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.

I live in an urban area but I like walking. Quite a few places where I walk are now earmarked for development. Really sad.

However long you think you’ll stay it’s worth planting saplings down the end of your garden now. Wildlife will benefit most from a mix of native trees. Hazel grows very quickly, as does Elder and both cope with neglect so good for inexperienced gardeners. Don’t worry about buying more mature trees, bare root saplings catch up quickly and they are cheap right now and perfect time to plant.

Awful but you have a great plot. Build your own oasis and focus on the good. Research and design your garden - plenty here will share their knowledge and create your own haven.

@evtheria

The new neighbour next to them removed a cherry tree that was clouds of pink each year, and installed about 5 different artificial garden features

People like this shouldn't be allowed to have gardens!

@NoMoreTrees I know exactly how you feel. A house two doors down from us had a similar row of beautiful tall trees like this- in the summer looking out at the back windows they were so lovely. This summer after years they were all chainsawed down in one afternoon. Now I look out of the back windows and see brick houses. I still miss them, but visually you do get used to the new view over time.

I'd be devastated too. I live opposite a park and a few trees have been felled there over the years. It's upset me every time. But try to look on this as an opportunity. You have space at the end of your garden for trees. Some are very fast growing (like rowan or birch) and you could also have something like an apple or pear tree. It's wonderful to see them growing and you're doing something for future generations.

Oof. When I started reading I thought “how bad can it be?” Then I saw the photos 😱 that’s absolutely awful they have done that!! What the hell. Can you afford some new trees to be put in your garden? There’s some really fast growing types.

@NoMoreTrees It is heartbreaking when trees are removed, but from your photo they do look like mostly conifers of some sort or another. For the area they take up they really don't offer that much for wildlife.

I would have a look at the planning application to see if the trees were meant to be protected, and if they were you can let the planning it department know what has happened. They will hopefully be able to do something.

In the meantime, even if you only plant a few trees and shrubs that will help the birds and other wildlife.
A couple of trees I would suggest to plant are silver birch and hawthorn. We have a small copse of 5 silver birches, all planted close together (maybe just under a metre apart) to try and keep them smaller, and the birds love them. Ditto the hawthorn. If you plant them in your garden you have control over what happens to them.

If you can, try and find the positive in where you are living. It might not be what you want but you can try and make it work for you and your family. I hope you are able to get some plants in and get your previous view back, or an even better one 🌳

@NoMoreTrees @peachescariad This would devastate me as well. I absolutely feel your distress. I remember when I came home to find the council had lopped all the sycamores in a bit of 'wild' land at the bottom of my garden (outside of the fence). To be fair, they were a bloody nuisance and had grown unchecked for years. But the sudden absence of the leafy canopy and the lack of opportunities for birds, even the noisy crows and jays, was a punch in the gut.
i absolutely cannot get my head around why developers etc can just chop down beautiful, mature trees that are critical habitats. They need more protections, not less. 💐🥺

I hate our bastard govt, they have enabled this, ripping up planning law.

I'm so sorry, OP. I would be devastated too.

As others have said, you could create a beautiful garden and haven for wildlife where you are. I know solutions can seem minimising when you feel rubbish, but if you are able, you. could be the creator of so much joy for our native creatures.If you don't stay, they will still benefit. I'm just thinking about the quote about elderly men planting trees from which they will never get to enjoy the shade. Their gift to the world.

Good luck ❤️

You could get in touch via social media and ask them what landscaping plans they have for the development.

I'm not in the UK but exactly the same thing happened to us in our new estate. The field behind us was sold, only our developer had access so he blocked anyone buying it until he got it himself. Diggers arrived at half past seven one morning and pulled our trees down, although there weren't many. I absolutely cried my eyes out. There was a big fat bird that that always perched in one of them and I was worried for him. It was awful, all built on now.

I don't think I'd be devastated about the loss of conifers.

Perhaps they will replace them with native trees. I'd rather that than a row of conifers.

Same thing happened to me, twice, in two different houses.

It is devastating and infuriating.

They’ve cut deciduous trees down too

YANBU, that’s absolutely devastating. Those housing developers are completely unethical and destroying the environment left right and centre. This is why I’d never, ever buy a new build house.

I feel absolutely gutted whenever I see another beautiful field or trees being ripped up and concreted over, or more farm fields being destroyed when we don’t have enough land to feed ourselves as a country. I can’t even look at the sites and avert my eyes. It’s horrible to think of all the wildlife that die for this particular human vanity.

This is what the planned development will look like… the purple plot is my house/garden. So there is going to be some nature left behind, not that I’ll be able to see any of it. The Gate House is the one now shining like the fucking Eiffel Tower, apparently it belongs to the person who used to own that field… well they’re probably a few hundred grand (at least) richer now so I doubt they give a shit

I hope you're right. But I see many green spaces where I currently go walking being earmarked for development. The local people are fighting it.

It does happen but it is not allowed. Any clearance of a site after Jan 2020 requires baseline surveys to be done. The environmental teams who assess planning applications can and do use aerial imagery from e.g. Google to see if habitat has been destroyed in the last few years. If it's been cleared before doing a baseline survey & submitting a planning application, the value of the lost habitat will be estimated and this can end up being very costly. In practice though, a lot of developers still get away with it.

According to the most recent planning application “There will be a small number of trees which will be lost as a result of the development and there will be a number of new trees added. The trees lost are not considered to be of significant value (in particular the Leyland Cypress trees).”

Small number?!

Leyland trees are not a great loss.

That's really shit OP.

I pet sit a pair of cats regularly throughout the year. Their house used to be solitary on a quiet lane surrounded by fields. A whole estate went up with the entry road running alongside their house. Another one is now springing up behind them stretching all the way back to the main road. Each time I'm with the cats the view out the back is more and more crowded. It's not even my house and I'm upset.

You have a nice house to live in? A house to live in is not a human vanity. It's a basic need.