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To have spent most of the day in tears over trees

311 replies

NoMoreTrees · 09/01/2026 16:56

We moved into this house just shy of a year ago and I regretted it almost instantly. I absolutely hate it here, it has pretty much ruined my life and for the last few months my mental health has been in tatters and I’ve had some very, very dark days.

One thing I did like about the house though was that at the end of the garden, on the other side of the fence were some beautiful tall trees. Dozens of trees with hundreds of birds that you can hear singing all year round, an owl, squirrels and other wildlife. The trees ran the entire length of our row of houses and a bit further.

On the other side of the trees is a small field, and while we were having surveys etc done they brought up a planning application for a small development of 9 houses in that field, which had been rejected by the water company.

Well I’m sure you know where this is going… obviously the water company were offered more money changed their minds because before the sun was even up this morning a bunch of men in hi viz and hard hats rocked up with a chainsaw, a bulldozer and a woodchipper and one by one started tearing all the trees down. By the time they had downed tools and fucked off there was only one tree left standing at the end of our garden and one or two surviving further down… for now at least.

I just can’t stop crying. I can’t even bring myself to look out of the windows at the back of the house. All those beautiful trees, all those birds, all that wildlife, gone. It was one of the very, very few things that made living here tolerable, and now instead of trees and birdsong, there is going to be a building site. Just when I thought I couldn’t fucking hate it here more.

To have spent most of the day in tears over trees
To have spent most of the day in tears over trees
To have spent most of the day in tears over trees
OP posts:
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9
TokyoSushi · 09/01/2026 17:15

Oh wow, not unreasonable at all, that's really rubbish.

NoMoreTrees · 09/01/2026 17:13

We can’t move… we came here because it was all we could afford, and thanks to this the house is now probably worth a good few grand less than we’re paying for it. I’ve never been more profoundly unhappy in my entire life than I have been in the last few months, and that’s really saying something. This is just the icing on the shitcake.

OP posts:
ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 09/01/2026 17:12

Bastards.

Get planting, OP.

When I'm Queen of the Whole World all trees will be protected.

5MinuteArgument · 09/01/2026 17:07

This is happening everywhere as more and more developments are built to cater for our expanding population. We're already one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. It's very sad.

feemcgee · 09/01/2026 17:07

Maybe complain to the council, they may not have had the proper permission to fell them. I know that it doesn’t bring them back though.

feemcgee · 09/01/2026 17:06

That’s such a shame, the trees looked beautiful.

MsWilmottsGhost · 09/01/2026 17:04

Fucking wankers. That's so shit ☹️

You can't do anything about those trees now, but you do have a nice big empty garden so go ahead and plant your own trees. You can get small native saplings quite cheap and will be surprised how fast they can grow.

peachescariad · 09/01/2026 17:04

I rarely ever comment on MN, but I find this absolutely heart breaking.

Buzzlightfear · 09/01/2026 17:03

I'm sorry op, that would make me sad too.

Any chance you can move? I know it's not all that simple but if it's having such an effect on your mental health I'd do everything I could to find somewhere else.

corlan · 09/01/2026 17:02

That's truly crap. Can you start making plans to move?

IsabellaGoodthing · 09/01/2026 17:00

It's a tragedy. I would be in despair too. Trees are simply not valued by corporations although they keep us and wild creatures alive and breathing, literally and spiritually.