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Original poster

Huge tree in neighbours garden putting our garden in shade

119 replies

LillyLeaf · 30/05/2021 15:55

Just wandering people's thoughts on this. We recently moved and have a lovely garden which is mostly in shade from about 1pm onwards due to the neighbours enormous tree that is right next to our wall, if it wasn't so big we would have sun for the rest of the day. The tree overhangs our garden a lot which doesn't help either. I'm all for trees in the garden but this one is massive, bigger than a house. I'm hoping to grow fruit and veg next year but not sure I can with it being so shaded. We had big trees in our previous garden that we got a tree surgeon to prune so they never got too big.

My question is would it be rude to ask them to cut it back a bit (quite a bit actually) or even pay halves for a tree surgeon. Is this rude? They are not next door neighbours but their garden is at the end of ours.

What would you do?

OP posts:

NewHouseNewMe · 30/05/2021 16:46

Do check if there's a Tree Protection Order on it before attempting to trim your side. This isn't allowed at all and you can be prosecuted.
Requests to trim trees with TPOs need to go through the council and involve the owner having to pay for a special survey etc. Then it is often refused! It may be that this is the reason that it hasn't been cut.

Donitta · 30/05/2021 16:47

YABU, you knew it was there when you bought the house. If I was your neighbour I’d cut back any overhanging branches level with the fence line, but that’s all.

Spring2021 · 30/05/2021 16:49

We have the same issue OP except we have been in the house 20 years.

The neighbour who backs onto our garden has an absolutely massive tree which shades our garden for a large part of the day we also have to pick up all the leaves that fall fro it into our garden. The tree was a straggly bush growing out of a large pile of grass cutting in their garden when we moved in now its higher than our house.

I would love to ask them if they would agree to it being cut back but I daren’t how much do tree surgeons cost for one tree?

Sparrowsong · 30/05/2021 16:57

Trees literally provide the oxygen we breathe and clear up all the carbon we pump into the air. They are not an inconvenience, they are ESSENTIAL!

You bought the house, the tree was there first.

The UK is really a very deforested country, as in we complain about Brazil cutting down forests but we are worse! You should be planting more trees!

Not a tree hugger, someone who would lime this earth to remain habitable beyond my lifetime and our children’s lifetimes.

2bazookas · 30/05/2021 16:58

Did it grow overnight after you bought the place?

Sparrowsong · 30/05/2021 16:58

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

BackforGood · 30/05/2021 17:13

I agree @VanillaSpiceCandle

@Sparrowsong - Nobody is suggesting ridding the world of trees..... OP was asking if it was unreasonable to ask if they would mind cutting one tree back a bit.
Trees do need to be looked after, and pruned over time.

Osrie · 30/05/2021 17:15

Friends neighbours had a dig about having to pick up leaves from their trees. They reminded them that it helped the wildlife, helped with cleaner air and that picking up leaves enabled them to get exercise for free while enjoying the fresh air. Win win, except when your garden gets too much shade I guess.

Mitchellernie · 30/05/2021 17:16

Been sad to watch as they cut the trees in nesting season, with a nest visible

Not just sad, but also illegal; a violation of the Wildlife and Countryside Act

SakuraEdenSwan1 · 30/05/2021 17:19

You can cut the tree back from your side, no harm in asking them but is it protected because of wildlife within the tree?

SakuraEdenSwan1 · 30/05/2021 17:20

@Wombats12

You moved in knowing the tree was there.

I've just watched my very lovely neighbour being bullied to cut her trees back as new neighbours are objecting. They're quite happy to massacre a beautiful tree for their own interests. Been sad to watch as they cut the trees in nesting season, with a nest visible.

My other neighbours have a sycamore, which has took off & now my greenhouse is in total shade.

However, if the tree overhangs your garden, you are entitled to cut it back. Maybe do it over a couple of years if the tree would be harmed by the cutting back, if you care.

Tree surgeons are expensive, so they might welcome some cutting back. That said, if you cut it back, it might grow even more...

Yiu really should have picked a different house if a veg garden was a high priority.

If they have cut the trees down with visible nests in then they have broken the law and can be prosecuted.

Ratatattatpat · 30/05/2021 17:21

Cut back the bits that are over your boundary. They should keep their things in their own garden. They have no right to use yours.

Mitchellernie · 30/05/2021 17:22

@Donitta

YABU, you knew it was there when you bought the house. If I was your neighbour I’d cut back any overhanging branches level with the fence line, but that’s all.

Please your brain when doing this; my greenery-averse neighbour hacks back our tree tight to the fence line (which is almost to the trunk); it's a modest sized fruit tree and I guess he's within his rights to do so, but I do find it frustrating as I then have to pay for someone to come and shape it on our side as it is then very weighted in our direction and much more likely to topple and damage something. We have it pruned every two or three years but he hacks at it constantly; poor tree.

ifIwerenotanandroid · 30/05/2021 17:26

@BackforGood

I agree *@VanillaSpiceCandle*

@Sparrowsong - Nobody is suggesting ridding the world of trees..... OP was asking if it was unreasonable to ask if they would mind cutting one tree back a bit.
Trees do need to be looked after, and pruned over time.

to quote the op, 'quite a bit actually'

We agreed to our neighbour cutting off the branches that were on his side of the fence (he could anyway, but it was nice that he asked first), & he did a decent job & didn't try to do anything else. But the trees stayed where they were. Over time I realised that he didn't like anything that grew, even in his own garden. His wife, however, was a keen plantswoman.

Those of you worried about leaves falling in your garden: they're free leaf mould/compost materials.

colouringcrayons · 30/05/2021 17:29

Has the tree only just been installed? Presumably it was there when you viewed.

I would be so annoyed at a new neighbour who moved into an area with a clearly visible feature and then started moaning about it!

WildfirePonie · 30/05/2021 17:29

YABU because you knew there was a giant tree in the neighbours garden when you moved in! Suck it up. Wander on that.

Lorw · 30/05/2021 17:31

Before cutting back any of the tree on your side make sure you check that it hasn’t got a protection order against it, otherwise you could end up in trouble.

Not unreasonable to ask and not unreasonable for them to say no 🤷🏻‍♀️

Theworldisfullofgs · 30/05/2021 17:33

My neighbours asked us to do this and it really annoyed me because a: I didn't want to, b: we didn't have the money at the time, c: they bought the house knowing it was there and d: I didn't want to.

Onceuponatime1818 · 30/05/2021 17:34

No harm in asking for it to be pruned.

IntoAir · 30/05/2021 17:35

What would I do? Think that I was pretty daft not to notice the tree when I viewed the house. Although I would have noticed it, and liked it - I love looking out on mature trees and the birds that live in them.

You can't ask your neighbour to cut back the tree. You should have taken that into account when buying (?) the house.

ChrisQuean · 30/05/2021 17:35

We had this. A MASSIVE tree in the small, terraced townhouse garden next door. Our garden was in deep gloom mist of the time.

It would not be rude to ask your neighbour to trim it and you can cut off branches that overhang your property, provided it doesn’t harm the tree. Good plan to offer to go halves on the cost.

We did ask our next door neighbour to trim her giant tree, but she loved it and was horrified. Old lady, sweet, a window, but slightly batty. We got on ok with her. We offered to pay half the cost of a tree surgeon (it needed the professionals), but she said she didn’t have the money for even half. Complicating factor was that we were in a Conservation Area and council consent was needed to substantially trim the tree (which wouldn’t have been an issue - Council definitely would have been granted as it was so overgrown), but our old neighbour refused to apply for it, so we were stuck. It was a Siberian birch and about 12m tall! Oh, and the pollen swirl and tiny leaves and seeds got everywhere. DC1 was also hugely allergic to the pollen and had a miserable spring and early summer. We hated it, even though I am a huge green-y.

No easy answers, but definitely speak to your neighbour or it will become a big bug bear. Did with me! Could it be deemed unsafe? Branches falling off into your garden, swaying alarmingly in the wind?

colouringcrayons · 30/05/2021 17:37

Could it be deemed unsafe? Branches falling off into your garden, swaying alarmingly in the wind? How to make friends with your neighbours - try to get their tree chopped down on trumped up safety worries

ElizabethinherGermanGarden · 30/05/2021 17:39

You won't be able to do any tree-cutting until September at the earliest, after nesting season finishes. That gives you time to talk to your neighbours and see whether they are interested.

If it is shading your garden from 1pm onwards, it sounds as though you are south-facing and the tree is at the end of their north-facing garden. It might actually benefit them to have the sunny end of the garden cleared, but you are going to have to approach it as if it is entirely for your benefit and should probably offer to foot the bill. Don't forget to factor in the cost of stump removal.

CarelessSquid07A · 30/05/2021 17:39

We have this where a magnolia is coming over and growing towards the house. My neighbour said he was happy for me to take off anything on our side but I don't want to ruin it so a tree surgeon is going to lighten it a little and prune back where it's resting on our telephone line.

We're paying but thats more technically I could do it on a ladder but am terrified of heights and doing too much harm to it.

ElizabethinherGermanGarden · 30/05/2021 17:41

What kind of tree is it?

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