To have spent most of the day in tears over trees

@LovesLabradors The developers will have submitted a landscaping plan. There will almost certainly be replacement trees planted. The op is very upset but new trees can be welcome additions to a locality. She should look at the pp and all the documents submitted.

Elder trees are great. I have some in my garden and they have lovely flowers followed by berries. I leave lots of the berries for the birds but also make elderberry cordial to ward off coughs and colds in the winter (easy to make and delicious!). You can also make cordial etc with the flowers.

Native elders have white flowers but you might also like to get one or two cultivated varieties - there is one called Sambucus Nigra Black Lace which has purple/black leaves and is lovely.

Elder trees also grow pretty quickly!

I'm so sorry, OP. I hate what the ever burgeoning population is doing to our countryside. But this is very close to home for you.

Looking at that, there was no need to cut down the trees at all - looks like they'd have just been lining the back fences of the new houses. Why did they do it.
There's a slight chance they may replant - new housing estates do usually end up nicely landscaped.
Or you can drop a load of cherry/apple pips over the back fence 😉

Plant your own garden with trees and flowers, it will make you feel so much better!

You can put some trellis panels on the inside of your fence and grow things like passion flower, honeysuckle and jasmine that will smell amazing when they flower and attract bees. Hydrangeas or rhododendrons are good low maintenance shrubs that flower every year. Lavender is another. Even a few cheap bedding plants from the supermarket will brighten it up. You can dig flower beds around the edges of the lawn and chuck a few bags of compost over and be good to go.

So sorry, OP. I would be so upset too. However, as other PPs have said, it looks like you have a good sized garden and you could get cracking soon with making it wildlife friendly, which might even help you like your house more.

Buy some bare root trees/hedging - winter is the best time to plant them and they are really good value. I would go for:

rowan - wild and/or ornamental. They grow fast and provide berries which the birds will love (and you can also make rowan jelly with them).
hawthorn - great for wildlife, with lovely flowers then berries
guelder rose - lovely red berries in the autumn
even privet hedging will grow quite fast and be a bird sanctuary
crab apple and/or domestic apples - birds absolutely love these
buddleia- grows quickly and loved by butterflies
a pond - great for all kinds of wildlife

Also plant flower borders with mix of grasses and plants good for birds and pollinators. You can grow these from seed, and if you include annuals, you will have flowers, bees, hoverflies, butterflies and more next summer. And insects attract birds.

Leave a small bit of the garden wild (with nettles etc).

Perhaps make a log pile/dead hedge.

Also well worth putting up some bird boxes and put food/water out for the birds, if you don't do this already. The bird boxes can go on your house if necessary, and you can choose ones suitable for the sorts of birds you see locally.

Big unmumsnetty hugs. I wept when my neighbour cut down one healthy tree which I loved looking at, and which was beloved by our local blue tits. But I hope you will rise to the challenge and make your garden wildlife-friendly. It is a great thing to do and really enjoyable.

Or some big bushes - they’re cheaper. And then one or two smaller prettier tries that have more variation down the side of the garden.

Im looking for a solution but appreciate it’s just crap.

That would upset me too. What a crappy day.

Actually I have some massive trees at the back of my house. They are not conifers though. There's a giant Ash tree that I love. If it were a leyland conifer I wouldn't be bothered about it's loss tbh.

Oh that is awful.
im so sorry. I get that some
were conifers but I still get joy looking at any tree.

the good news is that you have a long garden.
yoi could plant se evergreen trees. But indeed it does cost.

I really feel for you.

I'm so sorry OP - I'd be devastated too. Once of the reasons I bought my house was that although it looked pretty dull on the photos, when I went to street view I discovered that it had two very mature (300 years?) oak trees outside.

Gardening really is easy. Give it a try and you'll be surprised. It somehow takes far less effort and time than decorating for good results. Trees can be planted while they're dormant so you can start now as long as the ground isn't frozen.

Let me guess, everything in your garden is grey, including the turf? Even if you’re not passionate about trees, this is going to affect property value in the short-medium term, it is a big deal and it’s not surprising op is upset.

How sad, how could they do that it seems so wrong.

I have some big trees at the back of the garden. Although they are the bane of my life as every day through Autumn I'm sweeping up leaves, I love them and how they provide a home for the many birds, squirrels and owls (very rarely see but often hear them) that live in them, and the bats that circle around!

No.I came here with my opinion. Is that not allowed?

So sad for the wildlife & you OP 😭

I might be able to help with some suggestions. Nothing too huge, you don't want to have to thin them later. You could start with a crabapple -lovely blossom and fruit for making jelly in the autum, then add a couple of hazel bushes which will entertain the squirrels, a medlar tree, a thornless blackberry which will romp about and feed the birds (or you!) and a couple of buddleias which will bring in loads of butterflies. You'd be best getting all of those mail order, bare rooted which is the best way to buy these things during the winter. Come spring you can see about buying some bird and bee friendly seeds, those you will want to go to the garden centre for, so you can look at the packets. You could also look out for a couple of Rugosa roses, they are once flowering but produce enormous red hips in the autumn. If you have any space you could squeeze in a holly or two (make sure at least one is female) and a small Rowan which the birds love. These plants are all pretty easy to look after and moderately fast growing.
Best of luck OP, being able to make your own wildlife garden should bring lots of life back to the area.
PS how about a bird table and a few nesting boxes dotted about?

The garden centre, if it’s a decent one and not just filled with Christmas ornaments and plastic statuettes, will happily give you lots of advice on tree planting.
Or try a local (tree) nursery?

That's dreadful. Really heartbreaking.

Lots of nimbies on this thread. I doubt it's about the trees at all.

Oh I'd be devastated too. I can't understand why they needed to be so brutal. They would have made the new homes more desirable by providing privacy from your row of houses.
But I suppose its done now. You have a lovely long garden. Get thinking/planning do some research and pick some lovely trees to plant yourselves. If you can get them in in the next few weeks they'll be ready to grow when things start waking up around the end of March.