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?

As if people are debating this . Crack on with your life . Don’t give him a second thought . Let him call the police . As if they would be interested . Well done for growing more trees . Exactly what the world needs

They are his.

Please consider the sentimental impact they have.

You benefited from them once.

Certainly an intriguing case, from a legal perspective.

He sounds insane - did you tell him you took cuttings? Willow self sows almost as much as ash in my experience, if they were self sown saplings you moved from within your garden then they would be yours with no argument.

Is he after selling them?

the police likely won’t get invovled but if they do you’d told they are his property and legally his.

The police will absolutely not say this. They'll laugh and say he's crazy, and that they don't get involved in petty neighbour disputes.

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...

That's not correct. Legally you have to offer to give the cuttings back to the property owner, but if they decline, the responsibility is on you to dispose of the cuttings. You cannot throw cuttings back over the fence unless the owner has given you permission. In fact hypothetically you could get into legal trouble for throwing cuttings back without permission.

To be fair, I made a whole part of my garden into a rose garden and have a lot of David Austin roses. They're quite clear that propagating them is illegal. You're not allowed to take cuttings etc.

Now, I totally have. I took cuttings to grow some more bushes of my favourite ones. But if someone took cuttings from them and started growing them, could I get into trouble?? For illegally distributing David Austin cuttings or something?

It’s not like it’s something like a watch of sentimental value. It’s a tree. It grows. It can spawn new trees too.

even if it reminds him of his mother, it’s a tree.

Because it hasn't cost him anything she has deprived him of nothing, nothing has been damaged no financial cost to him nothing literally nothing

"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"

This. But make sure you chop the new trees into pieces along with the other cuttings you take and ask him where he would like you to put all cuttings in the future as you'll be keeping it level with your fence from now on. He's clearly a complete bellend so no point in engaging further.

Then in spring go to a decent garden centre who sell bare root trees, really cheap way to get decent sized trees.

Some of the responses on here though 🙄

They are his. Please consider the sentimental impact they have.

Oh come on. You really think he has such a strong sentimental attachment to a tree that he ferociously guards every single atom of it? What does he do, camp out in his garden 24/7 to ensure not a single precious sentimental leaf blows away?

Deny, deny, deny.

The legal stuff aside (yes, you're technically in the wrong, but it's not exactly the heist of the century), I'm going to go against the grain and say that I think I can slightly see where he's coming from with the "family tree" angle. It's an emotionally important tree for him, a connection to his mother (you say the original "was" in her garden, so I wonder if she's since died). For sentimental reasons, cuttings from that tree will mean something to him symbolically. If Random Neighbour has half a dozen trees in her garden that are cuttings from this tree and that mean nothing to her sentimentally, then the ones he's planning to give his children might feel less special somehow.

I know his complaint sounds nuts at first glance but it's probably less about his tree than about his mother and the importance of family bonds and the things that symbolise them. Admittedly, he should probably handle his emotional attachment to the tree himself, and not harass a neighbour for committing the minorest of minor offences.

The lack of cost is not the point, it’s still theft. We all have things that cost us nothing but have value. Is it ok to take those. And them moan when confronted about it?

Not sure if this helps,

"Overhanging branches and tree roots

You are able to cut the branches of a neighbour’s tree back to the boundary point between your properties provided the tree is not under a preservation order. However, under the Theft Act mentioned above, if the tree’s owner requests you return the branches or foliage, you are obliged to do so.

You are also allowed to dig up and remove any roots that have begun to grown onto your land – a tree surgeon can help ensure this job is done properly and safely."

www.artemistreeservices.com/news/what-are-the-laws-surrounding-trees-on-my-property/

As well as the neighbour being batshit most people on here are as well. Ignore him. Did he knock on your door or just shout over the fence?
As if the police are going to give a shit, they just about respond if your house gets burgled.
If he asks again just say you haven't got the time to deal with this, you can give him some cuttings the same size that you took and if he isn't happy to crack on with calling the police/ solicitor.

YANBU.

neighbour sounds batshit and from some of the responses on this thread it is clear that batshittery is thriving

I'm sorry you live next door to such a nutter OP. It must be very stressful for you.

Has he always been unhinged, or is it just in relation to the tree ?

Let him call the police

They need a good laugh every now and again

To have committed theft you'd have to have intended to permanently deprive your neighbour of his property - eg. you'd hired a digger, dug up his tree and moved it to your property.

I mean, if you had an overhanging oak tree and an acorn fell into your garden and sprouted, you wouldn't have stolen the oak!

And create a worse atmosphere by doing that?!

Wait, what ?!?! Taking a cutting from your own David Austen rose is illegal. WTF!!! Am I reading this right ?
How in earth can that possibly be policed/enforced?

Same

Don’t repeat what you said about them being cuttings from his tree. There’s no way he can prove they were from the same tree.

It's fine for personal or non-commercial use, at least in England and Wales. And fine once the patent has expired.

I am sure he must monitor bird and wind movement to make sure the seeds in his garden do not go into enemy territories and take seed! He is a complete Moby.