Next door's tree encroaching

[Sandra15]

The house next door is rented out to a single mum with a little boy who seems emotionally fragile. I don't see much of her as I'm working.

It's a terrace house and the garden is a jungle. Her dad came over at the weekend and helped her with it.

The problem is at the front of the house where a self seeded ash tree has taken root and is taking over. I've cut down the leaves on my side but a far greater worry is that roots may damage the foundations of my house and the neighbours as well.

What do you think and how should I approach it? Thanks.

If it's rented, then you need to take it up with the landlord, tell him that the tree is self seeded, the distance from your house, the current height, its final height and expected rate of growth, that you are concerned about damage to your house's foundations, and what you would like done, eg removal of tree or limitation to its height.

If it's already a big ash tree, you could add in ash die back and the possibility of random unexpected branch falling. But would be ridiculous to add this in if it's only a sapling.

If it's only small, I'd just pop next door and ask if I could help with its removal. I've dug out a small self seeded tree before, just made sure I got the tap root.

It's quite large. I've managed to get hold of the landlord's daughter via Facebook and sent a message asking her to get him to contact me. I don't think the neighbour realises the potential problems.

Ask if you can take it up / cut it down. She's likely to agree but won't want the hassle of doing it herself