Trees in a new build home - HELP!

[wishtobuyadog]

Hello.
I would REALLY appreciate any comment on this.

We are buying a new build house and just recently exchanged our contract.
Before we exchange, we went to see the house.
It wasn't snagging viewing, we just wanted to see inside our new house before exchange.

Then I noticed that there was a quite tall tree between our house and next door house.
I asked a sales lady and a site manager about which house would responsible for this tree.
They told us it was our responsibility.

The tree, planted only a two meters-ish away from the front door is an apple tree.
I don't want any tree right in front of our house.
The tree is already blocking a view from a room upstair window.
Also when the apples drop, I have to collect them before they rotten otherwise it smells, flies all over, makes our new paving dirty and high volume of food waste (I don't think we would eat them).

We asked them to remove the tree, which was apparently just planted a couple of weeks ago.

The sales lady came back today and said that we need a permission from a landscape architect.
Also there is another fruits tree is going to be planted in the back garden.
These two trees are not on the contract we agreed.

If the landscape architect refuses to remove the trees, do we really have to look after them?
When they get bigger, we need to pay a tree surgeon to prune and we need to keep collecting fruits from the ground?

We are thinking that this house would be our life time house.
I really don't want to keep collecting fruits from the ground, complaint from next door about over grown tree and keep paying to a tree surgeon to prune it until I physically can not do it.

I appreciate any idea, suggestion or comment on this.

Wonkylegs, your post makes me feel better.
I hope this apple tree is not bad as I imagine.

According to the sales lady, we need to get an approval from planner first so my DH is trying to find out who the planner is.

She also mentioned that this landscaping scheme was approved.
I guess 'Approved' means approved by council so now solicitor is checking this.

Thank you for your comment FiftyShadesOfSporn.

I don't think this tree is planted within 2 meters but definitely less than three quarters of ultimate height (if RHS's info is correct) away from the house (NHBC).

I will ask my DH to contact surveyor.

Looking up Malus John Dowie it looks like a very pretty ornamental fruit tree. Pretty flowers, nice autumn colour and you don't need to pick the apples if you don't want to and they will probably be eaten by birds over the winter.

Good for a small garden seems to be a common description so I doubt it's going to get very big, looks like it's a relatively narrow tree. The RHS says it will grow to between 8-12 meters, but over 20-50 years and needs little to no pruning.

You can't tell how high a crab apple tree will be by the variety. It's the rootstock that matters. Since they are planted close to the house, my guess is that they have chosen a semi-dwarfing or dwarfing rootstock which will meant the tree stays much smaller than its potential spread on a vigorous rootstock.

I think you are panicking because you've heard some other people complain about them. But they are not anything like a gardening nightmare. At most, you'll have to pick up a few fruit and some leaves and maybe give it a prune once in a while. It's not a big job, and leaves are easy to collect with a leaf vac! And in exchange for that you get lovely bark, lovely spring blossom, leaves during the summer to soften the edges of your property, autumn colour with those beautiful fruits, and winter structure.

I think you have to accept that the outside is the outside. Birds will poo, leaves will fall, the seasons will change. If you accept that and work with it instead of fighting it, you have a chance at creating something beautiful. There's nothing attractive about the unsoftened, unplanted lines of a housing estate, after all - which is the reason developers and planners go to the bother of getting landscapers in in the first place.

Thank you very much for your comment, nooka and shovetheholly.
After I read people's comment, I actually feel a lot calmer.

When I saw the tree standing right in front of the house and found out that ultimate height is 8 to 12 meter, I instantly thought I have to pick all fruits otherwise the front garden looks mess, if it becomes taller we can't open the window, no sun, a lot of bees come in a room, I might need to spend a thousand pound to deal with the tree etc and I panicked.
It's because I'm having enough with our current front and back garden.

My DH doesn't go to the garden, doesn't do any garden job and my DCs ONLY go to the trampoline.
I'm the only one go to the garden regularly, pruning, mowing, removing dead flowers, weeding, sweeping etc. Never end.
I'm sorry for moaning but I always ask myself 'why do we need garden if they don't go out'

Council and landscaping company are not silly.
They must have looked into the tree variety.
Developer needs to get an approval from NHBC so they wouldn't plant a tree grows very big which could affect house.

I found the developer's planning permission to the council last night.
According to the plan, management company looks after the tree for next 5 years and every five years afterwards.
If the tree dies or damaged, the management company will replace it.

I just hope the tree wouldn't become our/my headache.

wishtobuy - gardening on top of looking after little ones IS a lot of work!! I am glad that you will get lots of help from the management company with the tree. It doesn't sound as though you'll need to do anything but the lightest of pruning, as that sounds as though it's covered in the contract.

Is this your first garden? I think it is normal to feel a bit panicked when you have to look after an outdoor space for the first time. There are a series of new jobs to do, and it can feel a bit bewildering.

Also, I think that having a garden in an absolutely pristine and neat state is a LOT of work. It's pretty much the most labour-intensive way you can garden. Plus (and this may just be me) they finicky jobs you need to do to get everything in neat rows and tidied up are really, really, really boring. Constantly hoovering up leaves, primping the lawn, sorting out carpet bedding, sweeping paths - yawn, yawn, YAWN! It's like housework, but outdoors. And no-one wants yet more housework out of doors.

But there are other ways!! Have you thought about gardening in a looser style that would require less maintenance from you - less tidying, less regimentation, and more creative stuff about where you put in plants you like for colour and texture? (As Vita Sackville-West said about Sissinghurst - 'cram, cram, cram' it with plants that you like, falling over one another!).

Making it into a job that you enjoy, rather than one that is yet another 'thing to do' could turn a chore into something you look forward to doing. If your DC are young, they might enjoy things like planting bulbs and watching them reappear? But this could be your space and your project - all parents need some way of exercising their personality and creativity, and this could be yours! If you want to take it on, I have every faith you can do it - we are all here to hold your hand!

shovetheholly - thank you so much for your positive comment!

Although we haven't heard anything from our solicitor yet, haven't confirmed the management company looks after the tree yet (it says on the planning permission to the council), I feel calmer than a few days ago and a bit more positive about the apple tree.

This isn't our first garden.
Previous garden was more manageable size and my DC1 enjoyed the garden.
My DH often went out to the garden, sat at the table, drinking wine and reading a book but not now.

The garden next house is manageable size and I'm taking quite a few of my favourite roses with me.
I'm sure I can enjoy gardening again.

Ooooh, you know what? I bet this new house could be a opportunity for you to reconnect with your outdoor space as a family, and to start using it in a more versatile way! You can plan a whole new garden that will have your DH rushing outside to read again.

I think sometimes small alterations in the way that the house relates to the outdoors can have quite a profound effect on the way you use the space. My house is a very standard 1930s semi, with a back door on the side of the house where the kitchen is. It means that when you sit in the dining room at the back, you feel quite disconnected from the garden. It also means that to get outside we have to go through the kitchen and out into a dark passageway then round.

So we are going to reconfigure the house to have big windows and doors right along the back. And I think this will mean we feel more connected to the outdoors and that I can tempt DH out there on a summer's evening with a glass of wine.

Maybe your new house will bring new ways of connecting to your outdoor space, and you will fall in love with it again as a family! I really like that you're taking your roses. That's a great plan.

shovetheholly - Again thank you very much for your positive comment and apologise for my slow response as my DC wasn't well and I had to collect her.

We still haven't heard a definite answer from our solicitor about the apple tree in the front and a plum tree in the back garden but we probably never be able to remove, cut down or prune it very small as these trees are in an approved landscaping scheme but will try to be positive.

Thank YOU so much for all of you, gave me some advise, information and some experience about fruits trees.

I agree with Shovetheholly and suspect it will be on a small rootstock and not an issue. I think a lot of the stories you have of people with whopping great trees close to the house are when inexperienced people plant trees without researching properly first.

We've got a fairly mature sweet chestnut tree closer to the house than I'd like which wasn't the best idea of whoever planted it, pretty sure it was planted after the house. But so far so good, easy to prune, no sign of cracks anywhere yet and chestnut stuffing for Christmas. I'd much rather deal with that than my neighbour's massive Cedar, the house came after the tree on that one.

That's lovely you're bringing your roses with you. Exciting times, hope you are very happy there .

Um, I assume that your 8-12 metre comment was meant to say 8-12 feet, as apple trees definitely don't get that big!

I have apple trees in my front garden and they are no trouble at all, really. Although I like them and chose to plant them so that does make a difference.

My DBro is a tree expert (arboriculturalist) so advised what trees to put near the house - not all trees cause structural problems, a lot are just fine.

Malus John Downie is a perfect tree for a small garden . It has very pretty blossom in the spring and small fruits in the autumn . You won't need to pick them, if you leave them the birds will take them.

But I think you should measure the distance from the building . If it's actually only 2 m then you could ask for it to be moved . That's no trouble if it's only just been planted . Unless the have indeed planted a mature tree- which would need to be the case if it was already blocking the upstairs window .

Perhaps you could post a photos so we could see what the problem is .

I agree with all shove the Holllys helpful posts to you . Honestly , you don't need to be doing all this work on the trees. I have many more decidcous and evergreen trees than you and I don't do most of the things you list . I hope you can find a style of garden that isn't so high maintenance and will give you pleasure instead of being a chore .

Thank you all for your comment and suggestion.
I'm still fairy positive about the apple tree because of everyone's positive comment.

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig - I hope it's ft rather than meters but RHS website says so.
I just now had a look another website and it says that ultimate height is 8 - 12 ft (2.4m - 3.6m). Which is true!?
Is Royal Horticultural Society WRONG? I hope they are wrong!

According to the developer's planning permission to the council, Trees to be assessed every five years by an arboriculturalist to identify long term management and maintenance requirements.

I don't know the maintenance schedule includes pruning but at least a tree experts will visit the site to check it.
We were told that we have a responsibility to look after the tree but if the experts comes, do I need to do anything?

Another fruits tree will be planted on the back garden, which we haven't been informed at all before exchange.
When we asked about the apple tree in the front, the sales lady send us some information about landscaping scheme which includes the apple tree in the front and another fruits tree in the back garden.
If we didn't ask her about the apple tree, we wouldn't have known about another fruits tree in the back garden.

This tree is not mentioned at all in the documents we received from our solicitor.
I thought we would be informed everything before exchange but it didn't happen.
When I found out, I thought it wasn't right but then if I'm the only one making a fuss, I just thought I'll just give in.

Apparently we need to apply planning permission to do anything to these two trees. If not, unlimited fine will be imposed.
Also even if we get a permission to fell the tree, we would have to put another similar tree on the same site.