Neighbour has cut 5 of my tree's/bushes down!

[Zara290]

So today my neighbour came around and asked if they can cut some of our trees because they have said they block their satellite signal.
I can't remember exactly the words he used but I presumed he meant cut the top off them so I agreed. For context my heads alittle bit all over the place at the moment as I've just lost my dad very suddenly - I mentioned this to him during our conversation.
Anyway I got on with the day, cooking Sunday dinner etc when my husband came in from being in the garden and told me they had cut loads down! I went out and I could of cried, they have cut a combination of 5 tree's and bushes down - completely gone and left it all for us to clean up. He said as he left "right that will do for today, hopefully you will get some fire wood out of that"

I feel really angry and sad, this area is abit overgrown - we've only been here 8 months and the house and garden need alot of work but we are slowly getting there. I hadn't really had chance to decide what we wanted to keep in this area yet but there is alot of established tree's, plants and bushes here and I was looking forward to seeing what we had - well not anymore as they've completely flattened a large area of it and now I've got so much more rubbish to try and deal with now ontop of everything that is going on personally, oh and they don't like us doing fire's so I won't be able to burn it either!

OP, legally your neighbour can cut off anything that’s overhanging his fence, but no more than that. I feel your pain - my NDN wanted to trim some trees and said they would be cutting off the overhang, and I said fine: legally I can’t object - and then they cut down a tree on MY side of the fence and just left a stump level with the fence - I was not pleased, but did nothing about it, because I don’t want to fall out with my neighbours, but if they ask again, I will point out that it’s limited to their side of the fence!!
@ socialdilemmawhattodo -
If the trees are in your neighbour’s paddock, then unless he wants to/ agrees to cut them, there’s nothing you can do. You can ask him to trim them, or offer to have them trimmed, but he doesn’t have to agree.

I assume the last sentence was unrelated to the prior ones ...

Well you said he could, so he did. I’m not sure there’s much you can do now. Next time say no. And get a lock on your gate.

I've been to have another look.....Lilac tree and Holly tree are 2 out of the 5 that have gone. Gutted

I have read many a thread on here that says that if you cut off somebody's branches or whatever from their tree that you have to give them the clippings back. Does that not apply here?

He said as he left "right that will do for today"

You or DH need to tell your neighbour he can't come back, and he can't cut anything else. Be very explicit, and do it tomorrow otherwise he'll come back when you are all out. Retract your permission immediately.

You’ve posted this on wrong thread

You must offer them to the owner of the tree in case s/he should want it but you can't just dump them on their land and leave it.

It's only fair to shut your neighbour out and let them stew until they're ready to talk. Unless you're sure you can handle their cheek, going over might just make you look like the one stirring up trouble.

You must do this @Zara290

Plus bolt any garden gates etc. to try to prevent his access.

OP find your voice. If he comes back you tell him it’s not what you agreed and no he can’t “trim” anything else beyond what he is entitled to under the law and that he has decimated your garden. Under no circumstances is he to come back into your garden.

He took advantage of you OP, maybe he wanted to do this for ages and the previous owner wouldn't let him.
Please tell him, or ask your DH to, not to do that again and you will not give permission next time, if they do grow back.
Also it is June, isn't there a law against cutting hedges and trees until September because of nesting birds?

I can assure you that the holly will regrow and any new re growth will be extra spiked and very dense. It’s how holly reacts to being attacked and cut back hard.
That is often a very nice surprise for none gardener’s.

The lilac will also regrow but at a slower pace than the holly which races.

The RHS has guides on good pruning so you can check if the trees have been properly hard pruned or simply hacked. https://www.rhs.org.uk/search?query=Hard+pruning&referrerPageUrl=www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/trees/trees-shrubs-light-pruning

I'm sick of these assholes who think it's OK to cut down trees. We need trees desperately. If anyone cut down my big tree I'd take them to court and sue them.
I'd be bloody furious. Without trees the land dries up and becomes barren. I have the only tree in a street a mile long. There is no other shade. Nothing for birds to nest in. It's disgusting. My garden is full of wildlife birds flocking to my tree and pond. Everyone else has fake grass, gravel and concrete.

@Gettingbysomehow We actually do not need every type of tree though. We need the right tree in the right place. I doubt these trees were fully mature oak trees! I suspect overgrown shrubs. The op should also have known its nesting season and refused to have them trimmed anyway. There’s no reason why trees cannot be planted in the space. In gardens there is a need to think of others and make sure trees don’t grow to large for the site. Also trees are not going to live forever and poor specimens should be removed.

He is clearly a chop it all down enthusiast whether it's a poor specimen or not.

Exactly what I thought! I’ve read that many times on here.

@steff13 That applies to branches overhanging your land. Those branches belong to the owner of the tree. If you are given access to the OP’s land, it’s a courtesy to clear up! The trees/bushes were obscuring the satellite dish and he didn’t stay on his own land to do the work - but maybe I’m wrong?

It's not unkept, it's just very established. We've only been here 8months, so this is our first summer here and as I've said the garden is very large so we have been tackling other area's first. In regards to the nesting, their is an abundance of wildlife in there - hence why I thought I was only agreeing for him to take a small amount of the top - just to keep good relations as we are new neighbours.

I’d be raging and would have gone right round there and explained in no uncertain terms that he has taken the piss and he is absolutely responsible for clearing up the mess and should NOT remove any more of your bushes or trees.

whilst you should have been clearer at the time, now is the time to be clear before he does anything else.

🙄

So what are you going to do op? He’s obviously coming back today to do more. You need to find your voice and say no.

Panic not @Zara290. Yes he was totally out of order not to check in as he was doing the work, but equally sounds like maybe things mean you are not on your A Game.

Has he ground down the stumps? Have a look at faster growing trees. With a mix of evergreen and deciduous. We have been in our house for 5 years and took a lot of old trees down and replanted. About 3 years in we have a much better mix. So plan, wait. And then don't let him back over...

@Zara290 Nesting season is nesting season though. You did need to specify what was permitted. With a large garden, were these great tree specimens? Probably not. There’s nothing you can do and don’t let him in again. Just think about what you will do with the area now. Don’t speak to the neighbour again unless you think carefully first.