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?

Offer her the option on going half on a tree surgeon to come and look to see how the tree might be pruned to minimise the problems she has, without chopping down the tree

Mature trees should only ever be chopped down as an extreme last resort when there is significant risk to property or life. Imo.

There used to be fields behind my Dad's house. Thirty years ago a new build was knocked up

My Dad and his neighbour both have trees at the bottom of their gardens and over the years numerous people have asked if they could lower them or cut them down

My Dad just ignores them. The trees were there first so tough shit

It’s an established tree so probably been there longer than you both therefore it was poor planning on her part to put a deck there. I would offer to pay to trim it on her side maybe if I wanted to stay on good terms but it’s a tree not a daffodil that you can just dig up and replant elsewhere.

If you get on well with the neighbour then I'd be looking for a compromise as others have suggested - getting a tree surgeon to see if the tree can be reduced.
I think they'll just have to put up with clearing the decking area though - it's an outdoor space so it will get dirty in the elements regardless of the tree.

We have a large tree in our garden which overhangs ndn's garden. A previous owner asked us to chop it down/cut it back as it was "killing his lawn". This was in a garden that the various occupants rarely even went in let alone did any gardening in (it was rented out for 20 years) and in addition it had its own very large tree next to where ours overhangs so there would be zero difference to the lawn situation. We refused to do anything with the tree but did tell him that he was free to lop of the overhang if he wished (which we knew he wouldn't).
House has changed hands twice since and the tree is still there and neither new neighbour has had a problem with it as it gives them as much (in fact more) privacy as it gives us.

If it is an established tree, it may well have a tree preservation order on it. In which case you will not be able to cut it down.

If it’s causing a nuisance to your neighbour, it would be good for neighbourly relations to get someone in to reduce the height and tidy it up.

I agree with the suggestion of a tree surgeon. If it is overhanging her garden then maybe it can be cut back or reshaped. May do the tree a bit of good.

Also, just as a side thought. It would be good to get it checked out from time to time anyway. If it becomes diseased or suffers another mishap, being "as tall as the house" means should it unexpectedly come down in a very bad storm it might do a lot of damage to your own property - or someone else's debending in which way it fell. Would your insurance cover a new roof for a neighbour?

We have trees in our garden and I love them, but they need checking every few years.

I have a large tree at the back of my garden. Not long after moving in my neighbours asked me to cut it due to the leaves dropping in their driveway. We couldn’t afford to and a tree surgeon told us it was unnecessary to cut that type of tree.

Fast forward a few years and they cut the the tree up to their boundary and now I need to pay to have ot put back into shape.
Speak to your neighbours and try to reach a compromise. Also check rules in your area, I live in a conservation area so need permission from the council for any tree works.

Put a TPO on it if you feel very strongly

Any overhang on their side they have a right to cut themselves.
You might want to get council involved. If environment have an opinion - That's what
you can tell them

I think the responsible thing to do would be to get it professionally trimmed down. I have a neighbour who planted a tree years ago and it was towering over the house shading much of my garden with leaves shedding in the autumn. To be honest it’s an absolute pain in the arse and so I spoke to them and they got a tree surgeon out. Problem solved.

You can delay your decision until autumn anyway due to the possibility of nesting birds ATM

We’ve just bought somewhere and when I met the neighbour one of the first things he said was he’d like a tree down at the end of our boundary as it drops things in his garden.

I had an easy get out of it being in a conservation area and no way will they give permission to remove but have said I will get a tree surgeon in to look at topping it a bit in the autumn. He did try to push a bit and I just said my hands are tied. See what your local rules are.

Can you move the tree ?

😂😂😂😂😂

I have always wanted to do a diagram for mumsnet so here’s one, helpful or not.
I think it’s a Rowan? But not sure. I can get my arms around its trunk so not like a 200 year old oak.
the dots around the trunk on the picture show how far it goes in terms of leaves.
neighbours garden is very well maintained compared to ours which is more self sufficient wild. She’s made comments to that effect in the past

I get both sides, it is pretty annoying having to clear patio especially if neighbour has nice seating. My late father in law was always complaining about long leaves from neighbours tree. We said it’s hardly a problem clearing them, until he died, we actually saw what he had to do each day.

How about agree you will go round now and again to clear the leaves? She is a cf expecting a clean and tidy garden when she lives in a world with trees!! What if a bird poops does she get an air rifle out?

I did wonder about tidying her decking myself but there’s no access except through her house

She shouldn't have put her decking there

What, on her own property in her own garden?

Wasn't the tree already there when the patio was built?

I would get a tree surgeon round, they maybe able to suggest some trimming and thinking of the canopy to let light in

that said she chose to put her decking next to a tree so her problem

The decking, not patio, but same.

Why on earth did she put the decked seating area under the tree. From your (excellent) diagram it looks like she could put her seating on her existing patio, or even extend her patio out as far as yours if she needed more space, or she could have seating in front of her sun house. But no, she puts it under the only tree that (slightly) overhangs her garden and then complains about leaves. It sounds like she is the type of gardener that likes everything neat and tidy with nothing out of place. I would not be cutting down the tree.