighbour did it to her too. We have another neighbour who we have found interfering with our hedge more than once.

As a warning to all other Mumsnetters do not ever let your neighbour do any gardening work in your garden without the closest supervision, and possibly not even then.

“Nuisance trees” is quite a concept! How sad to think that way.

It’s nearly July, most birds have fledged by now.

Trees / bushes will go back, dependant what there are a good cut-back might not be a bad thing.

All of these comments about other people really point to one thing. If your trees are a nuisance, deal with the nuisance yourself. If your tree is pushing a fence over - remove that tree. Ditto with horrible leylandii blocking light from others. Tree owners must be reasonable but angry neighbours do awful things. Don’t make them angry by ignoring their concerns. Yes, of course they are wrong but you cannot get the trees back. If they need maintenance, do it!

I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad 💖

And your trees. Your holly and lilac should grow back from the stumps, so that's something.

What an arsehole. Although I've noticed an uptick of posters on here thinking it's okay to do this. Shitty behaviour.

My neighbour did this to me. It was agreed that he'd fix two fence panels and that he'd chop back a couple of trees that were pushing against the fence. We had a lovely garden with lovely trees which made it very private. He waited to do it until I'd gone away for two weeks, then came in with a mini digger and dug out every single fucking tree and shrub, leaving it completely bare. To top it off, he didn't put the fence panels at the correct height, leaving the public path behind our house to have a full view of our garden and right into the back of our house.

I was livid. He then billed me double what we had agreed for the job. I was even more furious.

Then he had the audacity to complain that people from the public path could now also see into his home (previously shielded by my beautiful trees).

I hate neighbours - cunts.

You gave him the green light and he’s taken full advantage.
I would absolutely stop him cutting anything else and say ‘I didn’t imagine you’d be cutting all of this down- it’s quite a job’. Then I’d get some conifers 🤗🤣.
Were they blocking light? I find it difficult to believe this was for a satellite dish? Wouldn’t be surprised if something crops up in that corner.

Your neighbour is an arsehole to do that. He must have been wanting those trees down for a while. Make absolutely sure he can’t get in your garden again if he went in your garden to attack your trees.
As others have said, he can trim back overhanging branches up to the boundary line. He can offer you the cuttings back.
Don’t be bullied by this neighbour as some can be demanding and think they can do what they want with other people’s gardens.

I am so sorry for the loss of your Dad OP, you are going through such a difficult time. Please accept my condolences.

@MissMoneyFairy ? The OP agreed to him coming into her garden. She thought to trip the height of the trees. He’s cut the shrubs and trees down. She gave him permission without clarifying what he was going to do!

How did he access your land to cut the trees down, a photo might help us understand access and what he's done. It's an offense to cut down trees if there are nests.

I doubt very much that this was disturbing his signal. He just wanted your trees down. You need to tell him not to take any more off. If they are overhanging on to his land then he has every right to do so.

@Zara290 Nesting season is nesting season though. You did need to specify what was permitted. With a large garden, were these great tree specimens? Probably not. There’s nothing you can do and don’t let him in again. Just think about what you will do with the area now. Don’t speak to the neighbour again unless you think carefully first.

Panic not @Zara290. Yes he was totally out of order not to check in as he was doing the work, but equally sounds like maybe things mean you are not on your A Game.

Has he ground down the stumps? Have a look at faster growing trees. With a mix of evergreen and deciduous. We have been in our house for 5 years and took a lot of old trees down and replanted. About 3 years in we have a much better mix. So plan, wait. And then don't let him back over...

So what are you going to do op? He’s obviously coming back today to do more. You need to find your voice and say no.

🙄

I’d be raging and would have gone right round there and explained in no uncertain terms that he has taken the piss and he is absolutely responsible for clearing up the mess and should NOT remove any more of your bushes or trees.

whilst you should have been clearer at the time, now is the time to be clear before he does anything else.

@steff13 That applies to branches overhanging your land. Those branches belong to the owner of the tree. If you are given access to the OP’s land, it’s a courtesy to clear up! The trees/bushes were obscuring the satellite dish and he didn’t stay on his own land to do the work - but maybe I’m wrong?

Exactly what I thought! I’ve read that many times on here.

He is clearly a chop it all down enthusiast whether it's a poor specimen or not.

@Gettingbysomehow We actually do not need every type of tree though. We need the right tree in the right place. I doubt these trees were fully mature oak trees! I suspect overgrown shrubs. The op should also have known its nesting season and refused to have them trimmed anyway. There’s no reason why trees cannot be planted in the space. In gardens there is a need to think of others and make sure trees don’t grow to large for the site. Also trees are not going to live forever and poor specimens should be removed.

I'm sick of these assholes who think it's OK to cut down trees. We need trees desperately. If anyone cut down my big tree I'd take them to court and sue them.
I'd be bloody furious. Without trees the land dries up and becomes barren. I have the only tree in a street a mile long. There is no other shade. Nothing for birds to nest in. It's disgusting. My garden is full of wildlife birds flocking to my tree and pond. Everyone else has fake grass, gravel and concrete.