Neighbours tree - storm concern

[Cherryblossom200]

Hello,

I'm just looking for a bit of advice please. My elderly neighbour has a horn beam in her garden, she is very attached to it and protective over her tree.

Our houses/ gardens aren't huge (only little two bed properties) and it towers above our houses. I have a recent extension and it's about 3/4 meters from the start of the extension. Even without the extension it's still uncomfortably close to the house for a tree of that size.

I know the previous owner of my house had numerous arguments over the tree, it casts a lot of shade, and we get a lot of leaves in the garden from it. But I don't mind that so much. It's a very pretty tree and I love nature.

My main issue is its size and the damage it would do should it fall on our houses.

She isn't talking to me because I asked a couple of years back for it to be made smaller. A lot of branches overhung into my garden. And it had got too overgrown. She won't allow me to get my own tree surgeon in to trim it (on my side) however she gets annoyed I request getting it made smaller. Too be fair the tree was pollarded really well and it's isn't 'quite' so big.

However with all these storms I still am concerned about it falling. I was watching it today and it was sort of swaying about. Nothing major, but enough for me to wonder just how sturdy is it in these winds.

What are my rights in terms of a neighbours tree? Can I get it checked to see if it's healthy etc? My neighbour will hate me, but I honestly don't care. I care about safety more.

Any advice would be great. Many thanks

The best thing would be if you could get a professional in to get it assessed. Or rather, get her to get someone in. But if it's been pollarded already (professionally?) then this has maybe already been done and you don't need to worry about this for a few years.

If you’ve built an extension that ends ‘3-4 metres’ from a tree that size then you’ve been building in its root zone and if anything happens to the tree it will likely because your actions have destabilised it.

I presume the tree was there when you bought the house and you have no visual issues that would have prevented you from seeing it?

Ok thanks. It was done roughly two years ago. Apparently the tree surgeons said it looked fine. I'm not sure how often this should take place. Unless I say something she would just let the tree grow and grow, she's like her garden to be a bit wild 😂

I thought you could legally trim any branches that hung over your side of the fence.

I did all the necessary building regs etc before having my extension. They were very thorough with a tree that size. A hornbeam doesn't have large roots, so it wasn't an issue. The tree was there before the houses were built, but it's quickly got bigger through the years.

I honestly don't mind it being there. It's really pretty. My only concern is safety. As I said before even without the extension it's too close to both houses and could cause extensive damage should it fall.

Yes you can, but my neighbour won't let me. She's elderly, very stuck in her ways and doesn't like change. So I just end up having to almost threaten her by saying if she doesn't do anything then I will type stance!

The tree was there first! Just leave it, unless it is sick and may be uprooted in a storm

I'm not requesting for the tree to be removed. I just want to know that it is safe and healthy, it may of been there first. However it's grown since the houses were first built, there are people including young children living in the houses. I would hope that the safety of them would also be considered 🤣

If the tree shows no signs of disease and a tree surgeon has inspected it recently (2 years is recent), then it is almost certainly fine. The tree swaying is by design and helps it cope with high winds, not a cause for concern.

also you are a CF for building an extension within proximity of a tree and then deciding the tree is a problem. We need big trees for a myriad of reasons.

For context, hornbeams can live hundreds of years - unless there are visible signs of disease I can’t see any rationale for having it inspected more than every decade or so.

Also, if it's dropped all its leaves it won't present as much resistance to the wind as it would if there's a summer storm - unless it's full of ivy, of course 😉

The neighbour has ivy EVERYWHERE, all over the fences and up the trunk of the tree. She loves the stuff.

From what I've read it sounds like the tree should be fine if it was pollarded not that long ago. I was just unsure of the how often you should check and the swaying made me nervous.

Regardless of the extension, the tree owner has a legal duty to ensure the tree is healthy, and if damage is done to a neighbours property they could be liable for damages. I know if I owned a tree that big I'd be careful to look after it.

We were in a very similar situation.
We asked our neighbour on several occasions to consider reducing their massive fir tree. They’ve said it would cost too much.
A tree surgeon apparently told them it was fine and healthy.
Guess what….during a big storm it came down and recked 3 gardens. It totally crushed our shed and all the contents, uprooted fences.
Their insurance wouldn’t cover it, so we had to claim on ours which put our premiums up massively and ended up costing us a fortune.

That's exactly what I'm worried about. I would be beyond furious with her too. I couldn't afford to be paying expensive premiums if the tree caused significant damage.

So there should be no trees in residential areas on the off chance?

Not large trees that’s aren’t maintained no!
Would you like your home and family’s safety to be at risk every time there’s strong winds?

If she's not speaking to you, why are you overly concerned about upsetting her? I mean, how would you even tell?

I'd get a qualified person to remove the branches overhanging your property, as you are entitled to do by law. But ask her first (by letter if you don't talk to each other) if she wants the resulting wood back. I'd take silence as a 'no'.

Cherryblossom200 · Today 21:01

Neodymium · Today 20:57
I thought you could legally trim any branches that hung over your side of the fence.

Yes you can, but my neighbour won't let me

What do you mean, she won’t let you? If it hangs over your boundary, cut it back. Really not that difficult 🤷‍♀️

But said tree HAS been maintained. A large tree is not inherently a risk - trees become big over hundreds of years with roots to match and endure multiple ‘once in a generation’ storms in the process. Trees play important functions as windbreaks and erosion mitigations and air purifiers and natural habitats. Unless a tree shows signs of disease the benefits far outweigh the risks.

It can do more harm than good to overtrim on one side - it unbalances the weight and might actually make it more susceptible to felling.

Check your house insurer too. When I renewed this year with a different company the new one asked me if there were trees over 15m within 7 m of the property.

Provided you don’t damage the tree, eg cause it to become unbalanced and less stable

It’s normal for trees to sway in the wind. A flexible structure is less likely to be toppled than a rigid one.

Trees that sway in the wind are healthy and will withstand a storm.
It's the ones that don't sway, because the wood inside is brittle or hollow, that you need to be concerned with.

Agreed. Pruning/pollarding is rarely done for the health of the tree, it’s almost always done to satisfy the aesthetic senses of humans