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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
Sidelook · 09/05/2018 03:05

Feel like I should have a hungry panda in my garden to eat the frigging bamboo leaves instead!

Mummyoflittledragon · 09/05/2018 03:10

Fafoutis
My ndn also has plastic grass. The former owners installed it. They’ve just got a trampoline and put it on the bloody patio. Fine while the child is young. But when they’re older or with adults, every bounce will allow them to look over onto my patio and into my house. We have very long gardens and dds trampoline is 2/3 of the way down for privacy. Grrrrrrr. Maybe we should move ours to make a point or go out and get a very smoky bbq and Light it everytime she/they go on it. Wink. Luckily they don’t appear to be here much.

Alternatively I’m thinking about getting something to hide the trampoline. But it will mean taking up the dreaded decking that I truly hate and wish we never put down. It is the very expensive oak planed (ie no grooves) designer stuff.

Maybe someone thinks iambu for feeling this way. However, I think the tree is nature. The ll doesn’t want to maintain the tree by keeping it a reasonable size unfortunately. I assume it is close to the house. Nothing you can do unless it starts moving your patio or house with the roots.

MrsTerryPratchett · 09/05/2018 03:31

🐼

Snugglepiggy · 09/05/2018 06:53

Our children grew up in a house that backed onto woodland. I wonder how they survived !Seriously YABU unless the tree is so huge and close to the house its blocking all the light.But thats not the case.When we moved recently we chose our new home one reason was the garden and at the end are some beautiful silver birches .The leaves in spring are delightful but better still in winter they are stunning against the sky and sunset.They shed pesky seeds but that's nature.We also have lots if beech and hawthorn hedges so masses of leaves in autumn and need cutting after nesting season. But our garden teems with birds and wildlife and we love it.Sadly most of our neighbours have dug up lots of garden for parking,which I understand ,but one has just ripped out all the back and its now all decking and artificial grass.Ours is a steep road and at the bottom the drains struggle to cope now with water run off.Oh and we get everyone's leaves at the front too as they funnel down towards us. Bit of a nuisance but once I'm out there raking them up for leaf mould I actually enjoy it,and have met more neighbours as a result.We had hedgehogs when we first moved in but sadly not seen recently. I suspect all the new fencing without gaps and paving etc locally has destroyed their habitat.It makes me sad that so many people want gardens like an indoor room thats pristine and not natural.

KathyBeale · 09/05/2018 07:07

I sympathise with the OP too. We have a huge tree at the bottom of our small garden (in the garden of the house behind). In the years we’ve lived here it has grown so much that it now sheds on to our patio. Our grass doesn’t grow properly because of it and we only have one small flower bed because the rest of the garden is in shade. We also have the same trampoline problem as another poster.
There is no way we could leave the leaves to decompose on the lawn over winter - they would be knee deep and I don’t think we would ever see our (patchy) lawn again.

Ours has a TPO on it and I wouldn’t want to cut it down, but it definitely needs a trim. I have been encouraged by others saying that is allowed - I thought it wasn’t.

Original poster
QueenofmyPrinces · 09/05/2018 07:24

Just to answer a few comments....

The houses are just over 10 years old and we moved in when they were built and ready to be loved in.

It shades our garden until about midday and then we get the sun but one of the adjoining houses is in the shade for the majority of the day.

The thing is just massive, it’s so out of proportion to the size of their garden which is quite small. I would love to know how many feet tall it. We live in 3 storey houses and it’s easily as tall as the house.

We hang our washing out and it gets covered in the blossom.

We sit out in our garden and we get covered in it.

We try and have a barbecue and the blossom is falling on the grill and our food.

It sounds silly but when it’s happening every day for months on end and it’s been going on for years, and getting worse each year, it soon starts to get very, very annoying.

It’s just so big - there’s no need for it. The problem would be significantly reduced if it was just trimmed down to a much more manageable size.

The tenant had said the Landlord isn’t interested in what our views are....probably because he’s not having to be the one to hear them (tenants get the backlash) and nor does he have to see with his own eyes what a total PITA his monster sized teee is to everyone else.

OP posts:
YouTheCat · 09/05/2018 07:34

It's a cherry tree. I have one. The blossom lasts no more than a couple of weeks. The leaves shed in the autumn. You're being ridiculous to say that it is constant. It is a few weeks a year.

Original poster
QueenofmyPrinces · 09/05/2018 07:39

It lasts far longer than just a few weeks, I promise you. Why would I even care if it was just for a few weeks? If that was the case it would be a non-issue because it’s such a small period of time and then it would be over, but it isn’t.

OP posts:
Flutist · 09/05/2018 07:40

I'd love to know what sort of tree you have that blossoms for months on end. I want one! Every other tree I've seen only blossoms for about two weeks in the Spring!

Luisa27 · 09/05/2018 07:41

Exactly what @OhWhatFuckeryIsThisSaid

Get a grip

Luisa27 · 09/05/2018 07:42

....said (oops)

hooochycoo · 09/05/2018 07:48

You have a mutant cherry tree, if it’s as big as a house and flowers for months!

It’s probably your decking leaching wood preservative chemicals into the ground and affecting the trees growth.

MyOtherProfile · 09/05/2018 07:50

If the blossom lasts for months think how long the fruit must last! Yum! Our neighbours had a cherry tree and hated cherries so we picked mountains every year. Fabulous.

YouTheCat · 09/05/2018 07:51

My tree spouted blossom 2 weeks ago and now it's all gone. It hasn't been windy. My exmil had 3 old cherry trees that used to blanket the path for two weeks .

I'd suggest you move to one of those houses with a paved front and a back yard.

Harebellmeadow · 09/05/2018 08:03

And when you call a tree surgeon who is willing to override conservation rules, possibly ask him to add some tinsel/spikes/wire/tarmac glue to stop birds sitting in the branches. Bird poo on your lovely shiny clean vacuumed decking is a major health risk. It is shocking that the tree owning landlord isn’t more considerate 😋

SimonBridges · 09/05/2018 08:04

So the houses are 10 years old and the tree is huge. Therefore the tree was most likely there before the house was.
You are in the tree’s space, it is not in yours.

Harebellmeadow · 09/05/2018 08:04

As well as the birds being loud and waking you up at dawn. Yes, I’m sure your garden would be much pleasanter without the last remaining birdsong, all emanating from this one last bird refuge. Hmm

Original poster
QueenofmyPrinces · 09/05/2018 08:06

Then it can’t be a cherry tree because it is as tall as their house, it’s almost the width of the house, it blossoms for months, the pink petals are there all the time and there are definitely no cherries Grin

OP posts:
theeyeofthestormchaser · 09/05/2018 08:06

You're bloody lucky to have a blsosom tree giving you shade and housing wildlife. It must have been there whwn you bought the house??

Soudsn stupid of your predecessors to put decking right underneath a tree, though...

But you sound precious. What kind of tree is it? Is it protected?

theeyeofthestormchaser · 09/05/2018 08:09

It's a cherrry tree. Not all actually produce cherries. Some are ornamental. But it really can't flower for months and months.

Our ndn have one too that mainly hangs over our garden and I love it - even when we have to clear up its blossom and leaves. But then, I've never hoovered my lawn in my life...

Post a pic of it in your garden for scale?

charlestonchaplin · 09/05/2018 08:17

Trees do not need to be 'maintained' by periodically cutting them to a size people deem acceptable. That usually does the tree no good and may harm it. People should plant the right size tree for the location. Unfortunately, the people who have planted the 'problematic' trees have usually moved on by the time they get large and subsequent owners have to deal with annoyed neighbours.

TrinaN · 09/05/2018 08:24

We are similar, but we are the ones with the tree.

One of the neighbours wanted us to get rid of it but I refused on the basis that the tree is probably around 80-100 years old and was there before the houses were built. The neighbours all bought their houses with a mature tree in the corner of the gardens so they made the choice.

However, if branches overhang you can cut them back and I think it is reasonable to expect the 'owner' of the tree to keep it maintained. Ours was starting to sprawl and one of our neighbours (who is lovely) said it was blocking the light to most of their garden. A really good pruning by a tree surgeon (only cost a couple of hundred) has it back under control, the offending branches are gone and the neighbours have their light back.

There is not much the tenants can do without their Landlord's consent. It may be a case of either accepting it or contacting the Landlord and seeing if, if the Landlord will not pay to trim back the tree, whether the neighbours want to club together and pay for it with the Landlord's agreement - you may end up spending £100 or so to do it (depending on the tree surgeon), but it could make a lot of difference to you all.

Just make sure it doesn't have a Tree Preservation Order and you are not in a conservation area first.

Original poster
QueenofmyPrinces · 09/05/2018 08:31

Definitely not a conservation area as it’s a completely built up residential area.

The houses are 10 years old and so the tree was obviously planted by whoever first bought the house. I imagine they didn’t know how big it would get considering how big it is in relation to their garden and house.

I’m not posting a photo of my garden, it would be a bit outing, but when I’m back this afternoon from being out I will do a drawing to demonstrate scale.

I don’t really want the tree pulled down, I just can’t believe there’s nothing any of us can do when it affects about 4 other houses/residents. It just seems very selfish of the landlord to just not care.

I hadn’t considered contacting the landlord herself, might be something to think about.

OP posts:
MountainSkies · 09/05/2018 08:31

OP, if the tennents hate it and the landlord doesn’t care either way, can’t you with the tennents day you’ll pay for the removal and organisation of taking the tree down? Win for you, win for tennent and win for landlord as free work for them???