neighbour asking me to get my trees lopped

[ladylush]

AIBU in being irked that a neighbour who lives diagonally behind us knocked on my door the other day and asked if we could cut our tree? It is a Sycamore (actually there are two side by side) and it is established. It was here before we bought the house and was pruned back hard (18 months ago). The neighbour complained that she had no sunlight in her garden last summer because of the tree. It is not wide but it is tall (no leaves at the moment so only an issue in summer) - about 18ft. I told her that whilst it may be a nuisance for her, it is a benefit to us because it provides screening (which is great when we want to use our garden). In the winter she can see straight into our house from her bedroom window. I also told her that we would not be paying a tree surgeon to cut it every year. She then offered her to send round her son's friend (a tree surgeon) next week (who would do it as a favour for them) and that we would only have to contribute towards the cost of removing the branches. However, we discussed it and decided that we would prefer to employ a tree surgeon of our own at a time that suits us and that when we do get it cut back, we will not take as much off as she would want. I think if a sunny garden was that important to her she should have bought a house with a large garden with a southerly aspect instead of a west facing 35ft garden.

We have a tiny back garden but our adjoining neighbour has a very tall Leylandi (is that how to spell it) We have so little light that nothing grows half way down the garden. Out of respect for owners who were elderly we left it but now our garage and fence have been seriously damaged by the roots and we still have the light problems. We do prune it from our side but it needs cutting. Its best to look at it from both sides. Yes, privacy is important but so is respect for others. Best to lop it, if its within preservation limitations

ladylush - they pruned it twice in 6 years. The first removed over 6ft off the length (after lots of "discussions"), the second was just thinning and really didn't do anything to reduce the shading over our garden.

away - so they only reduced the height of it once then. That is not enough in 6 yrs. Our tree could not be thinned but we will get height taken of it this winter hopefully.

YANBU

The tree is in your garden and benefits you so why should you suffer lose of privacy to make her garden sunnier.

The trees were there before she moved in so she decided to buy the house knowing they cast a shadow on her garden.

She is entitled to trim it back on her side and to be honest 18ft is not that large for a tree.

However I would show willing and have some trimming done to make sure it didn't to big.

lush, it's a message board, I skim through threads, I was blunt, you got narked. No need to apologise for that.

It can get bloody on AIBU

For the record, I don't think YABU.

Youhave considered what has been said, you have come up with some compormosie solutions and you are going to have a look at her garden in the summer to get a true feel how much your trees are affecting her light.

Like morningpaper, I can't understadn why it is affecting her light so much if she is a far as way as you descrbie adn the tree are only c18ft high.

It sounds like she is wanting it pollarded every year - when you describe it as being "cit back to the nubs.

We have an enormous garden - but in the middle of a conservation area where everyone has enormous garden and there are lots of enormous trees. Our garden also gets shaded at certain times of day by massive trees in gardens two or three houses away - but I wouldn't dream of asking them to take down these trees, even if they didn't probably have preservation orders on them (although some of them are enormous pear trees - lie the one in our own garden, so don't have a preservation order on them). They form part of the amenity of the area, which is what attracted us to it.

Thanks Puss and Prettybird

Pointy - very gracious of you but I did feel the need to apologise. Initially it was a pathetic attempt at wit (female dog)

Apologies for all the typos (I'm getting as bad as Cod! ) but you get the gist.

Yes I knew what you meant

ladylush - your tree sounds lovely - it's your garden. Take photos just in case she chops it away.

Happened to a friend and her holly hedge. Was reduced to nothing even though it was in her garden and took years to grow.

I think I will take photos - mostly so that I can see how much the trees affect her lights. If I take them on a sunny day pre-leaf and in leaf it should help show how much they shade her garden. This time of year though, the gardens on her road have little sun and we only have it in the front garden (which is tiny and completely unsuitable for trees).

YANBU. Your neighbour sounds very pushy from what you said in an earlier post. We had the same with our neighbour - she asked us the 1st day we moved in to cut down one of our trees. She then got a a man to give her her a quote on cutting my tree down!! Don't be rushed/bullied into it. I agree it's nice to keep neighbours on side but you and dp need to discuss it first and then come to a decision.

That's very pushy - first day you moved in I suppose we should be grateful that she left it 18 months.

Don't think she is being unreasonable to ask you. But she is being unreasonable if she expects you to do this. And I think she is cheeky to ask you to contribute to costs for removing branches when SHE wants you to do this and you don't!!!! And YANBU to do as you suggested.

Only read OP so sorry if this has already being pointed out but she is perfectly within her rights to chop off any branches that overhang her property

Hi alicet, yes I think I was irked at the manner in which she asked (ie very pushy - what days are you home next week so I can send this man around)rather than merely the fact that she asked. Though I personally would not ask this of a neighbour unless branches were overhanging or causing structural problems. When I asked her to jot down some details so I could discuss it with my dh she didn't seem to want to do that and asked for our phone number and details as to when I was working etc. I think maybe she was trying to make me commit on the spot rather than give us time to consider her position.

Some people have commented on how much it must be bothering her and how it's probably taken her ages to summon up the courage to knock on the door, but as Walnut said - she's had ages to prepare herself as to how she wants to tackle the problem. We were completely unaware that there even was a problem until she turned up that evening.

I don't think the neighbour has suggested a reasonable compromise, as has been suggested. There are two issues here - cost and amenity. She is offering to deal with the cost issue, by getting a friend of a friend to do the work for free (and to what standard, I wonder?), but is not really willing to consider your side of things at all. Has she been into the garden and seen how much of your privacy is afforded by the tree? Nope.

Like you, LL, I can't really see how your little tree can make such a difference to her, unless she is mistaking you for the owner of the huge walnut tree next door. Or perhaps she's been all along the road and asked people to chop bits off their trees.

Infill development has increased the number and heat of tree disputes. Developers buy a house, knock it down and cram three onto a site with tiny gardens and no regard for surrounding trees.

I don't think the neighbour has suggested a reasonable compromise, as has been suggested. There are two issues here - cost and amenity. She is offering to deal with the cost issue, by getting a friend of a friend to do the work for free (and to what standard, I wonder?), but is not really willing to consider your side of things at all. Has she been into the garden and seen how much of your privacy is afforded by the tree? Nope.

Like you, LL, I can't really see how your little tree can make such a difference to her, unless she is mistaking you for the owner of the huge walnut tree next door. Or perhaps she's been all along the road and asked people to chop bits off their trees.

Infill development has increased the number and heat of tree disputes. Developers buy a house, knock it down and cram three onto a site with tiny gardens and no regard for surrounding trees.

She may well have asked others to chop their trees too. I don't know. Her house is Victorian with a small garden (about 30-35ft I reckon)as the ground floor has a sticky out bit that protrudes well into the garden.There are trees in nearly all of the gardens (including the one on her right which is a similar height to ours)and some of them are huge. The trees in her road have no TPOs but a few houses away from us there are trees with preservation orders. Maybe she is affected by shade from these too but can't do anything about it.

Sycamores are horrible trees, and if I had one in my garden I would chop it down and dig out the stump. In fact I have done so in both my own garden and in neighbours too. They are the weed of the tree family, and really unsuitable for a town garden. They grow very fast, seed everywhere and drip black gloop too. Maples on the other hand are lovely (although also probably only suitable for parks/fields depending on the variety). I don't think the request was unreasonable, but possibly the manner was. I really think in the long run you would be much better taking them out and planting something more attractive, even if you lose the privacy for a year or two. Tree surgeons are very expensive, so it is a good offer, but really do think about taking them out, or at least reducing to the one nicer tree unless you are only living there for a little while.

Oh, and our neighbours asked us to reduce a tree a few years ago. It cost over £1,000. It was a big tree, and the surgeon's did a great job, but it was a big cost which the neighbours didn't contribute to. I did feel a bit narked, but they had been told that it could cause subsidence and be dangerous so we didn't have much choice. Better to have a tree suitable for the position than have to pay up (especially as you will have to do it on a regular basis).

Nooka your situation was different as the tree was at risk of causing structural damage to your neighbour's property. I think it may be a variety of Maple. It has red leaves, whereas the other one has green. I have never seen any black gloop as you describe it but I think that occurs if you prune it at the wrong time of year.

Incidentally, did you cut down your own tree or pay someone to do it?

I wasn't saying it was the same - just pointing out it can be very expensive. I've heard very conflicting things about structural damage, in fact the surgeons who came to do the big tree refused to take it completely out (my preferred option as the tree was really far too big and not very beautiful) because this would have caused more subsidence issues than leaving it unouched. I've cut down smaller trees (18ft is quite small in my book) it's not very hard to do young trees as the wood is quite soft, but you have to climb up the tree abd cut the smaller braches off, then the bigger ones and then take the main branches /truck out as otherwise it's quite risky. Oh and digging out stumps takes ages (you have to do this or poison the stump as otherwise they sucker). It is much much easier and safer to do it in the winter, as once the leaves come in the tree is much heavier and the job more difficult (and therefore more expensive). If your trees are close together they will also distort each other's growth, so if you have one that is attractive then take the other one out. The dripping issue is nothing to do with pruning, as trees do not need or like to be pruned. It is actually a fungus that grows on the leaves. Not quite as bad as the sticky stuff you get from a plane tree.

This is a sycamore:
www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/aceraceae/acer-pseudoplatanus.htm

Left alone it will grow to 30 meters, cast a lot of shade (those big leaves) and suck up all the moisture around so you can't plant flowers/shrubs underneath.

Sycamores are actually a type of maple tree, and there are loads of different sorts, some shrubby and some big trees, so it's worth getting yours identified.

Why don't you agree to have the tree surgeon around , but say you just want advice at this point on management and identification as you want to think about the best way forward? That way you stay in control but get the free advice on offer? I can see you don't want to get bumped into anything you don't want to do, but also that she may have legitimate concerns.

Some wise words Nooka. Dh knows a Tree Surgeon (well they're not exactly in regular contact) and if we have his number still we will get him to come over. That way, we know he would be acting in our best interests and giving unbiased info.

I looked at the pic and that is the same as the smaller one (but female version as it doesn't flower but has the helicopter type things that flutter to the ground). The other one (red)doesn't flower as far as I can recall.

The black gloopy stuff I assumed was due to pruning/lopping at the wrong time of year because I read that it bleeds badly when cut at the wrong time. I defer to your greater knowledge though. I have never seen any black stuff on any of the leaves. It is strange really because at some point the trees have suffered rot (the trunk has halved in diameter because of this)(maybe she tried to poison them ) but the leaves are so so healthy and show no signs of stress.

Thanks for the advice on how to cut them down.

The subsidence issue gets my goat. A few years ago the house at the end of my garden was knocked down. A developer put several on the plot. He made millions of pounds in profit - and I do mean that, no exaggeration.

Luckily for me my garden is large and has mature trees at and near the boundary (not leylandii), so I retain privacy. Planning permission was in fact granted because of this plentiful screening. But now, of course, those who have bought the new houses want to see my trees (100 year old oaks!, the remnant of an old field boundary) chopped down. They complain of too much shade in their tiny gardens, and allege that their foundations may be affected (because, in cramming as many houses as possible onto the plot, the developer went v close to the boundary when digging foundations). One house has had drain issues, which he'd like to blame on my trees - but why was the drain dug next to them?

It truly annoys me. Someone has made millions and swanned off. Government planning laws are so loose, and stacked so heavily in favour of the developer, that they can more or less do what they want and never mind the consequences, which I am supposed to take the brunt of by cutting down my poor trees. We are not in a town, by the way.