Last fucking straw

[sarahC40]

Handhold please and advice (on how not to utterly lose my shit or get arrested for this). It’s not been a great lockdown.

Saving Grace: my garden. Lovely tree, probably in the wrong place but predates the houses, was cut down without warning, so that my view, which was of said lovely tree, is now of the back of someone’s house. They have now closed all of their blinds because, yes, we are now overlooking each other.

The tree is in no man’s land between the gardens - it doesn’t belong to them. They’ve got down everything that overhung my garden (my son woke up to find men climbing over my fence and most of tree gone) and they’ve left a twenty foot high stump. My other neighbours were open mouthed in shock, so this isn’t just me sounding off; it’s horrendous.

I know there’s nothing that I can do, but I would like some vengeful suggestions that I won’t act on but will help me as I try to stop crying at the fucking awful sight of their fugly house.

I've just checked my council website had an interactive map where you can enter a postcode and retrieve all documents regarding TPOs in the county. Good luck!

Time to hone your topiary skills

If you want privacy, I reckon conifers are the quickest method.

Ash, unfortunately, are pests due to the amount of seeds they put out. I have no doubt I’ll be pulling them out for years to come.

@Crimeismymiddlename

If you really want to piss them off I would recommend getting a hot tub for the summer, and spend every evening in it while watching films being projected onto the fence. I have friends who do this and their neighbours HATE them.

Have to admit I would hate them, too.

Google the name of your council and TPO - you should be able to look it up online.

I'd be sad too. However if it is an ash then they may argue it had ash dieback. An ash is unlikely to have a tpo. You can fell trees in nesting season but not prune, and need to check for birds first. However leaving a tall stump is annoying and ash is invasive, will self seed and regrow. Try the council tree officer for advice.

@Jacketpotato84

Have you seriously been crying over a tree? What do you think your really upset about?

Spud!

A tree, a beautiful tree that was not only lovely but provided the OP with privacy and was possibly hosting birds nests too.

You might not understand, but many of us do

I love trees too OP, sympathies to you.
For now, I'd be going with your sons idea of rude signs on the back of his blinds 👍🏻

I totally understand your rage and sadness. That tree took years to grow and in just a few hours it's all gone. What is wrong with these sort of people?

We have a beautiful mature cherry tree in our garden, lovely pink blossom and it provides a shady canopy for a lazing on a sun bed. Some of the top branches got a bit straggly so we got a tree surgeon in to "lightly prune" it back into shape. They arrived, I went out and left DP in charge of explaining what we wanted. Came back a couple of hours later to find just the trunk and some small branches. So shocked, I too could have cried. DP got hell for not keeping an eye on the workmen. It looks so ugly, bare and will take years to recover. Every time I go into the garden now it's spoiling things, which may sound a bit silly but the garden / growing stuff has been a godsend during lockdown!

OP I really hope you can find some way to get revenge (liking the suggestions involving bird droppings on cars etc).

@Littlefiendsusan

I love trees too OP, sympathies to you. For now, I'd be going with your sons idea of rude signs on the back of his blinds 👍🏻

I'd go for this and then at night (when son not in room) blind up and a big flashing light in the window...

This happened to me last year ☹️ I am actually taking comfort on the fact that you and others on this thread clearly feel protective and passionate about trees and nature, I feel at times I am in a minority. I would have been distraught and devastated anyway but for me the stress of Covid, coupled with months of juggling work and home schooling had meant that my garden was my sanctuary. I had literally days before been commenting to my husband how beautiful the trees were looking especially our horse chestnut - which wasn’t ours but like yours closer to us than the neighbors house. It was my children’s conker tree and we adored it. One day in the first lockdown the neighbors (who had only moved in 5 months previouslyand who rent the property) asked their father (a gardener) to top it. They didn’t consult us. We went out for a walk - only for 1 hour - to return to the sound of chainsaws. Despite pleading with them to stop they continued saying the tree was diseased. I frantically contacted the owner (in Spain) and had to threaten to call the police as I couldn’t reach the owner to ask her to make them stop! It was utterly heartbreaking and horrendous. I was crying and shouting and just so so upset. I managed to get them to stop but I fear it may have been too late, the tree is sprouting back and I am hopeful but my heart sinks every time I am in my garden. They never apologised. We don’t speak to them. It’s important that we bring up our children to value nature and consider trees to be valuable and special. Sending hugs

I am actually taking comfort on the fact that you and others on this thread clearly feel protective and passionate about trees and nature, I feel at times I am in a minority

Echoing this. It's had a huge impact on me and I can't look at photos on my phone of what our garden and the view from the house used to be like without getting really upset. When I look out of the window now I am always mentally slotting trees into place and trying to work out what to plant where, and how long various trees/shrubs would take to fill a gap versus quality of coverage (holly tree and camellia both beautiful and evergreen but too slow growing etc) I keep a close eye on rightmove but honestly, this house is our sanctuary and our refuge and we have worked hard and spent cash we won't get back on making it what we want and I don't want to move. I just wish people would respect the environment (and the conservation area!) I've never spoken to anyone else about it as it seems like the very definition of a first world problem, so it's nice to find that other people feel the same.

Can you not report them for attacking the tree in nesting season?

Someone upthread suggested planting eucalyptus - please don't do that. It's pretty invasive, useless for wildlife, and particularly flammable.

@BeforetheFlood "I just wish people would respect the environment (and the conservation area!) I've never spoken to anyone else about it as it seems like the very definition of a first world problem, so it's nice to find that other people feel the same."

It's very much not a first world problem. The destruction of the environment is a global problem and hits the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest. Chopping down one tree obviously won't make much difference to someone trying to eke out a living in a denuded, drought-stricken piece of land on the other side of the world, but the attitudes it symbolises, as you say "respecting nature" or the lack of it, very much does.

@clairethewitch70

I live in Woodland, last year, during nesting season, my neighbours cut down over an acre of very mature trees. It is a SINC, bordering SSSI, with protected species and Ecology at the council couldn't give a shit, saying it's their land. Lots of the trees previously had TPO's on them, which were removed and replaced by putting a SINC on the whole site.

That’s appalling. Something similar happened locally and the council referred it to the Forestry Commission, who have some hefty statutory powers. According to the council minutes, the Forestry are about to issue a replanting order. I’m hoping they imposed some fines too, but I guess we’ll never know about those as they won’t be public.

My situation became known as #treegate among my work colleagues. They think I’m a treehugger but actually most were supportive especially as in our case the tree didn’t block out anybody’s light or pose a risk to anything structural. Our situation was also made worse because I had spoken to the neighbors father previously when he was tackling other shrubs in the garden and expressly stated how important the trees are to me, the neighbor also knew and they’d both said that they had no intention to do anything to the trees. If I hadn’t have fought them on the day it would have been completely felled by people who may move out in a years time?! It was such a senseless act. I have since spoken to the owner about buying that part of her garden so I can protect the trees, I’m hoping the thought of making money out of them might keep them safe... my sympathies to other posters who’ve experienced similar, it really can affect your love of your house and experience of it especially when in this situation where you are pretty much trapped looking at it day in day out!

It's very much not a first world problem. The destruction of the environment is a global problem and hits the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest. Chopping down one tree obviously won't make much difference to someone trying to eke out a living in a denuded, drought-stricken piece of land on the other side of the world, but the attitudes it symbolises, as you say "respecting nature" or the lack of it, very much does

That's very much how I see it too, but I've been so gutted by our local council who, time after time, have turned a blind eye to trees being cut down and the conservation area stripped bare and tarmacked over, and then have approved planning applications for garden-grabbing new builds packed into old gardens and orchards. I feel a sort of visceral sense of injustice and actual hatred for the people who do this and those who enable it, which I realise is a bit extreme! It's a small town and I'm pretty certain that there are backhanders and a slightly corrupt network of freemasons, builders and councillors behind all these things which makes it worse.

OP just a message of support that I really feel for you and feel angry and sad and outraged on your behalf.

Sorry OP. Ash trees are the bane of my life. Highways love them for their speed growth so because we border highways land there are dozens of them.
I’m yet to go into the garden and not pull up a sapling. They are everywhere. Sometimes I miss one and it’s 3ft tall before I’ve noticed and it has to be dug out because it’s that strong.
I cut a mature one down in my garden last winter and by 5e end of this summer it had grown straggly branches to about four feet again.

Anyway, you were clearly attached to it so I am sorry. Put something nice and non pain in the arsey now. Maybe crab apples you can throw at her?

Have they cut it down or trimmed it back? Was it the council? They do this routinely every year. 20ft is not a stump?

Aren't there issues with Ash trees, ash dieback

Can you plant another sapling? Also put up some kind of one dimensional green metal tree cut out and hang bird boxes off it and make sure it’s got sticky out bits for birds to land on - kind of a homeless bird protest while the tree grows. You then get the point over, block their view and you can’t see them so much either

That’s really sad op. I would be angry too. Why are people such selfish arseholes ?

[quote florascotia2]Mr Mucker Only if done properly. And do we know that this was?

Ash trees are very important - they are host to many other species. And, in spite of what others have said, if you have a healthy ash tree, try to cherish it - do not cut it down. treecouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Tree-Council-Ash-dieback-tree-owners-guide-FINAL.pdf and www.forestresearch.gov.uk/documents/7277/7894_New_FC_Chalara_leaflet_dft9.pdf[/quote]
It hasn't been cut down. There is still 20 feet left. I don't know what you mean by "done properly". Ash is like the superweed of the tree world, very hard to remove or kill. There is a ninety percent (ish) chance that it will regrow and 100% chance that it will sprout suckers from the base.
You don't need to cite Ash Info Online at me, I know my ash trees. If the tree does happen to have Ash die back, then pollarding it is the best treatment, otherwise it seeds like crazy and all the new saplings also contain die back.

Are you sure no mans land bit they don't actually own, sometimes it can be strange what bit of land comes with a house