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?

Your baby will only put stuff in his mouth for another few months. You want to cut a tree down for the sake of a few months? Just make sure you’re watching what your baby has in his hands.

So tell the baby no. You're stuffed if they start eating mud

Apologies, I meant the landlord may absolutely hate it.

What kind of tree is it?!

Do you think the landlord should remove an established tree because the blossom falls on your decking.
Nuts.

Sounds like an ornamental cherry, because OP hasn’t complained about autumn fruit dropping down.

How much blossom can one tree produce?

We have about 6 fruit trees in our garden, they're all in blossom now, and, the horror, lots of it has fallen onto the grass, but in a couple of weeks there won't be a trace of the petals.

If it's close to the house you may not be able to take it out without risking subsidence on your house and theirs.

We had a very large tree in our old house's tiny garden (think trunk about 1yd+ in diameter)
It had a preservation order on it, so we had to get an expert in to look and tell us what we could do. He agreed it should not have been left before the house was built, but said taking it out now could cause major subsidence.

Are there any birds nesting in it or feeding from its mini-ecosystem?

If you do get an agreement to trim it down, it'll have to be in late summer, so's not to disturb nesting birds and fledglings.

Unless you don't give a fuck and run Sheffield Council

It’s a tree that was there before you moved in. YABU and I’m with your neighbour.

I don't see how a tree can cover your tire garden for the whole year.

Trees lose their leaves from Oct-Nov. Once they have all been cleared away there can't be many more leaves to fall until the following October. Similarly with blossom- it is short lived in the spring; it doesn't last for more than two weeks! Surely the rest of the spring and summer the tree just grows happily and has nice green leaves!

Just put a rug out for the baby until they're past the mouthing stage and enjoy the colour changing decking! Nature is fab, leave it be. We've got overhanging trees so birds raising families in them, creepers up our fences full of insects and little young blue tits eating all of them, dandelions taking over our lawn with butterflies and bees loving it.... much better than a clean piece of decking imo!

I'm a tree lover so you won't get any sympathy from me. Thank goodness not everyone feels the same as you ... where would the birds and wildlife live for a start? Imagine for a minute if everyone chopped their trees down. What if everyone had concrete car parks for front gardens and round the back a border less grass rectangle of grass surrounded by a fence probably painted blue or grey Ugh ugly!

Is this you OP?

This thread is hilarious.

Never mind blossom and leaves, OP - you might want to get your decking removed. Rats like to live underneath it.

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.

Your neighbours should be careful what they wish for. I had a friend with a huge common beech tree in her back garden, which blocked a lot of the sunlight in her kitchen, where she had a big window.

Got rid of it. But now the heat in her kitchen during summer is unbearable and the sun is so direct, she has to have blinds pulled down all the time and misses the view altogether.

You sound like my mum who moved into her new place and cut down a mature cherry tree and a wisteria that covered her back wall. NATURE, KNOW YOUR PLACE.
Your toddler won’t always put blossom in their mouth.

Tbh I can see where the op is coming from.
Large trees CAN be a nuisance. (If said tree really covers the garden with blossoms, the.pn it has to be large).

When my parents bought their house, it had a few of those very big trees that had been let to be totally overgrown by the previous owner. All the neighbours sighted of relief when my parents had them cut. They were creating a lot of shade in their garden and were a potential danger anyway.

Our neighbour has a tree that hasn’tmore or less never been cut since we moved in 15 years ago. Bar the fact we now have very little sun in our garden ever due to said tree, it’s also a danger. You can see it swinging with abit of wind and this is the type of tree known to snap once it gets to a certain height....

So whilst I wouldn’t grumble about the blossoms (we do have too the falling of the blossoms in our garden. We have thought several times it was snowing from the white fluff coming down from the tree ), it is still annoying when people let their tree grow well past the suitable size for their garden.

Maybe I’m just irrationally annoyed....
^This.

Plastic grass should be banned altogether. Imagine all the the tiny fragments breaking off and being breathed in by the playing children, plus the confusion of the wildlife.

It should be pruned yes but its a tree (assume cherry blossom tree) so I think you are being a little precious gardens have leaves etc on them

I have a tree that predated my ownership in a rural, wooded village. We also have a hedge. Over the years our courtyard neighbours have told us the hedge is too high - it does not block their light and there is only concrete on the adjoining side. What it does is stop them looking in our windows and into our private garden. They harass us continually about it. We kept it in check but have let it grow higher recently. We have spent hundreds of pounds trying to please them, but nothing ever does. It is too high, it is too low and we can see into their courtyard, nothing bloody well suits so we have given up.

Sorry op, but if the tree was there before you bought then it is tough. It is a different matter if it blocks light and they need to be more considerate about this. But, if you want to live in a more rural, green setting then this is what comes with it. Leaves fall off trees, leaves bud and drop pollens and blossoms. Our local council have moved to stop the second home whiners where we live by slapping preservation orders on the trees. Your neighbours could do this and I certainly would after you had gone ahead and hacked off overhang.

You may well say you are "entitled" to do so, but you cannot destabilise/cause the tree to lean which you may well have done.

You also cannot cut back at this time of year because it is contrary to the Countryside Act which protects nesting wildlife. I hope you have not just gone ahead.

It's a tree. It was there before you moved in and will probably be there after all of us are dead and gone.

Your child will grow up and stop eating leaves. Cutting down the tree would be a permanent (and entirely unnecessary) solution to an extremely temporary problem.

Hoovering blossoms would win any PFB thread.

YABVVU