neighbours 70 ft Beech Tree

[maevesport]

Beautiful beech tree next door but it puts our entire lawn in shade most of the day.Lawn is 99 % moss.
Estimated height of the tree which is just next to boundary fence is 70 ish feet.
Neighbours are very quiet family who have never spoken to us since we moved in 3 years ago !
DH thinks there is nothing we could or should do ,even though he too would like some sunlight in the summer..
What are other views ??

Presume it was there when you moved in?

Yes it was there when I moved in.It takes a while for a tree to grow that tall - altho I am not a tree expert .

Any helpful comments ?

Ask them if they would consider pruning ? Most mature trees need attention every few years. Check there isn't a TPO on it (council website) and maybe offer to go halves on a tree surgeon if you would benefit the more. Realistically it may be too late to have it pruned until after the growing season ie August/September and in case there are any nesting birds.

Thanks LIZS.
I do not want our first ever conversation to be about something that might cost them money - so I would offer to pay .I just wondered if a tree surgeon could realistically do anything to a tree that huge that would let light in.

Take some off the top or prune the lower branches?

There is alot of bedrock under the garden and DH thinks it will keel over one day due to shallow roots.

A good tree surgeon will advise but we regularly have a third taken off the height of our trees (twice in last 5 years) and thinning.

I have a very large beech in my garden and would probably be amenable to having it trimmed by a tree surgeon, especially if you paid! I thinned the lower branches of mine recently and it does allow a lot more light in.

We had tree like this in our neighbours garden. We went and asked if they were attached to it and they weren't and if they would mind us paying our tree surgeon to remove it and the didn't. Our garden is now bathed in glorious sunlight all day :)

If you want it felled then you ought to pay for it.

But remember that you have no rights over the tree except to cut overhanging branches.

The phrase you want is 'lifting the crown'. Quite reasonable to raise this with your neighbours if you're willing to pay. You can also legally have any branches cut that overhang your property, although that might make it look wonky. As a previous owner of a looming beech, I sympathise -- ours used to get aphid infestations and make the whole garden sticky! You might be able to do something this year if you get your skates on, as beeches leaf relatively late.

As Lizs said, please check with Council before you do anything. If it has a TPO (Tree Preservation Order) on it and you cut any branches of, you could end up paying a large fine.

Mmm. Thinking of asking the same of our neighbours but the tree is a eucalyptus. Totally unsuitable, creaking in high winds. However I think the homeowner may have a sentimental attachment to it.

Why is your neighbour's eucalyptus unsuitable, elsie?

For the OP, second asking the neighbours about raising the crown. I've seen this done with a massive flowering gum, and it looked fantastic before and after. But you will need to pay. Arm. Leg. But probably worth it when you get sunlight and still the prospect of a lovely tree.

Because our gardens are small and it completely blocks the sun for the entire morning. Eucalypts are not trees for small Victorian terrace streets and gardens.

Oh, the reason I asked is there are a gazillion eucalypts, and many grow very tall with an open canopy which doesn't make dense shade. Others are very dense indeed.

I've planted both kinds in my garden, which is Victorian (because we're in Victoria):o but not in a small garden.

Where we are, all the trees have preservation orders on which means that permission from the council has to be applied for before even the teensiest lopping of a branch, and this takes months.
However a neighbour lopped an overhanging branch of a tree which was drying up his lawn without applying for permission, and he got a very large fine and blushing cheeks.

We are in the same boat with a beech tree on the boundary. The neighbours have agreed to prune it, but they are expecting us to contribute, as it will benefit us. Is this normal?

A tree is the responsibility of the owner of the land it grows on.

random question but is it the neighbour to the rear?

Yes greyvix if it's on the boundary then you would be expected to contribute as it is both your responsibilty.

Our new neighbours came over to introduce themselves the other week and we mentioned their silver birch (enormous thing which overshadows our garden in the summer making our grass go mossy etc and showering the patio with sticky bud like things and twigs in the winter). We said how we disliked it and if they were amenable we would be more than happy to go halves - they were happy for it to be pruned too.

Fast forward last week and they come over and say that the tree surgeon was coming next week and was it still okay to go halves. We said yes and gave them half the money (cash) straightaway.

Thing is it's completely been felled down to the ground level which wasn't our plan but we are thrilled naturally as our garden now has sun until 7pm ish although it does mean that lots of neighbours can now see in from over the road but small price to pay for sunshine.

Good luck OP on talking to your neighbours re heavy pruning it as they may be too shy to ask you or a bit hard up to pay the full amount. Come back and tell us what happens

Thanks for all the advice.

The fundamental problem tho is that the neighbours are totally unfriendly.They clearly like to keep to themselves and avoid eye contact so we rarely even say Hello .
I wave if we pass them in the car or whatever and I get nil back.It is nt rude really its more that they do not want an interaction which is their choice.

All the replies I have recieved though at least give me some options of what to say if we ever do get to a talking point.
They are not short of cash at all but are not gardeners and never go into their back garden.

We had problems caused by the roots of out neighbours beech tree - IIRC they take a lot of water from the soil and this caused movement (insurance company called it subsidence unhelpfully). Just a word of warning really in case it's close enough to cause similar problems to yours - make sure it's done on their insurance, not yours.

Thanks for the advice.
Good luck, OP. You have nothing to lose from talking to them about the tree.

Our tree is at the side of the garden between us and the next door neighbours.