Neighbour's tree overgrowing our boundaries

[shedofdread]

Hello

My neighbour has a massive coniferous tree which has grown a foot every year since we moved here. It now blocks most of the sunlight in our garden all morning.

Our last attempt at talking has broken down and she's now pointedly ignoring me. I've decided to get more serious.

I have written this letter. What do you think?

"Dear neighbour,

Re: overhanging branches from your tree

As you know, I have expressed my concerns about the tree growing over our boundary several times over the past couple of years. It is significantly taller than my house and I am concerned it may make it harder for me to get home insurance.

I am going to be doing some garden maintenance while our current building works are underway and birds are no longer nesting in our hedgerows. As part of this, I will be trimming back any foliage that grows over my boundary and have been quoted £x to trim all the overhanging branches from your conifer. The tree and the branches are your property and I can either leave them on your boundary or am happy to dispose of them at my expense.

Alternatively, I have been quoted £y to remove the tree altogether. Disposal costs are not included in this figure and will need to be found by you.

My tree surgeon will be carrying out this work on .

You have two options:

1. I remove all the branches overhanging our boundary at no cost to you.
2. I will contribute £x to the removal of your tree on the same date.

Please let me know how you wish to proceed.

Many thanks

Shedofdread

@shedofdread

If you want to make your letter even more inflammatory you could add "this message will self-destruct in 10 seconds" after your signature.

Just phone the council and ask their advice. Once you're taliking to the right person you can email some photos of the tree.

I would never engage with a snotty letter from some neighbour telling me, "You have two options..."

And having known an "awkward neighbour" of the sort you are claiming yours to be, would say there is more to this than just a tree.

Two sides to every story and all that....

The neighbour won't care about the cost or difficulty of your home insurance. Instead you need to say that you have declared the tree on your home insurance and if there are any issues with tree roots from said tree the tree owner will be liable for the repair costs. You have informed your insurance company that you have been seeking to reduce the height or remove the tree since X year.

If you want the tree removed entirely could you afford to get it removed? If you give your neighbour that option alongside the insurance bit it might persuade them to get it removed. A lot of people are too proud to admit they cannot afford to remove a tree etc.

Any letter should be short and sweet.

We have a neighbour who sent us a similar letter about a tree in our garden. The tree is healthy and well maintained - he just doesn’t like it. We ignored the letter.

Has your tree surgeon mentioned the cost of reducing the height of the tree? I wonder if that might be a compromise that would work for both of you, if you cover the cost? Neighbour gets their tree sorted out so it's easier to maintain and gets you off their back at the same time. Meanwhile you get sun in your garden again and buy yourself a few years of peace.

I think a much more informal note would be more likely to be successful e.g.
Dear Neighbour,
On X date I have a tree surgeon coming to tidy up the trees in my garden. I've asked him to cut the branches of your tall conifer back to the boundary but wondered if you'd consider letting me pay for him to reduce the height by Xmetres at the same time? I'll cover the cost of this (and removal of the cuttings) as it'll make a real difference to my enjoyment of our garden. If you'd like to talk things through with X the tree surgeon, his contact details are Y. Please would you let me know about the height reduction by so I can book tree surgeon for the right number of hours.
Thanks, Shedofdread

I have a feeling the high hedge fee our council charges is over £1000. People react far more favourably if you ask nicely, in general.