Neighbour wants to cut my tree down.

[Lemonnhoney]

More of a WWYD.

Neighbour around the back of my house (gardens back onto each other) just came round to ask if she could cut the branches off a big sycamore tree at the end of my garden.

Apparently it's covering her garden with something? I'm assuming it's the flowers which are quite sticky with sap. She has just built a dog kennel too and apparently it's ruining it?!

It's quite a big tree and I get where she is coming from but it's so beneficial for wildlife, I see so many birds in it and it must be a habitat for thousands of insects.

I kind of fumbled about how I'm into nature and wasn't too sure and then said I'd have to ask my landlord.

I could pribably agree to her giving the tree a trim but to cut all the branches off? No way.

I feel awkward about it all though because I don't want any hassle.

AIBU for just ignoring her until she asks again then saying no 😂 I don't know what to say to her.

I'm assuming she would get a tree surgeon to do it. It's massive. Id think it would be dangerous to do on your own tbh.

Lucky she asked before taking action, plenty would just go ahead.
You can tell your landlord and if she approaches you again in the meantime you can truthfully tell her you've been in touch and are waiting for an answer.

I'm very much an advocate for keeping trees and hate to see them cut down, however in this case I can see the neighbour's point. Sycamores are considered a nuisance tree, and they do drop sap & leaves all over the place. They also shed huge quantities of seeds which then all germinate and are a complete pain in the neck.

Contact your landlord and pass on the message and see what they say. There may also be the issue of a TPO so the council would have to give permission if that's the case.

At the moment though, it is the nesting season and it illegal to disturb nesting birds. The neighbour will have to wait until the season is over before work can be carried out. Unless they want to climb the tree and search it all over to check that there are no nests in it

I’d just put her in touch with your landlord. It’s not for you to do anything except allow tree surgeon access if landlord wants to do work. She is entitled to cut back to boundary anyway but anything else is only with LL’s agreement not yours.

Oops too slow posting.
Meant to say - next time she raises this, maybe ask if you can enter her garden with her to take a couple of photos of the overhanging branches for your landlord.

I sympathise with your neighbour. I don't think sycamore trees belong in crowded gardens but then we have a massive one that is covered with ivy in our neighbours garden right by the fences. The ivy means that even in the winter no sun gets though the branches so about 2/3 of my tiny garden is so deeply shaded for so long that nothing much grows.

We trim off overhanging branches regularly but we wouldn't cut off all the branches to the trunk. Not sure how you would easily do that without a tree surgeon anyway as it is so big .

I would never ask for it to be cut down as I know it is unreasonable but if the neighbours were to do that I'd be delighted. I'd be happy with a different sort of tree there, just not a sycamore. Unfortunately it has a tree protection order on it so it isn't going anywhere at the moment.

The neighbours did have it cut back by tree surgeons a couple of years ago and the difference it made to the garden was enormous but it has grown so much now that my garden is very gloomy again.

It is the leaves that are the biggest problem. They are enormous and very tough so they don't break down easily. You can't just leave them all in the garden or they smother everything . We must empty 40-50 massive garden sacks of leaves into the council compost bin each autumn(usually 5-6 week a week for at least 2 months) and our garden is only 30ft long!

They also shed huge quantities of seeds which then all germinate and are a complete pain in the neck.

Ah yes the seeds, I forgot about them. They are a real nuisance, I am constantly pulling them up from the garden. We even have to put grating mesh over the bathroom drain as the seeds get down there and try to grow so they cause real problems

Not quite the same thing, I know, but if I precariously balanced a dirty old mattress on my fence and it fell over into my neighbour's garden, I'd be rightly considered an immense CF if, when they complained, I said "Oh, no, I don't want it back, thanks - just get rid of it yourselves!"

It's a tree. Is it any wonder that our ecosystems are falling apart when people are all replacing back gardens with AstroTurf, front gardens with paving stones and comparing cutting down tree branches in nesting season with lobbing a dirty mattress over a fence?

Sycamores are a nightmare - I know, we have them in our garden! Compared to other trees they shed a lot of seeds (meaning you get mini sycamores trying to grow everywhere - they sprout remarkably easily) they do drip sap which creates a sticky layer and in winter they have one of the longest and most prolific shedding seasons.

However it's not neccessarily true that they can cut down branches on their side. Ours have to be cut back every few years, for safety for us and neighbours (as they overhang paths/sheds otherwise) and we have to get a tree surgeon to do it who has to apply to the council for permission to do the work. This is despite the trees being relatively young (around 25-30yrs) and not particularly unusual or striking. I think it's because our street is covered by a conservation order - again not something you'd expect looking at it but you'd be surprised how often they're in place.

I’m pretty sure you’re not legally allowed to cut trees from March - Sept because of nesting birds. I’d look it up if it’s allowed and use that to stall her while you decide.

She can cut any branches that are hanging in her garden and doesn't have to give you any explanation.

If the tree is so big, you (or the landloard) might wabt to have a look if this is such a good idea to keep it anyway. Ye sits good for the birds etc... depending in its size and its position vs the house, its also a danger.

This could be me in reverse, except I am too scared to go and ask if it can be trimmed... there are 3 sycamores in my neighbours garden and they are such a pain, at the moment it is the flowers and sap and then it will be the keys and the leaves. I am planning to pluck up courage to go round and ask if we could split the cost to have the trimmed back a bit. Their garden is twice the length of ours so it won’t effect them too much... also they have got so big now that they block out the sun from 90% of our lawn....

she can of course cut back the branches which overhang. As someone who has a neighbour with massive ugly conifer trees which overhang and ruin the fence/paving, I sympathise! the rest of the tree will still be there for you to enjoy, but less bits overhanging to your neighbour's garden. I think it's nice she asked you. I wouldn't/didn't.

If people don’t want nature happening in their garden they should pay to encase their garden in glass. Sap is a pain in the arse but fuck sake are we really this selfish and turned off to climate change and how humans are damaging this planet a sparkling patio is more important?

It's not your tree/problem- give her your landlord/letting agent number and have them deal with her. If she cuts the branches off one side it can become unstable and fall.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

She is entitled to cut off any branches that overhang her garden but only back to the boundary and she must OFFER them back to the landlord, not, as so many people think, just lob them over the fence.

I'm sure that is the law, but it sounds dreadfully unfair to me. Somebody else's tree encroaches on YOUR garden, YOU have to go to the effort, time and possible expense of cutting the overhanging branches off, YOU have to approach THEM and offer them back and then, if THEY say they don't want them, YOU then have to dispose of them.

Not quite the same thing, I know, but if I precariously balanced a dirty old mattress on my fence and it fell over into my neighbour's garden, I'd be rightly considered an immense CF if, when they complained, I said "Oh, no, I don't want it back, thanks - just get rid of it yourselves!"

That would be a littering offence though.

This is why I say over and over that it should be illegal to plant big trees on a boundary. It's so selfish to inflict that on your neighbours.

If people don’t want nature happening in their garden they should pay to encase their garden in glass. Sap is a pain in the arse but fuck sake are we really this selfish and turned off to climate change and how humans are damaging this planet a sparkling patio is more important?

The right tree is the right place is key.

Tell her to fuck off. You can put it more politely, if you so inclined.

@PrimalLass a lot of trees are there before a boundary is though tbf.

Seriously just give her landlord’s details and don’t get involved. It’s not your tree it’s your landlord’s.

Sycamores can be a pain, but it does concern me how often we hear neighbours on here having issues over trees, leaves, hedges, water running down a slope, and other issues of nature.
It's almost like some people think a garden should be nothing more than a square of grass or AstroTurf, a deck/patio and the sun should permanently fill every inch of their garden with no nasty contamination from leaves.

Or, maybe she could do what our neighbour did earlier this week. In the middle of a perfectly sensible discussion about lopping our (admittedly) too tall trees planted years ago for screening (not very nice lleylandii) with him and other neighbours, he went rogue and got hold of a chainsaw and some scaffolding. Without consent (we live in a Conservation Area) he powered through the branches overhanging his garden, plus clearly enjoyed it so much he got carried away and went a further 1.5 metres into our garden. There were birds nesting in the trees. It clearly didn't occur to him to get a tree surgeon to do the job and he is very far from an expert with a chainsaw so now is left looking at a load of blunt sticks as he's murdered the shit out of all the greenery back to the trunks on his side. And he's a tenant! I imagine his landlord will be thrilled. Don't think that garden will look very nice in the brochure when he needs to rent it out again. Oh, and far from telling us he was going to do it, or asking if we would like the branches, he was twattishly rude to my DH and lobbed all the (many) branches over the fence back at us. Idiot.

It's almost like some people think a garden should be nothing more than a square of grass or AstroTurf, a deck/patio and the sun should permanently fill every inch of their garden with no nasty contamination from leaves.

Maybe some people think this way, but I think there has to be a balance. The previous owner of our house planted some very fast growing evergreens along the side of the house. They were huge when we moved in and had caused a lot of damage to the underground waterpipes. The irony is, we live near an area of nature. There are mountains and natural forest just behind the house, so it was really unnecessary to plant such huge, problematic trees in such a small space and we did get the removed.

I think it's nice that the neighbor is offering to pay, but really, the OP should get her landlord to pay for someone to sort it out. Sycamores do cause a lot of problems for neighbors. There are so many other trees or bushes that could have been panted to encourage nature without causing massive headaches for the surrounding houses.

Also, as others have said, there are no guarantees that the neighbor will employ a tree surgeon. Plenty of people think a ladder and a chainsaw are adequate enough and she could end up killing the tree.