To be annoyed by this tree

[justalittlelemondrizzle]

We bought this house at the end of last summer. Nice big sunny W facing garden. Everything was fine till last month when the neighbours huge tree (I'd say double the height of the houses) started to get its leaves back. I lose the sun off my garden from 3 - 6 every day. My gaden is cold and dark because of it while all the neighbours including tree owners gardens and houses are basking in sun. This is the time the dc's will be playing in the garden after school, time we would have bbqs etc. We've tried to cut some back but it's so thick and tall we can't do anymore ourselves.
As well as this in October when it loses all its leaves you basically cannot see my garden by the sheer amount that fall. Really don't know what to do. We don't really speak to the neighbours. How much sun does everyone else get. Aibu?

Yes give. The dc's trampoline is full of tree mess. It's sticky and horrible. I'm forever cleaning it. There's no where else for it to go without looking stupid so I'm looking for a cover for it. Which is proving difficult

Gide **

You can cut back to your boundary. I can't remember whether you have to give your neighbours the trimmings or whether you can keep them. I think you have to give them to the tree owner.

Our neighbour has trees all along the boundary of his/our garden. He comes over and lops a load of branches every year and takes away what he lops off.

We did have a tree on the other side of our garden which grew as tall as the tree you're complaining about. For several years, the woman whose garden was overshandowed by our tree paid half the costs of pollarding and we paid the other half. After a few years though, we got together with her and had the tree removed completely (horrible Leylandii - they're ghastly things which grow fast and sucks the life out of the soil around them).

Go and talk to them. Offer to pay for pollarding; they may hate it as much as you do.

Before you even think of chopping anything off, check if the tree is protected. Even if you get a qualified tree surgeon to to the work, if it is protected and you don't get permission the fine can be huge.

Your neighbours should be able to tell you.

Yabu, and you also have no right to light, the tree is their responsibility, you can remove any hanging branches that go into your property but that's about it, also please don't use chemicals or a chain say in th tree if you do its criminal damage!

Approach your neighbour, all you can do is ask, however be prepared their answer could be No.

Denis a qualified Arborist (masters degree) he says your looking at a cost of £1500 upwards to removed the tree and possible disposal costs on top of this.

I feel your pain op. We lived for years in a rented house that had massive trees, they spoilt the whole garden and even gloriously hot days were chilly in the garden. We didn't realise how much they would affect the garden, just one of those things you find out the hard way.

If I was you I'd chop it down in the middle of the night and blame the wind.

Dh, not Denis stooped auto correct!

Do you live in a conservation area or a small village? If it has a TPO, then you have no chance of getting it removed.

You might have more luck if you are prepared to pay it all. Offer half and see what they say. If they don't care about the garden they are not likely to want to pay anything but may not mind if you pay it all.

We had one in a garden at the bottom of ours. For 10 years it wasn't a problem but then just got too tall and blocked the sun. The people had a reputation for being awkward so we bit our tongues but were privately cursing this tree for a couple of years. One day I realised it had just disappeared. I think if we had moaned though, they may have kept it just to be awkward!
It looked dangerous in high winds so that may have been why they got rid of it.

First of all YABU for not seeing the tree would grow more leaves in spring, by September autumn can be kicking in and leaves thinning. Your solicitor cannot be expected to warn you against the seasons.

Make use of the leaves in your garden by making leaf mold
organicgardening.about.com/od/compost/a/LeafMold.html

Finally, speak to your neighbours, as advised upthread.

you might be able to ask them to cut it down, due to the possible root damage?

I think talk to the neighbours first. We had a huge tree in our garden when we moved in and it was a pine cone tree that overlapped two gardens at the back.

We were very aware of how annoying this must be for the neighbours but being first time buyers, then getting married and having a baby we never quite had enough disposable cash to get the tree down. Could this maybe be an issue with your neighbours?

We finally got the tree down last September and one neighbour told the tree surgeon how pleased he was but had never mentioned anything to us before this.

Just have a word, they might surprise you! especially if you would be willing to contribute to the cost because a big tree like that won't be cheap to cut down

Sorry YABU! The tree was there when you bought the house. Our survey mentioned all the trees that would affect the property when we bought, and the solicitor went over any issues they might cause.

Our neighbour is similar. Bought a house in a conservation area surrounded by trees, then moans about trees, light, and leaves!
They also got PP to remove some of their trees from their garden, then moaned to me that neighbours could now see in, and it wasn't private any more!

yes but trees grow and need keeping in check

I would speak to your neighbours.

We organised for two enormous spruces to be cut down at the front of our neighbours' garden. They were huge, and stopped a lot of light into our garden. When we spoke to them, it turned out they had been trying to get the landlord to do something about them for years but to no avail.

It only took us, as neighbours, to speak to the council and suggest to the landlord that they were dangerous and "possibly voiding our building insurance" for him to finally remove them.

I think it is worth remembering that not everyone knows how to sort stuff like this. People can be geniuses at their highly complex jobs, but when faced with something like a tree problem, they can turn into jelly.

To be honest, I wish there was more guidance about tree heights in Britain. We live in a semi rural area that is expanding massively, and some trees by the side of roads and streets are now taller than buildings by a good twenty or more feet. While it's not a problem now, it will be in ten to twenty years.

If their garden is a state they probably won't mind if you offer to pay to have it thinned and/or lowered.

BTW, you also have a case if the roots are disrupting your garden. Be wary though, if you get the tree removed, you may find it drastically increases the water content of your soil in your garden. A tree like that drinks a lot every day, and once it is gone, you may find the soil gets waterlogged.

You can get protected trees removed. I did when one became unsafe.

Also be careful asking if its protected, they might say "no, but now I'll add one"

Why not offer to go halfs on cutting it down and pay for a replacement smaller tree. We bought a house last year with massive trees at the bottom of the garden. The lady that backs onto us had slabbed her garden, the trees were closer to her house than ours. You could see them from 5 miles away! £1200 to cut them down, think all the neighbours were relieved to see them go. Your neighbours tree will only get bigger, you can only ask!

Honestly no matter how unapproachable you think they might be it's worth planning a conversation with them about it. Can you afford to pay half? Can you afford to pay for all of it? If they say no to both those suggestions ask them if they want the cuttings which overhang your side which you will then get done or are they happy for you to dispose of them? That way you know you've done all you can to solve your problem.

Re the fence. Is it yours or theirs? If yours just get it repaired via your side and be done. If theirs you can put up a parallel fence on your side and be done with it.

My neighbour recently cut down a tree which was previously thought to belong to me until we redid the fence. There's so much more light but so little privacy. You probably don't have that issue if there's fields at the back though. Apparently they'd wanted to cut it down for years but thought it was ours. We had had people in to top it and thin it out but trees grow as you know.

YABU. If full sun was important to you, you should not have chosen this house.

You have a right to have all the overhanging branches removed. This is easier if the tree surgeon has access to the tree via your neighbour's garden.

You are very unlikely to have any right to have the tree reduced in height. Of course you can always ask the neighbour if they'd be willing to agree to the work. If they do agree, they may well say that it'll be at your expense.

DP is a tree surgeon and gets called to this sort of thing all the time.

Your best bet is to speak to the neighbours and say how much light you are losing. Would they consider cutting it back if you share the cost?

You can cut back the branches over your boundary but you have to give them back. You'd also need to check it's not protected first in which case you can't touch it unless it's dangerous or dead.

Yes agree with another poster. If you get arsey with them they nay well apply to get it protected in which case you can't touch it. Best to go in nicely nicely.