To have spent most of the day in tears over trees

[NoMoreTrees]

We moved into this house just shy of a year ago and I regretted it almost instantly. I absolutely hate it here, it has pretty much ruined my life and for the last few months my mental health has been in tatters and I’ve had some very, very dark days.

One thing I did like about the house though was that at the end of the garden, on the other side of the fence were some beautiful tall trees. Dozens of trees with hundreds of birds that you can hear singing all year round, an owl, squirrels and other wildlife. The trees ran the entire length of our row of houses and a bit further.

On the other side of the trees is a small field, and while we were having surveys etc done they brought up a planning application for a small development of 9 houses in that field, which had been rejected by the water company.

Well I’m sure you know where this is going… obviously the water company were offered more money changed their minds because before the sun was even up this morning a bunch of men in hi viz and hard hats rocked up with a chainsaw, a bulldozer and a woodchipper and one by one started tearing all the trees down. By the time they had downed tools and fucked off there was only one tree left standing at the end of our garden and one or two surviving further down… for now at least.

I just can’t stop crying. I can’t even bring myself to look out of the windows at the back of the house. All those beautiful trees, all those birds, all that wildlife, gone. It was one of the very, very few things that made living here tolerable, and now instead of trees and birdsong, there is going to be a building site. Just when I thought I couldn’t fucking hate it here more.

The is a dramatic change and I’m not suprised you are sad about it but I think it’s something you will find you get used to. I know it wasn’t just conifers but most the trees that were directly behind your house were and they aren’t the nicest trees and the things about trees is that you can plant them and they will grow!
We moved into a house with a big garden and a lot of ugly trees including conifers, we spent a lot of money chopping them down. We went from having an entirely private garden to being able to see other houses. It didn’t look great but we were playing the long game and now our garden is full of beautiful, interesting, native trees that provide much better habitats for wildlife. If I were you I’d look to plant something at the end of the garden. Even if you can only afford something small it will grow.
The other thing that you should try and see as a positive is that the houses being build are being built far from your house. The gardens are quite long. Once everything is finished you won’t feel on top of them and once the houses are built then you don’t have to worry about something worse being built there like high rise flats or a factory or something.

I’m so sorry, I would be heartbroken by this too. Can you afford to plant trees on your side of the fence? I know it’s not the same but in time they will grow and be a home for birds.

Those were conifers, in a lot of ways having them gone is a good thing. Hopefully its a case of they will be replaced with trees that are native and will promote the local environment.

Conifers = tree weed where I come from.

I'm so sorry you are going through this OP.

I had a similar experience. I moved into my house 20 years ago, after being mesmerised at the 'mini woodland' in the neighbour's garden behind me. My garden was the most private and pretty garden because of it.

I moved in in November, and one day the following March, I woke up one morning to the sound of chainsaws. I looked out of my window to see every tree had been cut down. Then the building works for a few months culminated in the neighbours extension butting right up to my garden fence. That was a very sad time. Lesson learnt to never move to a house based on other peoples trees/ greenery.

I also had an elderflower tree in my north east facing garden. It thrived for about 40 odd years (planted at least 20 years before I moved in), until it got diseased so badly that it was at risk of falling onto the neighbours extension. It was a huge beautiful monster of a tree, scaling the rooftops of the back neighbours roof (I'm near to the corner of the road so this neighbours house goes sideways at the bottom of my garden). I had it felled 4 weeks ago and am still very very upset about the loss of the most important thing in my garden, the loss of the birds singing and seeing the squirrels running up and down it all day. My cats sit looking at the empty space too. And the house which looks like a box with windows staring at me when I look out is just awful.

Elderflower trees do well in a north east facing garden. Mine was just unlucky. A previous poster said you would be littered with pink bird poo and that is right. I couldn't use that area for sitting or drying washing for that very reason. Pink and purple bird poo everywhere! I had in effect, a 5 meter square area that I couldn't use. But I didn't care because that tree was a fine specimen.

I'm planning on planting a massive banana plant in the space the spring (I hear they can reach 5 meters in one season). Some jasmine and honeysuckle scaling the fence will bring a bit of colour to that corner as well.

There's a company called Instant Hedges and they can and do provide mature trees. Not cheap but very impressive what they can achieve.

It's rubbish OP.

I feel your loss.

Indeed. And they tend to stop natural diversity, as they dominate and take up nutrients more aggressively. It’s why tree crops, for paper and building timber etc, are conifers.

Your photos show a large garden, @NoMoreTrees so make it a project to plan and plant a variety of trees, according to the light, soil, and aspect.

Theres a gardening section on MN I think? Ask there, there’ll be loads of good advice.

But I suspect your sadness is only projected onto the loss of someone else’s trees. It might be worth reflecting on where it’s really coming from.

I would be devastated too but you have a big, beautiful garden that has so much potential and turning into a wildlife haven could be just the thing to brighten your MH and help you feel more positive about your home.

I’d start by planting a native hedge all around the perimeter. Winter is the perfect time and you can find cheap bare roots at https://shop.woodlandtrust.org.uk/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21562090235&gbraid=0AAAAAodncPfDXoJ2iy--FicYPuhLeTTS9&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImrzbmJCDkgMV4JNQBh0QzCedEAAYASABEgIyJvD_BwE

I planted a corner native dogwood a few years ago, it looks beautiful and absolutely sings with wildlife. Finding cheap ways to garden is a really fun challenge and was the one activity I could do when my kids were really little. Come join us on the gardening board!

I alwaya cry when trees get cut down. So many people either love the bare look or something trimmed to a little tiny neat thing.

The op probably has not stopped to think of trees were felled to build her house! It’s easy to check landscaping proposals for a new estate and, as others have said, op can plant trees. Beech hedges are fantastic but I’d put in small native trees too. I’d not lose sleep over conifers being felled!

Lots of pretty trees you can plant around the edges of your own garden, that will grow quickly. Elder is a very good choice, also look at silver birch, rowan and liquidambar, which has beautiful coloured leaves, and perhaps pittosporum, spindle and hazel.

I would never, ever plant another conifer in my garden and I have a huge garden. I think the poster who has been planting her Christmas trees in her garden is in for a nasty (and expensive) shock in another few years!

Do not on any account take the advice of the utter twat who suggested planting Japanese knotweed, I think you could possibly be prosecuted for that.

Hopefully the local ,people win.

Thanks, I really hope so. It saddens me that any green space is disappearing.

@5MinuteArgument So where do you expect your dc or others to live then? In high rise blocks like China?

Well, there are millions of empty properties that could be repurposed if we had more control over property developers so they didn't just bulldoze prime land because it's easier for them.

Also we could get our own people working, especially almost a million NEETS instead of bringing loads of people from abroad all of whom need housing.

We must try to preserve as much green space as possible, especially in and around towns and cities, for the sake of our DCs.

The government could buy up all the empty new-builds to cope with the "demand" ? China has empty tower blocks all over don"t they, that is why they are in the grip of a massive property crash. The "not enough houses" meme was always only about getting people into mortgage debt.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/new-build-sales-fall-62-as-mortgage-market-changes-improve-access-for-buyers.html

@KeepPumping What empty new builds? In the SE??? None I know of.

Houses are needed where people want to live and work. Just buying a few homes up doesn’t get over land shortages in the SE and it’s that which is causing a lack of houses. No doubt if people wanted cheap housing and could maintain a good job in an area where houses are cheap, they would go there. Most people don’t want to though.

People have wanted to buy homes for decades! It was seen as something aspirational. It was seen as a good thing as you didn’t pay rent for life and acquired an asset. The mistake was selling off council houses and Labour should have stopped that in 1997.

Some cities are full of empty shops and other buildings that could be converted.

@ScrollingLeaves I think Labour are looking at relaxing the scope of employment zones. John Lewis wanted to convert old stores to housing and in many areas there is too much retail space. It certainly needs looking at but many SE towns still have quite bouyant high streets.

Hi Op, I'd be very upset too, however as people have said it's an opportunity to plant some trees in your garden and see them grow and flourish.
The really good news is it's bare root season right now so you'll be able to pick up some whips ( very young trees) for an excellent price and easily plant them now which is the perfect time.
Do some research and get some wildlife friendly, native, garden suitable trees.
You'll be amazed at how quickly they grow.

Another thing is to get rid of stamp duty so people don’t find it ridiculous to move when they don’t need a family house anymo; or want to move to another area where there is more housing or a job they want.

Also make rail fares lower so people can live in cheaper areas of without effectively being in a different country.

As someone said too, there can be too many houses built that people cannot afford the mortgages for.

All houses should be sustainable if they are going to wreck the countryside for them,
but many are junk.

Where I live some of the most egregious destructions of woodland and beautiful areas have been for millionaire houses.

Houses have been bought up, gutted and wrecked but made into luxury flats for rent, or for sale for millions to buy, by foreign owned companies.

Vast majority of people do not pay any stamp duty and if they do, its relatively low.
On an averaged priced house, its £4k & surely, if Stamp duty removed, all that would happen is sellers would increase prices?

Rail fares have been frozen, first time ever i think but need to far lower BUT we don't want tax rises.....

Yes building regs are shite and not enforced, cuts have meant that inspectors are small in number and photos will be good enough, with random visits.

Well they’ve been back every day since and I guess they thought they’d been too generous with what they left behind before… the gorgeous big conifer in the corner has been slowly torn limb from limb and the small amount of shrubbery between the end of the two trees left at the end of our garden has been taken today too.

That’s so sad to see 😭 cutting down all those lovely trees 🌲

I’d be absolutely devestated. Sorry OP. I do hope you can move if that’s what you would really like to do.

Gorgeous conifer? I’d be over the moon to see the back of that dreadful thing. What a delightful open aspect you now have. I could work wonders with a lovely open space like that. I’m already thinking about all the vegetables and beautiful flowering trees and shrubs that would love your garden now it’s so open and sunny. That would be a wildlife paradise in no time. You see? It’s all about perspective.

I’m sorry you are finding it so upsetting. The good news is that they are Leyland Cyprus (leylandii) cheep and incredibly fast growing, which is why they are used for this kind of windbreak/temporary screening. So if you really do like them you could plant one or more in your own garden and they will shoot up in no time.

Be careful if you do plant them though because they tend to out-compete other planting.