Neighbour complained about Tree

[Mellowyellow222]

I moved into my new house last month. It has a lovely mature garden, which was a big part of why I bought here. It’s in a suburb with 1940s semi detached houses, all with good long gardens.

A relative of the neighbour behind me called at the door last night to complain about a tree in my garden. I have said to of course cut back overhanging branches, but her complaint was that it casts a shadow on her aunts patio.

I have checked google earth (because I can’t see into their garden) and this lady has built a part at the bottom of her garden so, at one point of the day, my tree will cast a shadow. The neighbour wants me to either cut down or reduce the tree.

I have always done as much as I can to accommodate neighbours, but this seems a step too far. This tree has clearly been there for forty or more years, and I assume the patio post dates that. I know I can’t dictate where in her garden this lady sits, but why does it have to be in the only spot in the garden that my tree casts a shadow?

I also assume she had asked the previous owners with no luck.

And the owner is elderly, and has been abroad since COVID hit.

I have put committed to doing anything, but am starting to think I might be being unneighbourly?

The tree is a beautiful ash tree.

As it’s an ash tree, even if it is healthy at the moment, I would fell now due to ash die back. It’s not a case of if it needs felling, it’s when and you really don’t want a large ash tree dropping limbs onto yours or your neighbours garden.

Are the ends of its braches bare ie no leaves? If so then it already has the disease.

Then you can plant a replacement tree and give it time to establish and enjoy for years to come.

I am going to go against the grain here. How tall is the tree and how small/large are your gardens? If the tree is disproportionate to the surrounding area (do other neighbours have similar?) then it would be reasonable to have the crown reduced or thinned. It also helps with good neighbourly relations, but obviously you should only do this in on your own terms. As said before, people can take a mile if you give them an inch.

Trees need care and maintenance and if nothing has ever been done to it, then it is likely to need some dead wood removing and a bit of a trim.

This might be a bit of an extreme example, but a relative has an ongoing nightmare with a neighbouring tree which has grown so massive that it blocks most useful light in the garden and dominates everything, it has also damaged the fence. The neighbours want nothing to do with maintaining it (as it is pwetty) and even refused my relative paying for the tree maintenance to be done. To put this into context, this tree in its native habitat can reach more than 100ft in height...the gardens are no more than 20ft x 30ft. The main fear is root damage to foundations or the giant thing coming down in a storm and causing all sorts of damage. A large branch randomly crashed into my relatives garden one day, which could have killed someone.

So if you have considered tree health, proportionality to the garden, safety and potential to cause damage and all of the above don't apply... then refuse, but if not then maybe reconsider.

The tree seems healthy- in the when I first moved in (start of sept) there were no bare branches.

The tree is now starting to drop leaves.

I've got an 80+ year old sycamore at the bottom of my garden. My old neighbour wanted it removed as it was "too big for a garden". It clearly predates her house by many years. It now has a preservation order on it! Our trees are important. They provide an amazing corridor for wildlife. Trees do not need pruning every 4 years!

I am not in an area where ash dieback has been detected. But I realise it may be at some point.

There is no inevitability about ash dieback. There are now some strains with resistance and that is expected to reduce how many need felling over time. Having said that ash grow like weeds. If you prune over winter it will regrow in the next season or two.

Its your tree and the neighbour has no right to full sun, or indeed shade. You might like to get a proper tree surgeon out to check the health of the tree if you are newly moved in and check with the council whether it had a preservation order on it. Other than that it sounds like a bit of CFery.

@thekaratekid gardens are about 120ft long.

Just trim any bits that overhang . Don’t let them bully you into cutting down your tree . They probably tried with previous neighbour and got no joy. Trees are important . The felling of many trees has led to an increase in flooding and loss of habitat for many native birds .

We’ve got a large oak tree about 10m from the house that needs a bit of pruning back. Not without its risks but it’s amazing to watch the wildlife from your window! We had an owl in it a few nights ago and we are in a city centre. Valuable habitat and source of food for birds and squirrels.

Ah just seen the 120ft garden. Well if it is nowhere near the house or damaging the boundary or anything, then it sounds like just a CF (probably fixated on it). I imagine with 120ft garden she could put her patio anywhere!

I would keep a close eye for any dead or dying branches, mainly from a safety perspective (for you as well) and just ignore. Maybe trim the lower down overhanging branches from your side, just to stop her hacking away at them.

Although she is entitled to cut off anything overhanging, most reputable tree surgeons won't actually climb into a neighbouring tree to cut high up overhanging branches without the owners permission. So unless she employs cowboys then I doubt anyone would touch anything other than the lowest branches.

I would get overhanging branches removed, and maybe talk to the tree surgeon, maybe taking a couple of foot off the top or sides maybe enough to rectify the issue without doing too much carnage to the tree. I don't think it's worth starting a neighbourly war if a compromise can be made that can allow the neighbour to sit whére she wants whilst you get to keep the tree.
I would wait until the actual neighbour returns to the UK though and speak to them directly.

Get a tree preservation order.

If it gets ash die back the council will want shot of it quick anyway.

People who moan about trees that have been there longer than they have really have a bloody nerve.

Don't give it any more headspace. It's madness.

Ah we had this a month after we moved in - they wanted us to cut down a 150 yew tree and a beautiful silver birch because the leaves got on their lawn.

We did get a tree surgeon to take some height off the huge Burt hole (bloody expensive) but luckily we'd stayed friendly with the people we bought the house off (small village, her parents late the next house) and they said they'd been on about it for years but to ingots because they don't use their garden.

They are weird - they have a massive manicured garden which in the (now) 10 years they have literally never used. Not in the garden one. Which is brilliant to be fair. The gardener comes but that's it. They have a huge sun house so I presume they look at it.

So basically they tried it on with us in the hope that we'd do it out of new neighbour guilt.

Ignore!!!! And actually they can cut back anything that overhangs.

That tree has been their 40 years! Leave it be.

Depending on where in the country you are you may find you get ash die back at some and have to have the tree removed.

The patio sitting (in late October when not in the country) is nonsense.
I'd however get a qualified arboriculturist to come look at the tree with a view to keeping it well looked after. We've had damage done to property by a neighbour's poorly maintained tree, and it is very upsetting/expensive/preventable, so don't be that person either.

I'd just explain that it's a very nice mature tree, part of the reason you bought the house, and you don't want to reduce it, but you are happy to monitor it and if it grows excessively over the next few years (it won't) you will look Into giving it a prune then.

Please don't harm this tree.
If it gets Ash Dieback it will die anyway, and if it doesn't get it then a survivor like this will be even more precious.
There's no need to prune a healthy ash tree in any way unless it has got too big for its location, and it's clear this one isn't.

It's probably not that mature - certainly not ancient. Ash grows very quickly and you need to keep an eye on them. Prior to dieback they were considered almost weeds for that reason. Everyone seems to have forgotten about that now but the problem with ash is that it grows fast upwards and also outwards from the roots.

Obviously I wouldn't be too concerned in the short term about an overhang to an unused patio where the patio owner is abroad but at the same time if you let the ash do its own thing you and your neighbours will end up with other issues.

Put any idea of doing anything at all to your tree out of your mind . Suggest she gets a builder in to shift her patio...

It's kind of you to listen to their concerns. I'd see if I could get a tree surgeon in for a free quote and understand if anything could be done without materially affecting the tree, but if it's shade she's bothered about rather than over hanging branches one might presume not?

Either way you can go back with clear conscience and you've explored options but xxx is or isn't possible.

Don't spend money cutting down tree to give light to a patio that your neighbour can't sit on because she's in a different country.

If it is 5ft inside your boundary and still over hangs the neighbours garden then the sensible thing would be to get a qualified tree surgeon to trim it back and tidy it up. For your own benefit as opposed to hers. If you let them do it and it is done badly then it could make the the unstable which may cause bigger issues.

No don't do that but do consider other neighbours around you who may not appreciate any seeds that land in their own gardens and which will grow to some height and kill off their own plants within the course of 18 months or so.