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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
JoffreyBaratheon · 13/05/2018 17:15

Nice!

PrimalLass · 13/05/2018 17:28

Not if it's 2m from your house 😂

Billben · 13/05/2018 17:33

Planting what becomes a massive tree on a boundary line, two metres away from someone else's house but nowhere near your own, is still selfish.

Agree. And you have to declare any trees or hedges near your house within a certain distance when you take out house insurance too. Even if they are not your trees.

PrimalLass · 13/05/2018 17:37

We didn't have to. But I must look into that.

sunshinesupermum · 13/05/2018 17:44

OP you can call the Council and find out if the tree has a TPO on it. I doubt that would be the case as the owner of the hous isn't interested in the tree at all.

MaggieFS · 13/05/2018 17:45

What did LL say?

Jonbb · 13/05/2018 17:49

There are things you can do to kill the tree . . .

TulipsInAJug · 13/05/2018 18:12

It's definitely not a cherry tree. Anyone know what it is?

I don't understand your dislike of it at all. If be delighted to have it at the end of my garden. It is beautiful, gives you a nice view and privacy, mitigates against air and noise pollution. It doesn't block sunlight (and even for those houses that it does block light it would only be for part of the day).

To get rid of this beautiful tree to protect your man-made decking would be shameful.

JoffreyBaratheon · 13/05/2018 19:47

There are things you can do to kill the tree . . .

I have a very small yew tree (not close to anyone's house) in a hedge of mixed native trees, which my neighbour has taken a dislike to. By small I mean I have had this tree 16 years and it is still only about four feet high.

Suddenly this year the leaves on the side near his garden are mysteriously brown and dying. We planted a gooseberry bush in the same hedge area, which also browned off and started to die - in fact I uprooted it ready to throw away then noticed it was sparking back to life so replanted where he can't reach it and now it is thriving again...

What is it he is using?

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 13/05/2018 20:14

I don't know but he's a twat.

OldHag1 · 13/05/2018 20:22

We have a massive cherry tree next door we also have a small garden. When my kids were little I used to shake the branches for ‘pink snow’ it doesn’t bother me but the owner of the tree moans about the petals and leaves. Could you buy a gazebo for a petal/leaf free area?

Harebellmeadow · 13/05/2018 20:22

To get rid of this beautiful tree to protect your man-made decking would be shameful.

Yes, shameful, but the fact that this is true, and people are thinking about how to kill the tree, is horridly hilarious.

Please everyone, buy or borrow the book “Tidy” I recommended on the first page. It is essential reading for every modern child and captures exactly this mentality. Pete the badger tidies all the leaves then cuts down all the trees because they are too messy. Then the animals have nowhere to live and Pete manages to concrete over access to his own burrow/den. Only then does he realise the error or his ways and brings back the trees. It’s actually very child friendly, funn, and not preachy. Possibly we should send OP a copy as it is desperately needed.

Fresta · 13/05/2018 20:47

What do you think about neighbours planting new trees which then shade your once sunny garden.

We have lived in our house 11 years and have a bench on a small flagged area which catches the evening sun until it sets. Much of our garden is shady as we have a a few mature trees which have been there since the house was built 100 years ago and most have preservation orders on them so they can't be cut, plus we live in a conservation area. Our neighbour planted a cherry tree two years ago. Already, it is high enough to cast a shadow on the only seating area we have from bout 5pm onwards. We have no other seating area in the garden which gets evening sun because of other trees. Now I can put up with 100 year old trees casting shadows, but I am sure the neighbour has planted this tree purposefully to cause shade as she clearly has a problem with us over another issue. WWYD? This neighbour has planted 9 trees in last 2 years!

PrimalLass · 13/05/2018 20:54

Harebellmeadow Another patronising response. Can you not grasp that sometimes trees are planted in the wrong place? People think they will keep on top of the growth and then just don't. We have two eucalyptus in our tiny garden - just madness. Every few years we have to totally butcher them because them put on metres of height over a good summer. Thankfully they take it well. But they should not be there at all and the grass won't grow because of them. Wanting the wrong or overly large trees dealt with does not mean concreting over a garden.

Fresta I think there should be more guidance/laws on these things. You wouldn't be able to build a 20-ft tower that overshadowed someone's garden.

PrimalLass · 13/05/2018 20:58

And actually it is horrible and stressful to feel so at the mercy of someone else's decision.

Original poster
QueenofmyPrinces · 13/05/2018 21:01

I don’t want to rip up the tree or kill the tree, I promise, I just want the LL to acknowledge the problems her huge tree causes to myself and the three other surrounding houses and maintain/control the correct growth.

It won’t happen though as she quite blankly told my DH that she didn’t care how we all felt about the tree and that although last year she allowed us to strip back all the branches of the tree that hung over into our garden she does not want us doing it this year.

So I guess that’s us all told.

We have relayed it to the other home owners and those whose gardens are affected regarding having no sunlight are really pissed off.

OP posts:
PrimalLass · 13/05/2018 21:02

She can't stop you cutting back the overhanging branches.

Fresta · 13/05/2018 21:03

Me too- we have to give notice to the council if we want to so much as trim a large shrub as we live in a conservation area, yet anyone can plant whatever trees they like without any permission. I've looked at the guidance and it seems it only applies to hedges which can't be more than 2 m tall and evergreen, there seems to be no way of complaining to the council about deciduous trees. It's bollocks, as who wants to sit on a bench after the leaves have fallen off- it'd be bloody stupid- it's something we do on summer evenings after a days gardening when the tree is in full leaf and shading the bench now!

SophieofShepherdsBush · 13/05/2018 21:15

But from your picture it looks like it's nearly finished blossoming; post another picture in a week please!

MaggieFS · 13/05/2018 22:38

You are allowed to cut anything which overhangs your property, as are all of your neighbours (but I think the rule includes something daft like you have to offer them back the cuttings!)

You and other neighbours could jointly offer her the chance to either get it done thoroughly and properly or let her know you'll each be doing your overhanging bits and she'll be left with and odd looking odd shaped tree.

Littlepleasures · 14/05/2018 00:37

I wouldn’t mind about leaves and blossom - makes great compost but I do despair about having a once sunny garden bathed in shade for most of the day. I’ve lived in my house 23 years now. When we moved in, all along the south facing side of our 100 foot garden it was a real sun trap. There were even grapes growing. I get on really well with my NDN but they don’t have time for gardening and everything has been left to grow to massive heights. One self seeding tree is now about 30feet high on their south facing side shading my lovely south facing border for most of the day. Anything needing significant hours of sun has given up the ghost and died. I’ve had to redo my borders with shade tolerant plants and am continually reseeding bare patches on the lawn where the shade never disappears.

ferrier · 14/05/2018 00:52

OP - might it be a Weigela - it's difficult to tell from your photos as they don't zoom very well!

To a PP who mentioned magnolia on the walk to school - it only flowers for about two weeks max.

Frequency · 14/05/2018 01:58

Did we figure out what kind of tree it was?

I want a pink garden for months and months.

endofagain · 14/05/2018 02:45

Our neighbour had an oak tree.
The roots went through the drains and our foundations. Our house developed cracks and slippage. The cost and time was around 4 years and about £30k.
Oak trees are not great in gardens. They are much more suited to woodland.

HoppingPavlova · 14/05/2018 03:52

....and that although last year she allowed us to strip back all the branches of the tree that hung over into our garden she does not want us doing it this year.
??? Why would you listen to her? You are allowed to cut back branches that overhang your property. If they bother you then do so. End of.