To not cut down this tree? Neighbour keeps on about it.

[AwfulMaureen]

My small garden has a low fence between mine and my neighbours garden. It's a housing association property and we're responsible for gardening ourselves.

Anyway...we moved in less than a month ago and my neighbour the same, lovely girl...but she keeps on about the Hawthorn in my garden.

I'd not had time to garden much and the garden was badly neglected so the tree had overhung her garden a lot before I and she moved in....she kept mentioning it last week so I went out and had a proper look yesterday....got some secateurs and clipped it well back from her garden......the fence is only hip height so I could lean.

I made sure there were no thorny branches in her garden too. then she appeared and offered me her hedge clippers to "cut the rest down"

I said "I'm not cutting it down....I like it." which I do...it's a tree ffs! A beautiful one too.

She looked at me like so I just smiled at her and said that it added some height to the borders and is good for the bees.

She went on to say how terrified she was of bees....and to say "I hope you're not going to plant flowers too!"

Erm YES of course I am!! I said to her that the lane behind our garden is FULL of wild flowers and that soon, both gardens will be buzzing with bees no matter what I plant. She just kept on about how afraid of them she is!

Wtf?

If she's scared of flowers, hedging plants and bees there are plenty of high rise flats she could move to. Her problem not yours.

I have a lavender plant outside my front door, I love it. In the summer it goes all lovely and purple, the smell of lavender wafts through the house, plus the bees love it.

You neighbour is bonkers.

She freak out if you had masonry bees in your garden, they come back every year.

YANBU. But your neighbour sounds bonkers.

I don't get this obsession with chopping down trees. All over my neighbourhood "oh it was too big" (about 5 feet) or "it made the garden unbalanced"

And then everyone has these ghastly orange flowers instead all lined up in a neat row and the birds and bees bugger off :(!

Yes lavender is very at attracting bees.

I agree that hawforn roots are a devil, I have an undigable flower bed by our hawthorn hedge.

Yes lavender is very at attracting bees.

I agree that hawforn roots are a devil, I have an undigable flower bed by our hawthorn hedge.

YANBU. Hawthorn attracts bees, its berries feed birds, and it's a good tree for nesting; an all-round good tree for wildlife.