To just ring my neighbours tree and take the consequences

[Shadedandangry]

Anti social person below me has a row of eucalyptus I think tree that grows super quick and it shading out my lounge.

Its sunny today and if the tree wasn't there my house would be nice and warm. Instead I'm cold and have to have the heating on.

They have refused to prune it down to the hight I asked for (4-5m) - "its my garden inn it I can do what I like". It makes it difficult to grow much as my greenhouse gets hardly any sun.

Council aren't interested. I chop off all the branches on my side but this seensto make it grow vertically quicker.

Aibu to take my corkscrew at night and start one by one ringing them making it loom like an an animal has nibbled it?

I'm fully prepared to take the consequences, but they are not listed trees and are not that old so don't think the police or courts would care that much. Don't care about causing friction as they live ages away by foot on another road so don't see them.

Confused about this scenario. The person is below you but the branches are on your side? Who lives ages away?

Personally I think it sucks but causing criminal damage is a step too far.

YABU

Well there was a bloke down South who got into loads of trouble for cutting a tree down recently. Charged with criminal damage. Obviously cutting a tree down makes it very obvious but be prepared for the tree owners realising animals don't nibble bark in that manner and getting an expert witness to say it was a human and then they would know it was you. Could they prove it? Probably not.

However police might decide the circumstantial evidence is enough if no one else would benefit from loss of the tree??? Dunno. I'm wouldn't risk it.

£125,000 fine

I am guessing 'below' could easily mean 'behind'
As in one garden backs on to the other.

There is some legal "loophole", not sure on exact details.

I think it goes...

You are entitled to daylight in your property.
You are allowed to reasonably cut trees that come into your property (even in the wind??)
But you have to give the owners their cut-off branches back. Otherwise it is stealing.

Will try and find out the exact details. Maybe CAB would be more help?

They are awful trees and are not suitable for normal sized UK gardens. (They are perfect for an Australian outback though )

If it's a fairly solid row of trees then they may come under the High Hedges legislation. INFO HERE.

Can you post a photo?

You are entitled to daylight in your property.

Only if you've already had it for 20+ years.

I feel your pain. We have a walnut tree backing onto our garden from the house behind us. Their garden is over 90ft in length, so its no where near their actual house, but due to the shape of our garden it grows over our conservatory, and drops all its massive walnuts into our garden and on the roof of the conservatory.

Theirs is a council house (they always seem to have bigger gardens, how come?) but the council says it cant do anything. And its massive, I'm talking completely takes all sunlight from our garden and its higher than our house. At a complete loss on why it should ever have been grown there. I'd love to cut it down, but our village has conservation rights on all tress over a certain height.

That fine was for a protect ed and old tree. These are young, no listed, agresively growing.

Is the 20 years by me or by my house?

Would post a PIC but that might come back to bite me! Especially as I can't edit posts here.

It is the house below. I wouldn't mind if it was in the centre of his lawn, but its a metre from the boundary.

Council have been rubbish so far.

Surely if I ring it using a corkscrew it looks like an animal and unlikely to blame me as not concrete?

That other guy paid someone to do it who admitted to doing it.

Their garden is over 90ft in length, so its no where near their actual house

I feel your pain. That's the same as here :(

These trees are not native and only 6-7 m high atm. Can't think that such trees would ever be protected.

Individual trees you can't do anything about but if they are forming a hedge then you can. When you say the council aren't interested what do you mean? You normally have to pay but they have a duty to investigate if you have followed the procedures.

Are you sure it's eucalyptus?

How about a picture of a branch just to check they are eucalyptus - eucalyptus isnt a typical choice for a row of trees.

Some varieties are slower growing than others but some grow up to 2 metres a year as they can carry on growing year round if it's mild. They grow up to 20 metres. The roots are not too bad as they are quite shallow but they suck the water out the ground so its hard to grow anything close to them.

I really dislike them, can you tell ? . Mind you, they are still preferable to the dreaded lylandii (can't spell )

You are entitled to daylight in your property.

Only if you've already had it for 20+ years.

Not true. A right to light attaches to the land itself, not the owner.

If they are close knit the high hedges legislation may be your only option.

Also, they grow so so fast. We had ours taken down earlier this year - it was planted 25 years ago and dwarfed out house. Warn your neighbours that you are worried about root damage to your foundations.

They are evergreen too, so catch the wind in winter.

You have my sympathy. From what I've seen you can grow almost anything in your garden no matter how anti social or unsuitable and unless it forms a hedge the council isn't interested.

As far as I understand 'right to light' only extends to man made structures that block the light. Not trees.

Not sure if killing it would help, only because they'll probably quickly grow a new one.

As there doesn't seem to be anything reasonable you can do, can you inconvenience them in anyway? Grow a big tree somewhere else?

DP has just cut round neighbour's tree. Planted right against our garage. They're just moving out so I think he's hoping no one will notice. Silver birch. Cutting light in our garden and will undermine garage.

DP has just cut round neighbour's tree. Planted right against our garage. They're just moving out so I think he's hoping no one will notice. Silver birch. Cutting light in our garden and will undermine garage.

If you're lucky your new neighbour might not notice. Possibly they will, and replace the deciduous birch with evergreen leylandii. Which your "D"P will deserve for his knobbish behaviour.

Put ivy near it, will kill the bastard eucalyptus eventually

DF did this to a neighbour's tree. They'd planted it against the fence, really close to the house where it would cause damage to the house.

DF drilled a small hole and slowly added weedkiller. It did the job.

DF did this to a neighbour's tree. They'd planted it against the fence, really close to the house where it would cause damage to the house.

DF drilled a small hole and slowly added weedkiller. It did the job.

Appalling behaviour would cause damage to the house. You knew that did you? Go to the council.

Are you sure it is eucalyptus and not leylandii?

If the trees are close enough together to form a hedge, are higher than 2 metres and affect your property you may have a reasonable case.

This website explains it.

We did the weed killer thing on the row by our fence, they were young and already 30 or 40 foot high. Worked great, new neighbours cut them down right away in case they fell onto our house.

I live in Australia and have never seen eucalyptus as a hedge: they grow very fast and tall, but give dappled shade for the most part (those that grow well in the UK).

Could you approach the neighbour again? Invite them over to see how it is affecting you. They might let you prune the tree?

After that, mediation?

After all that, try and get acceptance round it. It not personal is it?