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

[QueenofmyPrinces]

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?

We live right beside major country park and the trees on the otherside of fence overhang our garden. By law we can trim those tree branches to just past the fence border or if we believe tree is damaging our property fence or garage we ask land owners (scottishwater/GCC) to remove trees and repair fence etc.

If the tree is going to potentially cause injury due to heavy limbs and old age/disease then you can request neighbour as a group to prune right back or remove it - if it's just a PITA then nothing you can do but prune branches etc.

Maybe worth speaking to your council/landlords/safety etc to get advice (no idea on rules outside our area).

she should have it properly maintained. ... which in the case of a tree means allowing it to grow to its natural shape.

So you're happy to let trees grow wild until they eventually either blow over or branches start falling off or their roots cause damage to properties? Don't you care about the potential for people to be killed or maimed by falling trees or branches, or properties subsiding due to invasive roots? Perhaps if that's the prevailing attitude it's no surprise that their is usually chaos and harm caused by falling trees/branches during storms. Trees, especially near properties, roads and footpaths etc need to be properly maintained, that means lopping as necessary, to stop them causing damage.

That's not really the point is it? People enjoy being able to sit in the sun.
They enjoy sun coming into their home. And if you live in a cold country the opportunity to enjoy a bit of sun is actually quite important. We all now how nice it is to sit in the sun and that it makes you feel good. Stopping neighbours from being able to enjoy that because you won't cut your tree back is selfish.

So maybe they shouldn't buy a house with a garden oveshadowed by a tree and the complain about it?

Such weird tree hatred.

kazzyhoward what you're describing is a little different from blossom and leaves falling into a garden, isn't it?

Lopping isn't doing the tree any favours.

So you're happy to let trees grow wild until they eventually either blow over or branches start falling off or their roots cause damage to properties? Don't you care about the potential for people to be killed or maimed by falling trees or branches, or properties subsiding due to invasive roots?
None of which is happening here LOL though it does sound terribly over dramatic and very very exciting!

OP doesn't like petals.

We have a humongous cherry tree across the road some way away. As in not adjoining our property or boundary in any way. The blossom gets blown into my back garden if the wind chooses to carry it that way and covers the pavement and front garden considerably more. Can't imagine getting worked up about it.

Hi OP....thanks for pic. Hard for me to expand the image but I see leaves plus blossom. I think this rules out most cherry trees and it is a malus or crab apple. They're not really in vogue these days, a tree of the 70's! However birds love em! They like the fruit things.
TBH a bit of blossom won't hurt your toddler but obviously picking stuff up of the soil could very well do so. If the blossom wasn't there wouldn't she just find something else to 'forage' ?

There's an obvious solution to this.

Contact a tree surgeon and ask for their advice and a quote. They can tell you about optimum timings for trimming it etc.

Contact the landlord directly. I suspect he/she isn't actually 'pro-tree', they just can't be arsed to deal with it. Tell them what the quote is from the tree surgeon and that you/your neighbours would be happy contribute or cover the cost.

I appreciate you may not want to spend the money but it is clearly bothering you and this seems to be the only way to actually achieve the solution you want.

(Apologies if someone has suggested this already, it's a long thread and I mainly read the OP's posts and I can't see anywhere that she won't spend some money on this)

Tinkobell Somewhere way back in the thread, OP posted a picture of the leaf and a few petals. The leaf was far more Prunus than Malus - more elongated oval with pointed tip and toothed edges, smooth surface, not the more matte look of many Malus.

tinkobell - the tree is primarily leaves with the pink blossoms interspersed here and there.

I will see if I can discreetly take a photo of the whole tree

My DH has said he’s going to go and speak to the Tenants tonight to ask for the landlord’s contact number.

I'm baffled by the love for cherry blossom trees. House opposite has one which flowers for about a week once a year and the rest of the year looks dull and a bit dead. My mum is tree mad and even she admits it's an ugly tree.

It’s not even a big tree. This is cherry blossom and I shit you not it’s in flower about two weeks of the year, you’re being a drama llama- wind your neck in.

Just let that tree be, OP.

A bit of blossom has never hurt anyone. And it's a cherry, it can't possibly be in blossom all the time.

From the op:
Can a house owner be forced to have a massive tree removed if it impacts on everyone else?

Looks a lot like you want it removed from that comment.

Here is the tree.

I have ‘yellowed out’ any windows and garden features that may be identifying.

You can see a thin line of fence at the very bottom of the photo which is the top of my garden fence at the back of my garden. The fence is about 5ft 5” high.

The main trunk of the tree is only about 3ft high and then the rest of the tree from that point onwards looks like the picture.

The roof behind the tree is the roof of the house where the tree is planted and it is a 3 storey house.

I’m not sure how well the photo depicts it’s height and general appearance but it’s the best I could do

Looks lovely.

A tree this size is a real ecosystem. It supports insects, birds, wildlife and cleans the air. It also looks good and provides some noise filtering. Why would you want to pull it out? Because of some blossom in your garden?

You are lucky to have it! Enjoy it.

I honestly don’t want it pulled out - is it possible to amend thread titles??

Myself and the 3 other residents who are having issues with the tree would just like it trimmed back a little bit.

My DH has spoken to the Tenants this evening who rightly so said they weren’t prepared to hand over the landlords phone number. They have said they will speak to the LL tomorrow though to see if she’s happy to be contacted and then the Tenant will give us her phone number if she’s happy for that to be done.

The tenant had a little moan about the size of the tree and how it blocks out a lot of their sunlight too. He said that it’s just getting bigger and bigger and that he’d been considering mentioning it to the LL himself to ask about having it scaled back. It’s a beautiful tree but it’s jidt too big for their garden. Apparently their dogs love it though and enjoy chasing the blossom

It's hardly massive Treezilla!

and regardless of whether it's a crab apple or a cherry blossom ( looks more like crab apple to me) it can't flower for months.

To get it properly Id'ed you could upload a photo of it onto Treezilla www.treezilla.org/treezilla/map/

;-)

OP I know exactly how you feel. Our neighbours have a huge tree right on our boundary. It blocks the light from our house, blocks the drains, and makes a huge mess.

Your idea of ‘huge’ and ‘massive’ are very different to mine. Has the husband been telling you that small things are massive?

If this tree is as big as you're saying then it must have been there before the houses were built.

LMFAO @SimonBridges. 😂

@ husband telling
me small things are massive!!

I do class a tree that’s 25ft high and 20ft (ish) wide as being big/massive though obviously others don’t

It probably seems so ‘massive’ because of how big it seems in relation to the small garden it’s planted in.

Imagine the four houses (mine, the tree-house and the other two neighbours) were all positoned in a circle the tree is positioned slap bang in the middle of all of us so it’s like having a communal tree which annoys all of us but there being nothing any of us can do about it.