My neighbour and her tree

[Cherryblossom200]

Hi there,

I'm looking for a bit of advice please. I live next to an elderly lady who has a massive tree in her garden. It's approx 15 metres if not more tall and is approx 3 metres from the start of my property. It's huge and bushy, It's a horn beam so it's very bushy when it has leaves on it.

I moved into my property about 6 years ago, in that time she's had it pruned once, it hardly made a difference to the tree tbh. And very quickly the branches ended up on my side again.

The issue I have is due to where the sun comes round, she gets all the daylight/sun and the majority of the year we get very little.

I've lived without complaining about it other than to ask if I could cut back the branches which end up on my property and she said I wasn't allowed to. So I've left it. I've always tried to keep the peace and avoid conflict with her.

I'm in the process of having an extension done to the back of my house, it's single storey so doesn't block any of her light or sun. However we are now even closer to the tree, some branches are almost half way across my garden and already starting to block my new guttering.

My garden has lost all of its grass and is water logged from all the leaves, it's a nightmare and unusable.

I tried talking to her about it today, and she said she will prune it when the leaves fall off. I tried explaining the impact it has on us, and she dismissed it by saying I shouldn't of moved to a property next to a tree if I didn't like it.

All I want is the tree to be made smaller. My greatest concern is if a branch falls on my child or myself when we are in the garden, and also it gets uprooted in a storm.

I've sent her a polite, yet firm message today. Explaining the impact it has on our quality of life, and that due to its size and proximity to our houses (they are only small 2 beds!) it needs to be made into a smaller, safer size. I emphasised wanting not to upset her, cause conflict and to keep the beauty of the tree.

If she doesn't listen, what other steps are there for me?

Before anyone jumps down my throat, I absolutely love nature. This isn't about chopping down the tree. It's about getting a happy compromise that works for us both, but first and foremost keeping us safe.

Don’t offer the cuttings back just chuck them into her garden - I’d chuck the leaves over too.

you could offer to share the cost of pollarding - they won’t look as attractive unleaved but will look ok in summer and be much smaller.

When I last looked at it,it was quite specific. It’s about light in your living rooms, not sunshine in your garden

Don’t chuck them into her garden - you’re not allowed to be do that. If she doesn’t want them back then you’re responsible for arranging their disposal.

I echo pp who say just cut back the branches to your fence line!

Don’t offer the cuttings back just chuck them into her garden - I’d chuck the leaves over too. That would be fly tipping.

From the Royal Horticultural Society -

What can I do if a neighbour’s tree blocks out my light?
The Rights of Light Act 1959 states that if a property has received daylight for the last 20 years (the minimum prescribed period), they may be entitled to continue to receive that light. This means that if your neighbour builds a large fence which restrict the daylight your property receives (for example by blocking daylight reaching a window), you may be able to apply to the courts for your daylight to be restored, or for any injunction to prevent a proposed fence being built. In theory the same case can be made for large trees blocking light but trees are rarely implicated because they grow slowly and it is difficult to be precise about when the loss of light occurred.

Overhanging branches

By law, a property owner has the right to cut off any branches of a tree/plant owned by a neighbour which overhangs his/her property. Any branches removed must be returned to the tree's owner. Before doing so, it is a good idea to inform your neighbour of your intentions to trim the overhanging tree, either verbally or by letter.
www.mylawyer.co.uk/trees-and-plants-a-A76076D34459/

We have trees that we have planted on our boundary. We cut them back each year to make sure they don't encroach on the neighbours garden. And if we didn't do that, we'd have non-issue with the neighbour doing it!

I'd be cutting back everything on that tree to the boundary op. Get the tree surgeons to don't when they're there. Problem solved!

There is a way for you to deal with this yourself for about £12.

Cut back the branches your side as far as you can but make it clear you have been advised that this will most likely make the tree unbalanced so it would be in her best interests to reduce the overall size to avoid it becoming unstable and dangerous.

I can easily instruct him to cut the branches, but I'm concerned if I do this it will just get her back up, Then she won't consider cutting back the rest of her tree.

You're worried about upsetting her when she couldn't give a stuff about you and your child. To be clear, you're concerned about her losing the beauty of the part of her tree which is in your garden.

If she collected rusty old scrap cars for a hobby and piled them up next to the fence, in a way that some of them fell into your garden, it would be clear as day that she was a selfish nightmare neighbour, but just because she's using something beautiful but inappropriately sized to do pretty much the same thing, that doesn't change her selfishness - especially as you've made it clear to her and she's just shrugged her shoulders and told you (in not quite so many words) that she couldn't care less about your quality of life and right to enjoy your property. It's not even 'just' the blocking out all your light if her tree is trashing your garden too.

You've given her fair warning, and she doesn't care, so go right ahead and get it cut down yourself. TELL her that it's being done and ask if she wants the cuttings or if she wants you to get rid of them. Somebody needs to start caring about you and your family - and it's clearly not going to be her.

OP I think you are being very reasonable. I toi would want to preserve as much of the tree as possible whilst enhancing your own quality of life. I think your note is fair. I agree with those who have suggested getting a report from the tree surgeon about the best course of action - pruning, lopping, pollarding etc, best time of year, and share it with your neighbour. If she doesn’t agree to go ahead together you then have every right to prune to your boundary.
One thought on the rest of the garden - i don’t think there is a right to light and if you’re not going to be able to grow grass/ it’s waterlogged, why not plant differently? Mixture of long grasses/reeds/ gravel / pots? Easier to maintain too. (Suggested longer grass so you still have biodiversity and pollinators and a way of absorbing heavy rainfall, but it can provide wildflower interest etc too - a normal lawn can be a PITA to maintain).

i don’t think there is a right to light

I think you may well be right - but surely that only applies to light that is blocked on somebody else's property before it could reach you - the theoretical light that you 'should have had'?

Nobody has a right to 'instal' something that steals light (which is effectively what the neighbour is doing by objecting to OP cutting the part of the tree over her garden and not maintaining it herself) on your own property.

They may be able to build a huge, high shed right up to their boundary, which plunges you into darkness, but they couldn't place one half on your land and half on theirs!

Rights of Light Act 1959 is here. It’s talking about the right of light to the dominant building, ie your house, but not your garden, shed, greenhouse or summerhouse.

Any branches removed must be returned to the tree's owner. No, this is incorrect. They must be offered to the owner, but if the owner doesn’t want them, it is for you to dispose of them. Chucking them over the fence when the owner hasn’t said they want them is fly tipping

Your argument that it isn't safe comes from where? Just because a tree is tall, it's not automatically unsafe. You'd need a qualified tree surgeon to make that call.

You say you don't want to decrease the beauty of the tree. Cutting the branches off to level with your fence will certainly do that.

How much has the tree grown since you bought your house?

Honestly I don't understand people. It's clear that I am unhappy with the branches on my side, the law states I have a right to cut what's on my side. There is no argument to be had regarding this. If the tree looks wonky then that's really not my issue. My issue is providing a garden which is safe for my young child to play it. Sorry, but that precedes the beauty of a tree.

When I say I didn't want the beauty of the tree to be taken away, I meant not cutting it down.

Not only this, my father has dementia and Alzheimer's, he is very wobbly on this feet so walking on my disgusting lawn is a no go while it's cold.

Sometimes people need to think about quality of life and protecting people above all else.

The behaviour of my neighbour is beyond selfish.

I am giving her 1 month to prune the tree, I think this is fair. She said she wants the leaves to fall off first. If she doesn't do anything then I will notify her I will cut back what's on my side and will do so on a yearly basis.

I wanted to keep the peace but as everyone has mentioned I've tried all approaches and she is just beyond unreasonable.

I would send her a note to say you if she does not want to cut the branches on her side , you will be on Friday cutting them to the boundary from your side. Does she want the branches ,if so you will take them round for her & if not you will dispose of them for her. If she is in & you get no reply I would go and knock on door before tree surgeon in and clarify whether she wants the branches . If you are worried and have space and no reply I would get tree surgeon to cut up the branches as small as he can and put them in bags and then write / all again and say I have your branches if you don't say you want them by x date I will dispose of them. I would photocopy the letters or indeed email if she has that but just to make sure she can't come back to you to say you did not give her back the branches . Polite conversation only gets so far if not reciprocated so if you have done all perfectly properly - well what more can you do.

I think given there have been previous discussions this is not at all unreasonable. If a proper tree surgeon get him to cut away overhanging branches as high as he can ( obvs)

I think you made a mistake by engaging with her. Your message to her is way too long winded and flowery and waiting to do the work is potentially just giving her time to try and get a TPO.

There are a lot worse trees than hornbeam but, even so, it's not suitable for small gardens.

You do absolutely have the right to legally cut the bit on your side. I am just concerned it’s not going to achieve what you want it to.

But if you are committed to the yearly maintenance there’s a higher chance it could work enough to leave you slightly more satisfied about the lawn. I do think the shade will still be an issue as it’s going to get thicker every time you cut it.

If you have the funds you could ask her about the pollarding option I described and see if that’s something she would accept. This is a yearly commitment as previously explained but if your committing to yearly anyway then it’s probably worth it as more likely to make the difference you actually want.

She actually lied to me a few years back, she told me it had a TPO on it when in fact it's untrue.

Can any tree have a TPO on it?

I would not have sent the message
I'd have waited for the tree surgeon to come for the conifers then knocked and said hey the tree surgeon is offering a great price to tidy up the hornbeam...and he says it'll look even better next year if it is crowned this year...shall we go halves
(Since you'll have to pay for the branches overhanging to be dealt with anyway, going halves is no great thing)
And if she says no then you've lost nothing and can begin lobbying her

In Scotland it is governed by the Town and Country Planning(Scotland) Act 1997, as amended

A planning authority may make a TPO if it appears to them to be :

expedient in the interest of amenity and/or
that the trees, groups of trees or woodlands are of cultural or historical significance

as stated before, where you are is important. The Rights to Light Act referred to above does not apply in Scotland.

if you aren’t in Scotland, then different legislation will apply.

Even with your rights to cut back the branches on your own side, it still seems grossly unfair that a neighbour can just land you with a very big job and/or bill every year, for their tree - when you have no say in whether or not it's allowed to remain.

In the right setting, trees are beautiful things; but they do seem to be the selfish person's absolute dream.

Think whatever you want, but you're wrong.

You are allowed to cut the tree back where it overhangs your property. You do not have to give your neighbour a reason and all you have to do is offer her the cut branches. If she refuses to have them then you may dispose of them yourself. Do stop pussy footing about OP!