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.

before you buy do a bit or research.

look for small trees and very small trees.

Small ones gro to about 5 m I think and very small ones to about 3.

Also you can look for single stem (so liek a tree trunk) or multi stemmed (so a bit more like a bush)

and you can search for interest in 3 seasons - flowers, fruit. coloured leaves etc.
I wanted maples, but our spot is windy and they don't like that.

We have 2 very small amelanchier lamarckii. Lovely trees and good in any context.

Don't put your tree( s ) in the same spot as where your conifers were as the ground will be terribly depleted or nutrients.
If that's the only place , you will need a fair bit of work to the ground before you do.

I bought some ever greens today.

2 fairly mature laurels to give instant screening in one part of the garden. Boring but they are fast growing and perfect for the spot. Then I bought a red robin tree instead of a normal tree. I spoke in depth with someone at the nursery and came to the decision I want something which doesn't shed leaves, otherwise I will lose my privacy every winter with a normal tree. Then I bought in clearance a strawberry cherry. It's not very big and takes about 10-20 years to fully mature but love how quirky it is!

This is my base for the time being. I'll then slowly add to it once I've worked out what type of garden I'd like. But for now it'll help with privacy.

I might buy a cherry tree for another part of the garden too.

What’s a strawberry cherry??? Strawberry guava? I’m certain it’s not a cherry.

It's an Arbutus unedo and no it's not a cherry tree. It's totally different but very quirky! It actually grows strawberry's which you can't eat. And has blossom. I saw a 15 year old one in the nursery and it was beautiful!

I had this with my neighbours

I very politely told them I was getting in tree surgeon to cut all the overhanging branches, or would they prefer to do it themselves?

A bit like with a toddler I gave them 2 options

All the overhang has now been chopped off

I think she is going to cut all the branches down from my side so watch this space!

I absolutely love trees, that's why I'm buying some for my garden. But none of them will be planted close to my neighbours fence/boundary as I don't think it's fair on other people. What works for me may not work for other people, especially a tree the size of a hornbeam which is bloody massive!

Good! Positive outcome hopefully!

Arbutus unedo is normally known as Strawberry tree, rather than Strawberry cherry tree.

We have a tiny garden (new build) and we bought a dwarf apple tree with will grow to 6 ft max, they had other fruits too and you can use them as hedging on a boundary

If the tree isn't protected, you can prune it. Make sure you let them know and offer the branches back if wanted. But do get a qualified tree surgeon to assess if first as if the branches are halfway across your garden they must be substantial, and you can make a tree unstable by taking large branches away.