Neighbour complaining about the trees in my back garden
Discussion
My neighbour is complaining that 3 of the trees in my back garden overhang over their garden and wants them either removed or for me to trim them back substantially.
The trees are very mature and must have been there for decades and are just a couple of feet from the fence so of course will hang over the neighbours garden. They are complaining that it prohibits them light and also that the leaves at this time of the year are difficult to deal with.
We had the same thing 2 years ago and trimmed 2 of them back which cost 600 pounds. The tree surgeon last time said that the trees were not particularly large and were beautiful healthy trees and trimming them back would only make them grow faster. We got them trimmed in any case to keep the peace.
Trimming 3 of them is going to cost over 1k and I am bit concerned that this is now going to be a yearly substantial cost.
Has anyone had a similar situation?
The trees are very mature and must have been there for decades and are just a couple of feet from the fence so of course will hang over the neighbours garden. They are complaining that it prohibits them light and also that the leaves at this time of the year are difficult to deal with.
We had the same thing 2 years ago and trimmed 2 of them back which cost 600 pounds. The tree surgeon last time said that the trees were not particularly large and were beautiful healthy trees and trimming them back would only make them grow faster. We got them trimmed in any case to keep the peace.
Trimming 3 of them is going to cost over 1k and I am bit concerned that this is now going to be a yearly substantial cost.
Has anyone had a similar situation?
TwigtheWonderkid said:
He's perfectly entitled to cut back branches overhanging his garden. He doesn't need to ask you for permission. But he effing pays for it. Cheeky sod.
I guess the only risk is that he trims them in a straight line along the boundary, almost like he used a light saber to do it.I'm sure I saw a photo like that on here once, fairly amusing!
TwigtheWonderkid said:
He's perfectly entitled to cut back branches overhanging his garden. He doesn't need to ask you for permission. But he effing pays for it. Cheeky sod.
It's the OP's trees that are causing the nuisance. It should be the OP that pays. He should also offer to go and pick up and dispose of his leaves from the neighbour's lawn.
GasEngineer said:
It's the OP's trees that are causing the nuisance. It should be the OP that pays.
He should also offer to go and pick up and dispose of his leaves from the neighbour's lawn.
If they are mature, then the trees would probably have been there before the neighbours.He should also offer to go and pick up and dispose of his leaves from the neighbour's lawn.
Surely the neighbour should trim back up to thrie boundry line.
Job jobbed.
The neighbours are elderly and cannot cope with all the leaves - I am certainly willing to help with that.
So that would probably be 300 or so quid twice a year to get someone in to remove their leaves. I am not going to do it myself as their garden has lots of flower beds and not having any gardening skills at all I would surely damage their plants - I also hate that kind of work and my weekends are precious.
The tree trimming would likely be another 1k+ yearly expense as well so I am looking at close to 2k a year as an ongoing cost - difficult to swallow.
So that would probably be 300 or so quid twice a year to get someone in to remove their leaves. I am not going to do it myself as their garden has lots of flower beds and not having any gardening skills at all I would surely damage their plants - I also hate that kind of work and my weekends are precious.
The tree trimming would likely be another 1k+ yearly expense as well so I am looking at close to 2k a year as an ongoing cost - difficult to swallow.
We have a neighbour who continually complains about the red maple tree in our garden, yet does nothing about the cherry tree in her back garden which is even bigger. We had about 10ft chopped out the crown and two years later it is back to where it was.
Next time she asks us to have it cut back, she can do one.
Next time she asks us to have it cut back, she can do one.
272BHP said:
The neighbours are elderly and cannot cope with all the leaves - I am certainly willing to help with that.
So that would probably be 300 or so quid twice a year to get someone in to remove their leaves. I am not going to do it myself as their garden has lots of flower beds and not having any gardening skills at all I would surely damage their plants - I also hate that kind of work and my weekends are precious.
The tree trimming would likely be another 1k+ yearly expense as well so I am looking at close to 2k a year as an ongoing cost - difficult to swallow.
Are the trees evergreen or semi-evergreen?So that would probably be 300 or so quid twice a year to get someone in to remove their leaves. I am not going to do it myself as their garden has lots of flower beds and not having any gardening skills at all I would surely damage their plants - I also hate that kind of work and my weekends are precious.
The tree trimming would likely be another 1k+ yearly expense as well so I am looking at close to 2k a year as an ongoing cost - difficult to swallow.
If so, then a line of three will possibly constitute a high hedge.
There is legislation to deal with high hedges, and the onus is on you to play ball with the neighbour to reach an amicable arrangement.
If you don't, they can approach the local authority to step in, although they will have to pay for the application, usually a few hundred quid.
At that point someone comes round with a tape measure and a compass and puts a whole lot of measurements into a spreadsheet to determine the action height of the hedge.
It depends on the size and shape of their garden, the distance to the windows in the ground floor habitable rooms of their house and the compass orientation.
It's all about determining loss of light to their habitable rooms AND their garden.
If you are to the south, the action height can end up being pretty low, as low as 2 metres in some cases.
You are then required to keep the trees below the action height, otherwise you face being hit with an ASBO and the council can come onto your land to deal with the trees themselves.
The ASBO will be something you will need to declare if you ever sell and the council might have some means of recovering their costs from you, I'm not exactly sure how.
You can read all about what I've just explained here, including a link to the spreadsheet:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hedge-h...
272BHP said:
My neighbour is complaining that 3 of the trees in my back garden overhang over their garden and wants them either removed or for me to trim them back substantially.
The trees are very mature and must have been there for decades and are just a couple of feet from the fence so of course will hang over the neighbours garden. They are complaining that it prohibits them light and also that the leaves at this time of the year are difficult to deal with.
We had the same thing 2 years ago and trimmed 2 of them back which cost 600 pounds. The tree surgeon last time said that the trees were not particularly large and were beautiful healthy trees and trimming them back would only make them grow faster. We got them trimmed in any case to keep the peace.
Trimming 3 of them is going to cost over 1k and I am bit concerned that this is now going to be a yearly substantial cost.
Has anyone had a similar situation?
The key, obviously, is to find a compromise. The trees are very mature and must have been there for decades and are just a couple of feet from the fence so of course will hang over the neighbours garden. They are complaining that it prohibits them light and also that the leaves at this time of the year are difficult to deal with.
We had the same thing 2 years ago and trimmed 2 of them back which cost 600 pounds. The tree surgeon last time said that the trees were not particularly large and were beautiful healthy trees and trimming them back would only make them grow faster. We got them trimmed in any case to keep the peace.
Trimming 3 of them is going to cost over 1k and I am bit concerned that this is now going to be a yearly substantial cost.
Has anyone had a similar situation?
You can counter that as a young, working family you simply haven't the money to enable you to just give it to them to help with their recently evolved issue that almost certainly relates to their natural aging.
Personally, I would ascertain how many years they have lived there and for how many of those years the size of the trees have been in the ballpark of where they are now.
In short, it does read as if they are kicking off now because they've grown too old whereas when they were younger they weren't an issue.
Or, or could be that the person who lives in your house prior always kept the trees cut back or they've only recently become as large as they have?
Anyway, the standard PH solution is to move home so why don't you drop round next door with a handful of brochures for local retirement homes?
272BHP said:
My neighbour is complaining that 3 of the trees in my back garden overhang over their garden and wants them either removed or for me to trim them back substantially.
The trees are very mature and must have been there for decades and are just a couple of feet from the fence so of course will hang over the neighbours garden. They are complaining that it prohibits them light and also that the leaves at this time of the year are difficult to deal with.
We had the same thing 2 years ago and trimmed 2 of them back which cost 600 pounds. The tree surgeon last time said that the trees were not particularly large and were beautiful healthy trees and trimming them back would only make them grow faster. We got them trimmed in any case to keep the peace.
Trimming 3 of them is going to cost over 1k and I am bit concerned that this is now going to be a yearly substantial cost.
Has anyone had a similar situation?
Any pictures to give a perspective? The trees are very mature and must have been there for decades and are just a couple of feet from the fence so of course will hang over the neighbours garden. They are complaining that it prohibits them light and also that the leaves at this time of the year are difficult to deal with.
We had the same thing 2 years ago and trimmed 2 of them back which cost 600 pounds. The tree surgeon last time said that the trees were not particularly large and were beautiful healthy trees and trimming them back would only make them grow faster. We got them trimmed in any case to keep the peace.
Trimming 3 of them is going to cost over 1k and I am bit concerned that this is now going to be a yearly substantial cost.
Has anyone had a similar situation?
"not particularly large" to a tree surgeon might be mahoosive to me!
Of course the trees might have always been that big....or perhaps they have just got bigger & bigger, like trees do! We had a small willow that suddenly appeared to be HUGE. The years can do that.
If you were in their shoes, would you prefer them to be a lot lower?
Maybe consider properly bringing them down. Shouldn't then be an annual expense if done properly.
We have a neighbour who won't reduce a massive tree in his garden that takes a lot of light away. He is happy for me to cut the bits overhanging us, which is a bit daft - we even offered to pay, to know avail. A crazy park tree in his tiny bungalow garden! Life, eh.
Sounds like a neighbour in our village, 20 years ago she complained to the parish council because when people walked along the path that ran alongside her house they could see into her garden. The council planted a bush/tree to help block the view and she spent the next 19 years complaining about the leaves it produced!
Fore Left said:
Similar to what our neighbour did to our Conifer that was overhanging his Garage a bit.It looked bloody awful on their side for years after and he's not done it since. Still moans all the time about needles on his roof though.
As above, your neighbours are entitled to cut back any branches overhanging their garden - at their cost.
If (and only if) you are willing, they can pay to have your trees cut back/trimmed. You shouldn't pay for this. It's for their benefit, not yours.
In terms of light, it's not a hedge, these are trees (I believe there are different rules for hedges). Are they claiming less light in their house or in their garden? If it's their garden, I don't think there are any legal protections - I have a friend with a similar dispute.
If (and only if) you are willing, they can pay to have your trees cut back/trimmed. You shouldn't pay for this. It's for their benefit, not yours.
In terms of light, it's not a hedge, these are trees (I believe there are different rules for hedges). Are they claiming less light in their house or in their garden? If it's their garden, I don't think there are any legal protections - I have a friend with a similar dispute.
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