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?

Seriously? You would kill a tree for growing? Prune the bit that hangs over.

Did you recently put spikes on trees in Bristol to stop birds nesting and sitting in the branches

I often think I've heard it all and then..

One of my friends bought a beautiful house with a mature apple tree and shrubs and willows then promptly destroyed everything including the 20 year old apple tree and laid concrete slabs all over the garden because they didn't want to have to pick up the fallen apples.
There are reasons why when I was a kid there were birds and hedgehogs everywhere and childhood felt really magical and wild and why our children these days will be lucky if they ever see a hedgehog in real life and will suffer the loss of species of songbirds and insects on a level not seen before.
This is one if them.

Darn these pesky trees dropping leaves and providing our planet with the oxygen we need to survive.

We’ve lived here about 10 years and the tree has obviously significantly grown in that time.

We only have to rake up all the blossom because the baby is constantly putting it in his mouth. I’m really not exaggerating when I say the blossom and petals practically cover (not just simply landing on) the majority of our garden. We look out of our back garden and our lawn/decking looks red.

It’s a beautiful looking tree, I’m not denying that but it’s so, so annoying.

I would be mortified if I had such a big tree that caused issues with my neighbour’s gardens.

Thankfully the tree doesn’t block any sunlight out of our garden but I can understand why the two neighbours who do have that problem are annoyed about it, especially in this beautiful weather.

The house is rented and the tenants hate the tree too. They spoke to the landlord about it last year (when one of the neighbours had first spoken to the tenants about the leaves/shade issues) but the landlord said he wasn’t interested.

Maybe I’m just irrationally annoyed....

My neighbours cut the overhanging branches from my tree and "kindly" offered to cut it down for me. My response "no thanks" I happen to like the shade that the tree provides me. I don't want the sun blasting at me from every angle. I like the way it looks, I like seeing the birds on the branches. YABVU

I have noticed a lot of this kind of attitude around me lately. New neighbours have moved in side & back, immediately cut everything down and done everything in their power to stop nature coming into their garden. NDN have plastic grass which they wash & dry before their children are allowed out.
What the fuck is the matter with people?

Blossom is not an 'issue'. You can't control everything.

As someone who lives in a rural area this made me laugh
Imagine hoovering your garden before your kids are allowed to play in it

I would ask them politely if they can help out with the issue at all. I would if a neighbour asked me

Poor Mother Nature, she really can't get anything right. Maybe you should think about moving somewhere she doesn't impinge, OP.

NDN have plastic grass which they wash & dry before their children are allowed out.

Fake grass makes me want to cry. How sad.

Blossom from any tree only lasts a week or so.

What type of tree is it?

Here is a lovely book for you: it’s about a badge who doesn’t like leaves so he decides to “tidy up the forest” 🤔

www.amazon.co.uk/Tidy-Emily-Gravett/dp/1447273990/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Tidy&dpID=61T0RP%252Bf0BL&preST=SX258_BO1&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1525799754&sr=8-1,204,203,200_QL70&dpSrc=srch

I think you can chop off what's overhanging your garden.

As for everything else, tough! It's a beautiful tree.

I have a tree overhanging my garden. I live in a conservation area and we are not allowed to meddle with the trees.

Right now I am in the middle of it shedding millions of seeds like a green carpet all over my garden. It's a bit of a pain to have them walked into the house and make the patio furniture sticky, but IT'S A TREE and I love it.

Front cover

YANBU. I would cheerfully chop down the two enormous silver birches in my BEN garden. Their growth rate is phenomenal. The shedding of leaves and branches is phenomenal. It's the stupid twiggy branches through the winter that really annoy me- they do need cleared regularly. The impact on the light into our garden increases each year. It was not predictable when we viewed the house. They are an absolute PITA but we live in a conservation zone so every tree has a TPO. We have trees. NDN has lots of other trees. It's not a hatred of nature - just these 2 trees and the impact. I am with you OP.

its nature and one of the most beautiful trees. I wish I lived there.

Realistically It can't be in bloom for along though, so it's not really a problem

Laughing my head off at you not being able to use your garden because there is leaves in it.

Wtf.

If you get rid of the leaves and blossom, your toddler will eat slugs. It's not a tree problem, it's a toddler problem.

Make sure it isn't subject to a tree protection order before you lop anything off it.

Maybe if you didn’t have the decking it would be easier - the leaves would disintegrate over the winter, nourish the soil as nature intended, and there would only be one big tidy up required at the end of winter. So one solution would be to remove your decking?

If the tree is that old, it may well have a preservation order in it, which might limit how and when it can be maintained. For all you know, the neighbour who has the tree in their garden may absolutely hate it.