Tree and neighbour

[glasshalf]

Hi
So we moved into our house in the last year , we havnt had a summer here yet so although we knew there was a large tree in the neighbours garden we didn't quite realise the impact it had on our property -
Any how today we have been looking and it blocks the whole sun from our garden and living room in the afternoon . We went to say hello and spoke about it and she is absolutely not wanting it cut back, said she will get a tree preservation order on it I love trees would never kill it but it is having a huge impact on light in our garden and back of our house . I literally don't know where to go with this next as we don't want to upset anyone or take legal routes- any tips?

There is a huge ash tree in the garden next door but one - like 20 to 30 m high. It is a total pain. Depending on the time of year it blocks the sun from anytime from 3 in the afternoon.

Worse it self seeds all year round and I must have to remove up to a thousand seedlings a year. If they get in the middle of anything else it can be more than a seedling when it gets found. Bloody nightmare.

Unfortunately being a healthy ash it has a TPO and the neighbours whose garden it is in aren't interested in getting anything done to reduce it.

It's horrible. And I like trees - but it wasn't even planted - it has self seeded there. I hated it when I moved in 20 years ago and it's twice the size now that it was then.

Jesus wept the vampires were out on here last night! Special place in hell- moron!
Don't believe it covers my whole garden - don't really care what you believe it's true or I wouldn't have asked!

Given the OP’s petulant response to people disagreeing with her perspective on an AIBU thread, doesn’t sound as if the polite route’s an option, if she was that entrenched in attitude when she talked to the neighbour imagine she’s already made herself unpopular. Also if the neighbour did agree – and there’s no right to extensive light in a garden – she should be able to use her own, fully insured tree surgeon and have the OP pay. Also I wouldn’t use a neighbour for work on my property could create all sorts of liability issues if work not properly organised/paid for…

It shades my whole garden and living room , yes even at the height of the sun because it's bloody massive! For those saying "you knew before you bought it - read the thread!

OP, I agree that it’s annoying that people haven’t RTFT and keep asking you why you bought the house, but surely if the tree is that big then your DP would have thought that tree is going to be a light blocker even if the neighbours trim it?

You’ve already said it was stupid to take the buyers word when they said the neighbours regularly trim it, so I don’t want to bang on about that (God knows most of us have made some stupid decisions when house buying).

Plus is there any benefit to having the tree? Do you at least feel like you have privacy because of it?

For those saying "you knew before you bought it - read the thread!

So when you viewed and bought the house there weren’t any leaves on the tree.
Did your DP not know how dense the leaves would be?

"it was her joyful focus on her hobbling I found distasteful". What would you know about it? She's a vile cow. She threatened to attack the tree surgeons with her sticks, the loon. 'Distasteful' doesn't even touch her cruel behaviour and total cuntishness. We spent two years being nice and trying very hard to be neighbourly. Not any more.

I'm glad you're a complete saint though - let me know what it's like way up there in the stratosphere --not that I could give a monkey's arse..

@glasshalf I'm really surprised a tree surgeon could not see that the tree was a potential issue or if it had been kept trimmed regularly. He'll also know his "rights" I'm sure.

Anyone else think the DH is in the wrong job?

^^this

This reminds me of the people who move next door to a church and then complain about the bells. Now that I realise that if they didn’t view it on a Sunday morning they therefore wouldn’t have any idea about the bells ringing on a Sunday morning even if one was a vicar.

I sounds like there is a backstory here about the tree previously being cut back in a way she didn't like.

If it were me I'd write her a letter, so she can contemplate what you've said and not feel pressured into an immediate response (which is likely to be to stand her ground).

I'd explain your DP is a tree surgeon for a start and thus any work agreed to would be professionally done.

Explain exactly what you'd like to do - diagrams as you should know from MN always help - and explain you recognise her privacy being an issue and why your plans would not impact that.

State clearly what you are not proposing (even if it seems it should be obvious).

Be clear that you'd be more than happy to do the work at a time she's available to supervise/be consulted so there is no threat of any agreement being misinterpreted.

End with a nice paragraph thanking her for reading the letter and reiterating that you're keen to reach a mutual neighbourly agreement and finally throw in the offer to trim her hedge as a goodwill gesture.

This is such a depressing thread, when there are reports of future parts of the country becoming uninhabitable, in the not-too-distant future, because of climate change, it's almost incredible that people are actually unaware or simply don't care about the importance of trees in fighting climate change. Clearly if a significant proportion of the population are like you OP, and doesn't see what the benefit of a tree might be, beyond how it fits into your own selfish needs, then we're all pretty royally fucked.

surely if your DH is a tree surgeon he will be aware of the rules?

Some of you are just keyboard warriors arnt you ? Delightful bunch. Thanks to those who have given helpful comments . My Oh is newly qualified and is still very much taking his time to learn stuff but you can berate all you like . I was never nasty to neighbour and for the record I absolutely do not want the tree to go as I've said already I just would like some of the top trimmed. @DeRigueurMortis your response is really helpful and yes she did say previous owners had lopped it severely and she didn't like it now.
Nothing else to say now as it seems apparently it's ok on here to make comments like go to hell over a tree trimming post.

Just since a meme on FB that if trees emitted WiFi signal we'd be planting them everywhere and saving the planet at the same time.

@glasshalf newly qualified or not, he is qualified and should've spotted a problem. you isn't not like people pointing that out, but it really is the elephant in the room........trained tree surgeon buys property subject to problem tree.

If your attitude on here is the same you use with your neighbour I'm not surprised she's not accommodating you.

*may not not isn't not!

Based on your last post I just maybe add that if it was lopped badly previous and she doesn't like it now, then perhaps agree with her and say that your DP would like to discuss it further with her as he's confident it can be properly re-shaped to grow in such a way that that would address everyone's concerns (her privacy, shape of the tree, your daylight).

As for some posts on here - goodness me, how miserable.

The OP knows she should have investigated further but it's done now.

Equally she's proposing managing the tree, not cutting it down.

My NDN's have a huge tree that's adjacent to our garden and every few years it needs a tree surgeon to shape/lop it not just for our mutual benefit (light and branches over the driveway) but for H&S reasons (in a storm a huge branch fell and could have caused serious injury, but luckily it was only a car that suffered).

We chip in and pay 50/50 and seem able to speak civilly with NDN's about what needs to be done - obviously being guided by the tree surgeon. I started with a letter to NDN's hence the suggestion.

It's a bit of a PITA as it has a TPO so we need permission for works, but it now (7 years since we started engaging with the TS) looks stunning for being properly maintained and something we can enjoy rather curse because it's a nuisance/danger.

Happy neighbours, happy tree....win win.

So many people missing the point...

He did say it was an issue.

However, the owners said dealing with the neighbours over the tree wasn't problematic- hence they both thought it would be something that could easily be addressed given his skills.

The failure was not checking with the NDN about if they were actually ok with the tree being lopped.

So it's not an issue with his skills, rather making assumptions about the NDN's POV.

@DeRigueurMortis

Original post says

we didn't quite realise the impact it had on our property -

A trained tree surgeon should've realised the impact and been able to tell if it was pruned regularly, maybe a layman wouldn't.

Just to be clear, if a tree is overhanging the neighbours garden and blocking the light, is it legally their responsibility to cut it back or the person whose garden it is overhanging? I am not sure. In a previous house we were asked by the neighbour to cut down a lot of trees he felt were threatening his conservatory. They had been there years. We cut them down and he agreed to pay for a fence. It looked awful and we really regretted cutting down the trees. Six months later he started to agitate about a willow tree that had been there for years . We subsequently found out that there had been a dispute with the previous owners over this tree. We refused to cut down the willow tree. Years of horrendous abuse followed. We let the house for some time, and heard he had died. Probably from apoplexy. He also tried to cut down the other neighbours trees whilst they were on holiday. He was a nutter.

Are you my mum and dad’s neighbour? ;) Nah, no mention of whining about the height of the hedge then whining about no privacy when dad took the lot down so we could all gawp into their conservatory.