To wish death upon a tree

[meddie]

I have been in my house 20 years. The bottom of my garden backs on to a hospice. They planted trees around their borders when they first opened.
My garden is south facing and was lovely in summer, now this one tree over the years has grown to taller than my house and to add insult to injury is covered in russian vine so not even dappled sunlight gets through the tree, they do nothing to control or remove this and it grows through my fence and totally covers everything in its path.
I spend summer trying to keep as much of it as I can out my garden.
My once lovely garden is now almost permanently in shade which has led to the death of a lot of my plants and a constant battle with moss.
I am sick of it, I want to take some action, but feel incredibly guilty as its in hospice grounds and i,m sure it probably looks lovely from their side, but from my side it has ruined the enjoyment of my garden
I wish the tree would just die off so they would have to remove it.

We have an oak in our garden and have had it trimmed once since we moved in (7 years ago), need to get it done again as its such a quick grower and overhangs our neighbour's garden loads too (and because of the PO they aren't allowed to touch it) but the paperwork and council visits to get permission is mad ...

just to respond to sunflowers- we were young 23 year old when we bought our house, out at work all day, mainly at the pub at the weekend, the tree didn't cross our mind until we had kids and they couldn't play in the garden as it was a bog and after we re turfed 3 times we realised the problem wasn't going to change- so yes it was down to our stupidity when purchasing our home- although thankfully we will be moving in the next year and wont be making the same mistake... life eh

I thought this might be my neighbour!

We have a HUGE tree very similar - covered in ivy, blocks out all light and not touched in 25 years by parish council who own it. Due to the poor maintenance its now over 70 foot tall and completely out of control. Council refused at past requests to spend money on it.

However it is an Ash tree so it may get this fungal disease everyone is talking about - there's a reported case 10 miles from us so my neighbour is hopeful the council will finally be spurred into action.

I,m not sure of the type. Its not oak,sycamore elm, ash or beech as i know those trees. I think it may be elder as it is covered in a small white flower in summer, but that could be the flower from the russian vine.
I quite like the suggestion of offering a donation to get it cut back. It wasnt a problem when they first planted it, but now its huge and it has never been pruned in 20 years

Book an appointment with the head of the unit and walk them round to your house to see the problem for themselves.

remember you can cut anything off that hangs over your side

Have you ever spoken to the hospice about this? How are they to know how much of a problem it is causing you, if you haven't told them?

Elders are the very devil to get rid off. If you cut it down at the base you will get fresh shoots and they can push out masses of fresh shoots so making the problem even worse so you need to kill the root.

No I havent approached them. initially it wasn't an issue when the tree was smaller and before the russian vine turned it into a blackout curtain. I could bare it and its obviously nice for the clients at the hospice to see from their windows, so I felt my slightly shaded garden was the least of my worries, its just the last few years its gradually occluded all my light and I will have to approach them now. but as I said I feel guilty moaning about something given the circumstances of where its growing.

I don't think you should feel guilty about approaching them about it - and I would really hope that they respond reasonably to you.

You could suggest they replace it with a trellis and grow something like jasmine up it - which would grow faster than a replacement tree, and would produce beautifully fragrant blossom for the hospice users to enjoy, without the risk of it getting too tall like a tree might.

Elders are weeds IMO. And they break your drains and your foundations. There is every chance they will damage the drains and foundations of the hospice too, so you should talk to them.

I don't think anybody ever plants elders intentionally.

If it is an Elder, it would be possible to cut it down to the root, and then when it puts up new shoots to keep it trimmed with with regular pruning into a shoulder-height hedge.

I would find the Russian Vine more of an annoyance. I had one in the garden of my last house, and it was not possible to dig out the root as it was right under the dividing fence. I did more-or-less manage to kill it off over a couple of years simply by cutting it back completely then removing any new growth that it put out.

I fully sympathise. Our neighbours have a gum tree in their back garden, less than a foot from the border hedge. In the 3 yrs since we've been here it has grown enormously, causing more shade, moss etc and dropping tiny leaves that don't rot down and are too narrow to be raked up ALL YEAR LONG .

Our gardens are narrow terraced ones so a pretty stupid tree to choose all round. I'd love it to die safely so we don't have to spend ££££ cutting back the third of it that is on our side.

Hope you get somewhere talking to the hospice. Our neighbours don't give a toss.

Have talked to hospice and explained how much it is effecting your enjoyment of your garden,

Please do not hammer copper nails or pipe into the tree, it's really horrible when the tree surgeon's chainsaw hit the nails, this is becoming a real hazard, there have been some life changing injuries from chainsaws hitting metal work in wood.

I would in a friendly manner invite the manager over, and ask to work together, get some advice as to a better species of tree as a replacement.

I love trees - as long as they are in an appropriate place.

I doubt you are our neighbour Purity - your tone and name choice indicate a very different character!

I love gum trees in hot countries, large spaces etc. But in a Midlands terrace, no. Just no.