Neighbor upset over trees and plants allergy

[Touty]

So neighbor tells me that I have too many plants on my land and the last straw was when I bought a few new trees. He said my trees were blocking his light and he has a severe allergy from pollen.

I bought the new trees for privacy. I did move them back but he’s still upset.

said now he won’t be able to sit in the garden🤷

I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong but I’d also hate to think of someone being that unwell but he shouldn’t be able to dictate about this, I really need my greenery for my mental health.

i suppose what I’m asking is whether im being unreasonable and weather someone could really be so allergic?

Tell him that if he'll buy you some trees he's not allergic to, you'll be happy to plant them instead?

For instance trees pollinated by insects such as apple, cherry... or something like holly which come in male and female versions - only the male makes pollen?

ok thanks, these are bamboo trees so do they make pollen?

All the others are just big green plants in pots. I think I’ve got one hanging basket of flowers.

I would avoid bamboo personally from a gardening sense. It can spread and become extremely hard to remove as well as causing structural issues if it spreads close to foundations.

Ah. He'll be pissed off that you are planting bamboo yes. It's horribly invasive and will be in his garden in no time. Impossible to get rid of. For your own sanity I'd rethink that!

You can't get into this, it's not ok to expect people not to have commonplace plants in their garden.

He isn't necessarily allergic to your plants, it's unlikely he's been tested for many specific allergens.

Do other neighbours not have plants?

(However bamboo plants can be a menace!)

Yes I agree, I didn’t plant them ive put them in two big pots with soil, I bought them for privacy as he doesn’t want to build the fence up.

I know what you mean. I can’t see if the neighbors the other side of him have anything as they have a big wall up.

If you've got bamboo in pots it's about the least troublesome plant possible for your neighbour. It won't spread and bamboo rarely flowers, so rarely produces any pollen - sometimes not for decades.

His problem pollen must be coming from a different neighbour.

He sounds batshit to me, how can we exist in a world without trees and plants? He sounds like he just wants to control everything about your garden. Won’t sort the fence and doesn’t want trees or plants. What’s next, no birds or insects? I’d ignore him and carry on with what you enjoy.

He sounds very unpleasant and controlling.

But he can’t be allergic to bamboo, so don’t let it worry you.

You can put up any fence you like, up to the legal limit, on your side of the fence line.

This person is trying to boss you about. Your garden is your garden.

If your bamboo is in pots it'll most likely be fine.

Yes he can be allergic to bamboo and yes it’s quite possible that he’s been tested for so many specific allergies.

However unless he provides documentation to support it I would struggle to believe it as it is a more abstract allergy.

Tell him you need your green and privacy and that (providing he shows you proof) the fence needs raising (which will also help with the pollen coming over..)

Sceptical about this: yes it’s quite possible that he’s been tested for so many specific allergies

English holly or privet hedge, both poisonous but not particularly pollen problematic.

Personally, I'd use reed or bamboo screening as high as permitted behind your bamboo plants.

He’s being a controlling prick and bamboo is a grass, btw. Is he allergic to grass too? Does he have a lawn?

Bamboo is an invasive nuisance but it’s a grass not a tree and it rarely flowers so there is no pollen for him to be allergic to… One species only flowers every 130 years! Interesting trivia, some species always flower simultaneously worldwide.

What species is it? Bamboozle him by pointing out it only flowers every however many decades it is for that species.

You can’t plant your garden based on someone else’s reported allergies. Your neighbour is being ridiculous.

Sounds like he doesn't want you blocking his view of your garden.

If he's lost every bit of his light I can understand he'd be upset about it. Maybe he needs his light for his mental health? Maybe he can be given a strip of light space if it's really completely blocked out? I don't think there's much he can do though. You can't control what your neighbours do in their garden.

As someone suggested, offer to replace it with something else (of your choosing) if he pays for it, if you want to do that. Otherwise he might just have to deal with it.

If he's lost every bit of his light I can understand he'd be upset about it. This is not possible unless the plant has completely encircled his property, including between the property and the sky!

I've never heard of a bamboo allergy.

I found out by accident that I react badly to lilac pollen - cue streaming eyes, etc.

Nearly a year after I moved into my home in '86, I discovered that a tree in my garden was lilac.

I didn't have the heart to remove it. It's gorgeous in bloom and the birds love it...so I take antihistamines and suck it up.

It sounds to me as though you're being very reasonable with your neighbour.

I can’t see if the neighbors the other side of him have anything as they have a big wall up.

What does that tell you? 🤦‍♀️

Not necessarily. If I planted all the way along a fence line (big trees, which new bamboo surely is not), my neighbours would lose all their light (as in, be in shade all day) as the trees would be blocking it. You only need the side where the sun comes from blocked to cast a shadow over the entire garden.

I sympathise with the loss of light. I live in a terrace, I moved in and immediately removed an overgrown shrub/tree that was shading my neighbour - she was absolutely delighted, but my neighbours on the other side have planted right up to our boundary, have their house covered in climbers that we frequently have to trim back and their trees and shrubs shade my living room - it's very annoying - they light their house shaded all the time so have no respect for others need for light.

Bamboo only flowers once, just before it dies so you have actually selected probably the best and least problematic plant in terms of pollen allergies.