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?

You’re not a thief as one of the elements of theft is dishonest intent which you didn’t have!

I'd ask him if he wants the saplings. If he says no, he wants to sue you then I'd tell him to go ahead.

But do everything in writing. I'm thinking if it did get to court your offer to return his "property" and his refusal would serve you well.

Willow trees are hydrophilic, I.e. water loving, and the roots look for water. If this happens to be under your house, the roots may wreck the foundations and cause cracks in walls.

Yeah let him call the police. They could do with a laugh.

If my neighbour grew 6 trees from a few of my cuttings I'd be well impressed TBH! You should take up gardening/plant growing/tree growing as a career @Ahelena79

There was a thread on here the other day where the OP asked 'is it stealing to snip bits of peoples trees and bushes as I am passing by?' And the consensus was 'yes, it's stealing, and you really should ask!' But this is different - completely different, because you are the next door neighbour and the tree was overhanging your garden. You had every right to cut the bits off, and keep them, and grow your trees. Tell him to get tae fuck!!! 😂

I’d chop them up and throw them back over the fence saying that’s what I did to all the others!

He’s bat shit it’s taken him 4 years to bloody notice

ignore him. Let him waste his money on a lawyers letter as for the police they’ll laugh and go no don’t be daft

Legally he is correct. I would love to see the investigating offices response to his complaint 😂

Offer to strike 6 more cuttings from your trees for him to replace them.

As others have said, willow is terrible for structural damage. I also think legally you should have thrown or offered the cuttings back but he is loopy. I can just imagine the court case: @Ahelena79 Versus Mr BonkersBatshit with the willow exhibits as evidence. If it gets messy, video yourself offering/chucking them back over and let him know in writing.

Legally you can cut any branches that overhang into you property but you should offer them back to the owner. If the owner doesn’t want them you can keep them. So you did act unlawfully but I’ve no idea how the police would react.

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?

I'm pretty sure the interdiction from propagation is only for commercial purposes.

If no money changes hands at any point, I think you are OK.

The thing about offering the cuttings to neighbours comes from a time when plants which were rare could be incredibly valuable, so taking sneaky cuttings of your neighbour's £££ plant could be quite a profitable thing to do, and might damage the plant. So having to offer the cuttings would discourage pruning beyond what was necessary for maintaining the boundary.

Offer him a few cuttings.

That he wants you to give him all the trees you've grown is ridiculous. He will soon enough realise that the tree is not his relative.

it wasn’t very neighbourly of you to take cuttings without asking.

but it’s a very small thing and he is massively over reacting.

I agree you need to apologise, explain you didn’t realise the tree had such sentimental value and offer compensation. We are talking a small about here though - the monetary value of slips for a tree is low.

I can't believe what I'm reading. Poor you op

He sounds bonkers. Tbh,I don't think the police will waste their time on him if he makes a complaint they'll probably laugh at him

Im not greenfingered so dont know how willows work but do they not desperse seeds?

We currently have 2 Oak trees, a wierd little bush (that looks 'fancy' with big waxy vibrant flowers and people gush over), Ivy, Poppies and some kind of bush with hanging purple flowers... ALL planted themselves along side the dandilions and nettles.

Just tell him his tree spawned in your garden (where he left it - if hes so protective it should be solely on his land) and that he cant 'own' the actions of nature.

If anyone comes knocking on my door to accuse me of stealing their Ivy, Oak, Poppies or anything else that grew here I would just laugh.

Don’t follow this advice (can’t find the original poster) - it’s mean and also illegal to damage someone else’s property

I just like to point out that gardens don't have 'floors'. I think you meant the ground.

We have a several of willow ‘fedges’ in our garden. Every autumn or spring I cut off about 50- 60 ‘whips’ of between 4 and 6 foot long. We also have an approximately 20 ft tree we grew by shoving a fresh whip in the ground.

if you wanted to buy 6ft whips in a bundle of 20 it cost us originally about 25 quid plus the postage.

Willow is a rampant beast and will root anywhere you just shove it in if there’s enough water.

Cut the trees off at the base, offer them back. Your willow will re sprout like a maniac next spring from the stump.

Or cut them down, offer them back. Dig up the roots so he can not claim you ‘own’ anything you stole from him and this autumn I will post you a big bloody bundle of 4-6ft whips if you cover the postage. 😂Willow can root even after a week out of the ground if you recut the ends to a fresh end and poke it in the ground.

He sounds a bit crazy, even if legally you should have offered them back.

If he mentions it again, I would just clearly state that you do not wish to discuss the matter any further with him. Don't admit again to keeping the cuttings and do not engage any further about them. I can guarantee that the police will not care and, even if they did, you can deny it and he has no evidence that you kept the cuttings 4 years ago..

Neighbour's get bat shit about boundaries and trees! This info from ask the police say it's nowt to do with them! www.askthe.police.uk/faq/?id=16560b70-9089-ec11-93b0-000d3ad5ee87 also, to take you to civil court he would have to prove a financial loss, sentimental value holds no water in a Uk court!

sounds the nutter klaxon for your neighbour and quite a few other posters on this thread.

Everyone needs to get over themselves, the police don't give a fuck when a house is burgled, when cars are stolen, when shop lifters run riot so I'm confident no one will care

I lived for several years in a house with 5 willow trees along the border of a stream and within 2 metres of the side of the house

No foundation issues
The house didn’t have any

What are all these things we have that dont cost us anything?

He didnt buy the tree, he didnt lose the tree, he didnt lose profit from the tree, the tree has not suffered or been damaged... its a very unique thing, virtually everything else has value to be lost but this doesn't.