Neighbour wants me to cut down a tree

[Cantyouseeimanaubergine]

Next door neighbour has asked me to cut down a tree. It’s an established tree, tall as the house. It’s halfway down the garden and at the border. She says it drops debris onto her decking and she’s always having to sweep and clean stuff off her garden furniture. (She has a decked seating area half way down her garden). She says it blocks light to her garden too.
I like the tree and don’t want to cut it down.
she’s a good neighbour, often passing us freshly baked goodies and doing our bins when we are away. I suspect she’ll change if we say no.
is there any compromise here?

I assume you can't cut the tree so it doesn't overhang her garden? She can cut anything on her property without permission as long as she offers the cuttings back but it's a pain trimming trees

depends how long the tree has been there. If she bought her house and the tree was already there and already that big then that was her decision.

If you’ve both been there many many years, and you planted it and it grew massive very quickly then maybe it wasn’t suitable for the spot its in.

if she built her decking under the tree when she could have built it elsewhere then she’s an idiot.

She has a cheek asking you to cut it down without offering to pay for the works. You’d be doing her a huge favour by getting rid of your tree and she expects you to pay it as well?

It’s a garden. Gardens contain trees and it is normal to have to sweep decking. A tree is a bigger asset to a garden that decking is. I’d be telling her to jog on.

Can you have branches cut back as a compromise.
I wouldn't get rid of the tree

The tree was there before she was. Trees have been dropping leaves since before there were people living in houses and will continue to do so. If she put the decking under the tree that’s her look out.

I would laugh in her face, people are so ducking ignorant, no wonder the planet is dying.

Fucking.. fucking

I would ask to have a look at the problem from her garden. It might really shade her garden to a problem that you need to see.

I regularly reduce the height of my trees for my neighbour. She told me the problem it was causing her and I sorted it for her. These things can be quite stressful.

No-one wants actually wants tree cuttings back. that law was made because branches made have had fruit or nuts that technically belong to the tree’s owner. However it is often a pain to dispose of cuttings which overhang your garden so was a tree owner it would be polite to offer to take them back and deal with getting rid of them. Neighbours shouldn’t just be throwing branches back over though if they cut them off as they could damage something in the process.

We did get rid of a tree which was blocking our neighbours light, for the sake of good relations. It did make a significant difference though- their garden was fully in the shade from it. It makes me happy when I see them out there sunbathing now! If it was only a minor irritant I wouldn’t have taken such extreme measures

If there are branches overhanging her property then she has a right to cut them down, you could suggest this as a compromise but I would be afraid that if she has to get someone to do it and pay for it she would take the opportunity to cut more. If you arrange it (and pay) it will probably maintain your relationship and you have control.

I wouldn't cut it down but i'd reduce the height. When we moved into our house the sycamore's in the garden were huge so they got a drastic cut, we still get privacy but it's increased our light and our neighbours.

Get a tree surgeon out to see what you can do without killing the tree
We reduced ours successfully, it's no biggy and makes the tree healthier

What type of tree is it?
How long has it been there? (longer than both of you, or not?)
Is it likely to be covered by a Tree Preservation Oder?
Is she suggesting that you split the costs involved 50-50?

i take it it isn’t a massive conifer if it’s dropping debris? They are a ducking pain in the ass. The neighbour behind us planted a leylandii right next to our shared fence. Despite them getting it chopped back by half (so it looked awful for ages with a flat top, a really odd looking shape with dead stuff in the middle), they haven’t been able to do anything about the width. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it is now HALF the width of our whole garden. Its branches have broken the fence panels. We’ve had to plant our own hedge our side to try and hide the damage and mess.

if anyone is thinking of planting close to their boundary please consider proximity to the fence and also future width as well as height. Some trees look awful if they’ve been lopped and are really meant to be left alone to keep their shape. Ie conifer. So small gardens should have only small conifers.

Depends on the size of the garden. It's all about the context.

Has it got too big?

Would something smaller be more suitable?

Sounds like you have a good relationship with your NDN.

I would ask to go into her garden to see it from her POV. I'd then call a tree surgeon in to see what they could do.

Whilst it's an inconvenience and possibly will cost you (she may well pay/contribute), I'd be inclined to cooperate to continue the good relationship you have.

If it's as tall as your house I can quite see that it could put her whole garden in the shade. If she's a lovely person and it would make a difference to her, I'd have its size reduced considerably. No-one needs a tree to be the height of their house. It might also sold the overhang, or at lest reduce the leaf fall on her property.

I would, however, ask her to contribute to the cost. Tree surgery isn't cheap.

I have laurels at the end of my garden, which provide some privacy. I'd like them to be high enough that my neighbour can't see into my living room (I have patio doors) from her upstairs windows, but I know that they were unhappy when they were that size. I did appreciate that they made their (smaller and north facing) garden oppressive at that height, so I had them lowered, and have them trimmed annually. I still get a reasonably decent amount of privacy, avoided upsetting anyone, and improved the neighbour's quality of life.

The same happened to us. The tree (planted before either of us moved in) was a non native species that grows very big and tall so it would have just kept on growing. We removed the tree for them and they've recently done us a similar favour (related to fencing).

I would keep the tree. I don't care about having a friendly neighbour that brings baked goods round though. I do care about supporting wildlife. It comes down to your priorities.

Was the tree there when she bought the house? Did you plant the tree? Has it grown out of control a bit and needs a good prune?

I’m afraid your neighbour and her decking will just have to put up with it but could lopping be a compromise?

My neighbour has a massive park -land type of specimen tree in her garden. Not suitable for an urban plot by any stretch.

One Autumn I cleared up 11+ bags of huge palm shaped leaves from my side. I am not very agile or strong and the leaf fall was horrendous.

Long story short, after much “discussion”, she finally had the tree lopped. The situation had become very stressful.

The tree surgeons shortened the height of the branches & took down those which over reached my garden.

It has improved the light into the back of my house and last Autumn I had much less to clear up which was a blessing.

I still worry about storms because if it weakens, the SW prevailing winds could bring it down onto my house and where I sleep at the back.

The tree is stunning, I didn't want it felled so lopping it has been a good compromise until the next time it gets too big.

Good luck OP.

I would look at cutting it. Leaves falling could be making it slippy , blocking drains , gutters etc. Making her lawn mossy , blocking out light. Roots might be lifting any paving etc

Look at it from her point of view

Yes, I’d say if you want to stay on good terms offer to get a tree surgeon to cut it back at the correct time of year, volunteer to go over there once a week to sweep/ clean the deck, or buy her one of those outdoor rugs to put on top of the deck/ elsewhere in the garden (she can take it off and shake it).

Don’t cut it down. That’s probably 50 years of growing there, and the tree probably supports more animals and insects than you can imagine. Even if you planted a new tree that would in no way compensate. Plus I imagine that the tree preceded the deck….

Trees on the boundary are a PITA and I think if you have one you have a responsibility to keep it at a reasonable height and ensure it doesn't overhang into your neighbours garden. I know you'll get loads of "won't somebody think of the treeeessss" answers here but sometimes trees get far too big for domestic gardens. Agree to cut back any overhang and reduce the height (at the right time of year to protect the tree - might have to wait till after autumn).