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?

The other neighbour has a wall so perhaps you could put a higher fence up your side. It can go behind the existing shorter one.

How tall are these bamboo plants?

I can understand the issue with loss of light. I would hate to have a garden that was completely in the shade.

Local councils have powers to deal with complaints about hedges over 2 metres high under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 and the High Hedges (Appeals) (England) Regulations 2005.

As long as your plants are a maximum of 2 metres high and don't produce pollen you should be fine.

@Touty personally I have never heard of anyone sitting in the garden when they have a pollen allergy!! I would also remove the bamboo! that stuff runs riot under the ground and goes absolutely everywhere!

@RampantIvy bamboo is a grass and therefore not subject to the high hedge rules. It is actually recommended for privacy because of this on forums with problems neighbours ie nosing into the garden all the time and a refusal to increase the fence height from 3 foot.

@Touty You cannot have someone dictate what you can plant in your garden. You can be mindful and possibly view it from his side if he wants you to. If you give an inch they usually take a mile.

Re the fence you can increase the fence height up. In the house we lived in before everyone had their own fence so there were literally fences against fences so that all 3 back garden fences matched rather than a hodgepodge of styles. My FIL was very annoyed when his next door but one neighbour increased their fence height to 6ft as it spoiled his view over his own garden, his next door neighbour's garden, this person's garden and the 3 beyond because he lived on a hill and everyone had 3ft fences

@SherwoodWoodward I stand corrected.

I know this law was passed because of the problems caused by leylandii, but I thought it applied to other plants as well.

I completely understand the need for privacy, but I wouldn't want to piss my neighbours off by completely cutting the light off from their garden. There must be a happy medium.

Pollen isn't just going to be coming from your garden. It's carried on the breeze. Ignore.

What next? He has a peanut allergy so you had better not eat peanuts in your garden?

Tough luck, if he has allergies that are that severe he needs to take medication and stay indoors with all the windows shut.

Be aware that some bamboo can penetrate plastic pots and enter the ground.

Bamboo was used as a form of torture as they would plant it and lay the victims on top and the bamboo would grow through the body of the victim. It's strong stuff.

Suggest he moves house.
Preferably into a bubble.

Suggest he moves to the city. Less trees there.... Next he will be saying the colour green gives him migraines...

Lots of people are allergic to grass, so this isn’t the hot take you think it is.

It doesn’t stop OP being entitled to have grass, but she could have an amicable agreement with her neighbour where she cuts it on a Saturday and neighbour goes away for the day.

Bamboo trees? I'd be furious if they appeared next to me! They easily get out of control and can be a total nuisance. Be kind to your neighbour and plant flowering shrubs. You don't need a home for pandas!

I wouldn't eat peanuts in my garden if my neighbour had a bad peanut allergy, no.

The bamboo is in pots and I highly doubt flowering shrubs are going to help the neighbours pollen allergy........

Lance the boil here. If you have the means, put up a fence inside your boundary. Well worth the money and nothing he can do or say about it once it is on your land.

Otherwise ignore the attention seeking bully. There's nothing on your list that I would consider an allergen.

He is trying to control your life. It's ok to compromise but it's not ok to be TOLD what to do either.

You have my deepest sympathy OP, ignore the bully and this classic interference from neighbours. You have a right to do what you want in your own garden.
I hate the mania about bamboo which is very pretty, creates a great screen, can be bought as a non spreadable variety and if planted in pots as you have done, really isn't a problem.
As to allergies, tell him to take antihistamine. My GP told me, when I reacted to mdf furniture, that you can take up to 8 tablets a day (not one as it says on the box) and grass pollen is around for a limited time. He's just making up any old excuse, ignore him!

I suspect he's actually allergic to not being able to see into your garden/house.

They’ll be fine. Ignore him. He can’t eradicate trees because he’s allergic, and anyone who is actively seeking to reduce flora, and thus fauna, probably has a screw loose.

He’s being ridiculous. Ignore.

You can put up a 2m high fence which is much better screening. I don't think bamboo in a pot does much. Plant shrubs so they sit in front of the fence. You get something far better to look at from your side and you give up less than 1 ft. He won't see the shrubs. Why make life difficult? Have your own fence.

Put up whatever fence you want on your side of the boundary. You’ll lose a little bit of garden space but the fence will be yours 100% and he won’t be able to dictate anything about it or touch it.

He's daft. I'm very allergic to birch pollen and have to take antihistamines and keep a HEPA filter running inside the house. I don't sit out in the garden at the height of the birch pollen season and complain about birch trees in neighbouring gardens because I am aware that tree pollen is carried on the wind and can travel HUNDREDS OF MILES. He is being highly unreasonable, and an utter arse.

Buy him some antihistamines and ignore him completely.

Bamboo only flowers every 25/30 years (some varieties 100 years) so there won't be any pollen to trouble him. Then it dies after its flowered. It is a grass not a tree. Think he's fibbing and worried about invasive bamboo, does he know they're in pots?, or that they'll grow really high. I can't see what bamboo could emit in terms of allergens other than flowering
If its fargesia bamboo that's a clumper not a runner so it will be okay to plant in the ground. Most other bamboos need to be in pots or have extreme root barriers. What variety are they?
It's non of his business what you do with your garden as long as it doesn't overhang of excessively block light. You could always offer to plant a laylandii hedge instead! that should shut him up.

Presumably your neighbour is an utter dimwit who doesn't realise that pollen can travel for miles on the wind, and doesn't just pop over the fence from next door.

Incidentally, bamboo does flower, but not very often. The interval between flowering can be over 100 years, so it is unlikely to cause all that much of an issue.😂

Random fact of the day. One specific species of bamboo has the longest flowering interval known in the world.

Plants only ever flower on a cycle with a prime number. This is because it reduces the frequency of overlapping plants breeding so reduces competition between species.

What’s fascinating about the bamboo is that it spreads by runners also (asexual reproduction as opposed sexual flowering reproduction). If you were to dig up and divide a portion of that bamboo and fly it half way across the globe it would still flower at the same time as the mother plant.

This is all just random facts. But basically most bamboo species flower relatively rarely.