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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think we should be allowed to pull up our NDN’s stupid tree!!

417 replies

QueenofmyPrinces · 08/05/2018 17:41

I live in a crescent and there are about 5 of us who have gardens that all kind of back on to one another.

In one of these gardens is a huge tree that is a total PITA! It’s at the end of their garden and some of it hangs over in to ours.

All winter our entire decking area and the lawn of our garden are COVERED in dead leaves that fall from the stupid tree that we have to go and rake up every day, and then every summer our entire garden is covered in bloody annoying soggy blossom petals and stuff which makes it looks awful and so messy.

We’ve had to buy one of those leaf blower/hoover type things because it’s the only way we can keep on top of it and we can’t actually play out in our garden with the toddler/baby until we’ve hoovered up all the crap that falls from their tree.

Last summer we looked in to our rights and as a result we hacked off all the branches that overhang our garden but it doesn’t solve anything because the other 90% of the tree still exists and its leaves and soggy blossom bits are still blown all over our decking/lawn every bloody day.

I can’t even explain how pissed off I am by it and every year the problem just gets worse as the tree gets bigger and bigger.

A few of the other surrounding neighbours have voiced their anger too because their gardens suffer that same way ours does and two of the neighbours gardens are practically in the shade all day because the big tree blocks the sunlight out.

AIBU to think that surely there’s something more we can do? Can a house owner be forced to have a massive tree removed if it impacts on everyone else?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
14
blaaake · 09/05/2018 18:54

Can't you sneak into their garden under the cover of darkness and poison it? I did that in my last place when there was a bastard conifer in next door's garden right near the boundary

Arian1 · 09/05/2018 18:58

Saudi has relaxed its laws and you can move to a tree free country any time now. But men and women have to grow a beard. My mother in law can show you how.....

Summertime45 · 09/05/2018 18:59

I am pro tree too; perhaps the neighbour can prune it but how sad you want to kill the tree.

brassbrass · 09/05/2018 19:02

The aspect of some properties means they won't get the same amount of sun as others. Could be another building blocking sun, could be a tree. If it's a deal breaker don't buy it but don't expect to start changing the landscape to suit your astro turf 😂. We even had the idiot ndn before the current idiot ndn ask if we could move our shed to the other side of our garden. No you twat it's in the perfect position for us. Inside our own garden.

londonrach · 09/05/2018 19:05

Yabu re decking. Hope your toddler can cope with the rats that live under this. Of course you cant force your ndn to remove a tree from their land any more than your ndn can force you to remove your rat infected decking. Nature happens re leaves. Bet your toddler loves the leaves

blaaake · 09/05/2018 19:07

Who said there was rats under the decking?

blaaake · 09/05/2018 19:08

Were*

Happygummibear · 09/05/2018 19:16

In an old place i rented the tree got so big that if it was to fall it would have hit the house. The landlord finally relented and got it cut down. It annoyed the neighbours and was a potential hazard.

I long for a nice tree in my garden... one day I will have one.

However if a tree has been allowed to grow so tall that it can cause a hazard to someone's property then it should be maintained appropriately. There is a possibility that if a tree fell on your house caused by lightening or wind your insurance might not cover it as it would be under "act of god"

PeachyPeachTrees · 09/05/2018 19:31

My NDN has a 45 foot evergreen tree at the end of their garden. It has a TPO on it and he's not allowed to remove it. It is way too big for a small garden. Luckily it doesn't shed leaves or flowers and it doesn't shade my garden but it does completely shade 2 other gardens. Council not budging though.

MummysBusy · 09/05/2018 19:31

Right, I haven't rtft. But if one neighbour says that the tree is blocking light, then they are well within their rights to have it assessed by the council, I believe. OP's issue with the tree is totally daft, but the neighbour might have a point.

GlennRheeismyfavourite · 09/05/2018 19:37

Op - I totally get what you're saying - I'd be pissed off with this too. My back garden is constantly covered with leaves from a sodding enormous bamboo plant growing in the back of the neighbours that back on to us.

DagenhamRoundhouse · 09/05/2018 19:41

our neighbour has huge beech trees in our lane and every season they drop either, leaves, clusters of nuts or sticky stuff. But it's the country and you put up with it. Go and live on a Barratt estate if you don't want nature.

OJZJ · 09/05/2018 19:42

.....are you my neighbour 🤔.....
Yes I have one of those huge PITA trees-in looks absolute glorious in spring then sends a confetti of petals all over giving me a beautiful pink lawn and has been in the garden since the house was built about 60 yrs ago... and the birds are glorious I love them plus my son has a swing hanging from the branches... it's the cat shit from other people's cats that bothers me esp as mine always comes home to use his litter tray!!

Original poster
QueenofmyPrinces · 09/05/2018 19:57

then sends a confetti of petals all over giving me a beautiful pink lawn....

And I get that - YOUR tree gives YOU a pink lawn.

I don’t have such a tree but I still have a pink lawn. It’s not my tree and it annoys me that my lawn is pink.

OP posts:
Bekstar · 09/05/2018 20:08

It's a tree it's nature, it depends how long it's been there but if it overhangs, chances are it was there first. Don't see why your child can't play outside among leaves. We spent many a happy childhood playing in the leaves from a overhanging tree at the bottom of our garden. In fact I can remember the owner coming round and tying a tyre on a rope as a swing from it for us. It was great we spent a lot of time making pictures from leaves, kicking them up, hiding under them etc. I don't think kids should be playing on decking it can get slippy and dangerous. Although you can cut overhanging branches you will probably find even the owner won't be allowed to cut it down if it's too old, as most tees are protected unless there's something wrong with them. It would also put your property at risk if they took them out because the roots of a tree normally reach twice the length if the tree itself so will definitely extend past your garden and if it dies your decking will be far from even. In fact it could possibly cause problems in your home with subsidence too.

nannykatherine · 09/05/2018 20:09

Sad that your children will not get to enjoy nature...

nannykatherine · 09/05/2018 20:11

And I despise people who use leaf blowers.......

Boulty · 09/05/2018 20:16

seems you a being a bit over the top about a tree.... who hoovers the garden...leaves or soggy blossom will not hurt a child.... how long have you lived there...was the tree there when you moved in...

YABU

Original poster
QueenofmyPrinces · 09/05/2018 20:16

The housing estate was built 10 years ago so I’m assuming whoever lives there first planted the tree as prior to all the building being done it was pretty much wasteland.

The tree has been planted at the very bottom of the garden, as far away from the house as is possible so their garden isn’t affected by blossom coverings and near total black-out by the sun, it’s just the adjoining gardens that have to put up with it.

I think the person who planted it knew exactly how much of a PITA the trees can be so made sure it would cause minimal problems for them with little care for how it would affect surrounding gardens.

It is a beautiful tree and I can totally see the appeal to people who choose to have them in their gardens, but for the rest of us it’s just a nuisance. If it was chopped back and pruned it would reduce the scale of the problem but the landlord just isn’t interested in doing it.

OP posts:
Landed · 09/05/2018 20:24

kitkatsky at last someone with a brilliant thought Grin Can you just imagine it! Plastic grass, extension of concrete driveways etc what would our world be like?

SweetCheeks1980 · 09/05/2018 20:31

Please get a life OP!

nymum · 09/05/2018 20:49

OP I think many people underestimate the nuisance of an overgrown, uncared for tree. As a longtime renter, this has been a problem in several properties I’ve lived in. Longterm neglect (gardens really suffer in long term rentals) is an annoyance. I spent a year complaining about an overgrown apple tree on my rental property before the landlord finally trimmed it. It was too big and it was constant work between leaves, apples, and blossoms. It was beautiful, but should have been maintained properly. Also, our neighbours had overgrown mulberry trees at the bottom of their garden which gave them great shade/privacy, but the berries and bird poo were off the chain. It practically gre into the side of our house, but too high to trim ourselves and landlord could care less. The beige rental carpets were ruined by kids tracking in purple berry stains despite best efforts to remove shoes. You are getting a tough time on here but YANBU to want the tree maintained and manageable. There is a huge difference between accepting the nature of nature and being ok with the effects of garden neglect.

SchrodingersCatepillar · 09/05/2018 21:08

Sounds like a beautiful tree. Get the toddler a rake.

GinghamStyle · 09/05/2018 21:11

Just looked up the tree and this was the first search result Kwanzaa Cherry Trees are exploding in pink but they are such a mess

SimonBridges · 09/05/2018 21:17

near total black-out by the sun

Exaggerating much there op?

As shown up thread I have 10 trees in my garden and a woodland behind it. I can sit in the sun in my garden. It’s not like Sleepy Hollow.