Neighbour accused me of stealing their tree

[Ahelena79]

So our neighbour has a lovely willow tree. It does slightly overhang our border however I am very happy with that as it provides a lovely bit of shade in that corner of the garden which the kids sit under on hot evenings.

Around 4 summers ago I took several cuttings from this willow tree. I didn’t really think to ask at the time as they were nearly touching the floor of my garden and had no real impact on my neighbours life. Instead of chucking them back over the fence aggressively (which other neighbours have done to me!) I decided to plant them to grow a bit of a willow garden in one corner.

These willows have absolutely taken off. There’s about 6 in total all taken from branch cuttings. They are really tall now and can be seen from over the fence (which is 6 foot!)

My neighbour has recently seen them and is now demanding that his property is returned to him. He says I had no right to cut the willow and that they have always been his property even though I have nurtured them to life in the form of new trees. He says he will be contacting the police and threatening legal action. He told me that the willow is taken from cuttings of a family tree that was in his mothers garden and he considers it family property which he wanted to hand down to his kids but I’ve now stolen that from him?? He is absolutely crazy to be honest and I’ve had no previous dealings with him and I’m glad of that now!

Where do I stand legally on this?

We have all kinds of self rooted trees here (either squirrels or birds spreading them I imagine) - the idea that a neighbour would want 'their' tree back is insane. Most of them get uprooted and composted but I've kept a couple of elder offshoots cause I love them). If it was hanging over your side the only mistake you made was to admit they came from you doing cuttings! I can't imagine giving a shiny shit if a neighbour wanted to do whatever with anything hanging over their side - they can cut it back and get rid of it, throw it over to us, run around the garden naked waving it around for all I care. Being told you're a thief is harsh frankly, but some people are very odd..

Your neighbour is an incredible pedant. I bet all the other neighbours hate him.

Maybe it has annoyed home because, while your allowed to cur anything overhanging your garden, you didnt cut them BECAUSE they were overhanging. You didnt do it because you don't want his plant in your garden. You cut his tree because you wanted some of it for yourself. Maybe that has made him feel like you've stolen from him.

When I feel down, I just open MN and comments like these cheer me up.

Well clearly he’s unhinged. But sadly he has right on his side. You legally need to offer the cuttings back. You can’t just cut em. Keep em and grow em. On the flip side it’s very rare anyone would behave in this manner, the police likely won’t get invovled but if they do you’d told they are his property and legally his.

I second this, totally what I would do 😂

Ok I agree it's kind of a crazy seeming thing to do to lob trimmings over your neighbours fence but I see that you already know that theoretically it's what you should have done...

He seems to be taking it as a theft issue (you took something which belonged to me without permission) but honestly the value of the thing you 'took' (effectively nothing) the fact that by his own admission he didn't realise it had been taken for 4 years and the fact that his property was in your garden when you 'took' it means this isn't going to be something the police want to get involved in.

He could argue that he has a case for suing you but again I would have thought in any practical sense the problem with your neighbour suing you would be showing any material detriment that you didn't throw the cuttings back over. Which is to say you cost him nothing when you trimmed the overhang (he didn't even notice) or when you planted the material. He could have at any point in the previous 4 years taken cuttings himself and planted them to grow new trees of his own but he hasn't done this. The fact that you did in no way robbed him of the opportunity to do so.

By comparison 6 willow trees you have grown which are now over 6ft high you could be looking at a replacement value of £100 or £200 each depending on area and what's available in your local area and this difference in value is purely due to your time and nurture.

The six cuttings have little to no value by comparison - the smallest willow I could find for sale is £10 and is perhaps comparable to the cuttings you started from small willow

price list of trees Cheapest Salix they have is £280 but a little taller

If something comes through from small claims don't panic - if he threatens you with it say you'd prefer he take it to court so that you could both say your piece and let the judge decide over having a bad relationship for years say digging up the trees and returning them now isn't a fair or reasonable request in your mind but does he have a reasonable request he'd like you to consider?

Do you tell him you took them from his tree.?

OP you haven't done anything wrong he is bonkers. Ignore him

I would offer to do willow cuttings for him or give him some of your saplings. Do you really need 6?

However, is all this Willow mania wise?

I thought they were trees that sucked up all the water from the soil (thus starving your other plants) - which is why they are often planted close to riverbanks. The roots are vast and massive and can cause subsidence. They can grow huge (up to 50ft) as well.

*you're not you!

DontBlameMe79 - “ bottom line is you are a thief”.

let’s run with that: theft is the dishonest appropriation of properly belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving them of that property.

On the facts we could focus on the mens rea requirement of proving the OPs dishonesty in planting a cutting they were legitimately allowed to remove from the tree overhanging their garden, and then we could work on intention to permanently deprive and examine what that means in this specific context.

Alternatively we could ask why anyone would waste a moment of their day humouring the mad bastard by wasting brain power on these questions.

Slightly dramatic

Did you tell him they came from his tree?

You won’t destroy your garden digging them up. Just plant something else.

I’d not want to live with such an awful atmosphere so I’d have to return them.

I’d dig them up, leave them propped up (so he doesn’t know they are dug up) but out of the soil, wait for them to dry out and die and then give him them back dead so he can’t benefit from them.

Strictly speaking you didnt have the right to keep cuttings from his tree. He obviously has reasons for being annoyed and hurt about this as the tree is linked to the memories of his mother.

Give him the new ones and cut his tree all the way back to the boundary, giving him those cuttings as well, it should finish it off his tree.

I would imagine that they are written by the sort of people who would actually find someone like the OP’s neighbour attractive enough to marry.

But bottom line is you are a thief.

Don't be ridiculous.

One of the only few times the OP would be advised to use the Boris Johnson defence - "It wasn't me"

Also true. Why are we all so happy to overlook the facts? Everyone on this thread seems very flexible with the truth.

Willow will really cause issues, especially so many !
I had to get rid of young trees I bought and grew from acorns
too close to walls and drains.

Because it’s a tree. A plant. New ones grow all the time.

it’s in the realm of ‘who cares?’.

Probably because I have told a few neighbours to help themselves to cuttings of some of my plants.

And I've stolen babies of a common house plant from an office.

I can't stop laughing at the you are a thief comment.

I would offer him 6 cuttings and whilst denying that they even came from his tree. If he is willing to spend money pursuing this, then let him crack on.

He sounds like a nut job.