Having trees lopped

S1976

Hi, I have 3 HUGE conifers cut down last week, by HUGE I mean twice the height of an average house - I tried my luck and offered a total of £300 on Myhammer site (just google it) and got a quote for £250 from a professional tree service with us taking care of the removel of rubbish etc..(Apparently this is what costs the most) I simply had them cut the trees and offered the trunks on freecycle as firewood - most have been collected. Maybe worth a look and say just pruning, if thats what you want.

hethmar

Yes thats a good idea for getting some quotes.

I dont think your neighbour can do much unless the trees are a danger to him. No one has right to light - thats a myth.
Google for the Garden Law forum - plenty of professional gardeners on there who could help you.

bromsgrovebarry

But your neighbour can take action if the trees are judged to prevent reasonable enjoyment of his garden. That is the law

noapron

Our neighbours suddenly 'realised' their 35 foot 'dwarf stock' fir was a) threatening to wreck our fence, and (b) blocked our light. We had never been assertive about asking them to do something about the thing, preferring to not argue with neighbours, but we had hinted that it was a problem. Anyway, they had trouble with their drains and although nothing to do with us (i.e. we were not considered to be one of the houses who might be responsible) they asked if the man they had employed could come and look down our drain, because of the building work we'd had done, we agreed and said if the problem was in anyway our fault we would contribute to the solution - it wasn't as it turned out. Hence they offered to deal with their tree. I'm afraid I did not see it as anything I should contribute to: they had let the tree grow out of all proportion to what they had expected (the dwarf rooting stock had failed in some way) and they had never topped it or trimmed it. They had to get hold of scaffolding and climb up to do the job - but of course 3 years later, the tree has grown even taller. And I suppose at some point I'm going to have to bring it up in conversation again.

When we did an extension at the back of our house, some 20 years ago, we had to move a small (4ft tall) fir tree. We replanted it in the front near the corner of the house. The building inspector saw it and ordered us to move it or get rid - he deemed it unsuitable to be near a house. So their huge tree is a definite problem. If our neighbours' tree should ever fall it will either go straight through my main roof or theirs. My back bedroom used to be the lightest bedroom - this is far from the case now.

Speaking from this experience, I would say, that you may trim back the trees, but expensive or no, within a few years your neighbours may well be asking you to do it again because they will simply have grown again. Is there no way you could lop them at say 12 feet, and then keep them in check to avoid further expense?

barberboy

i am in a situation where my back neighbours have huge hedge like trees blocking 80% of the sunlight of our garden, i have asked them kindly if they would trim them back slightly, i would pay, they are not very happy about it as they have claimed they grew them for privacy(theres a 6 ft fence there anyway). I have 2 young children who i feel should be allowed to play in a garden that gets the sun, seen as its a south facing garden, as i live north of the border, the council say they will take nothing to do with it so i think i will just have to chop a couple of foot of them myself as that seems to be the only option. At the end of the day, apart from fall out with you what can they do, raise a civil action against you for lopping their trees without their permission? They would have to show they suffered some sort of financial loss - so that would mean the cost of the trees, it would be highly unlikely and a waste of time to raise a civil action for this.

I noticed someone say "nobody has a right to light" this is true but hey, what a selfish attitude, thats why im in the position im in but there is ways of dealing with people like that as i have already explained.

hethmar

"Nobody has a right to light" wasnt me being selfish! its how the law stands at the moment - case in hand is our elderly neighbour 2 doors down, grandchildren built a lovely sun lounge for her 2 years ago - new neighbour from hell next to her put in planning application for a huge extension which will completely block it and she will have a bare brick wall as her view. Her son objected but the council passed the application

And depending on your neighbour's attitude, you could be done for criminal damage if you went ahead with your plan. Not being obstructive, just telling you how it is. Have a look on the Garden Law website. You say "hedge like trees" ? If it is indeed an evergreen hedge with no breaks then you can contact your council - I think you have to pay a fee of a couple of hundred quid though, for them to inspect - if they deem it is a hedge, rather than a row of trees then they can put a high hedge order on them and the guy will have to cut them back to about 2 metres. Go to the Garden Law website and post for advice there.

hethmar

bromsgrovebarry wrote: »

But your neighbour can take action if the trees are judged to prevent reasonable enjoyment of his garden. That is the law

Where is the law that states that broms? Ive not seen one and Ive been fighting a case against a NFH for 5 years. I think you may be talking about the High Hedge act. But if these are just odd trees then that wouldnt apply.

1. If someone cannot settle their hedge dispute amicably, they will be able to take their complaint to their local authority provided that:

• the hedge in question is comprised wholly or predominantly of a line of two or more evergreen or semi-evergreen trees or shrubs;
• it is over 2 metres high;
• the hedge acts, to some degree, as a barrier to light or access; and
• because of its height, it is adversely affecting the complainant's reasonable enjoyment of his domestic property (that is their home or garden).

2. The local authority will be able to charge a fee to deal with a complaint. This fee is to be paid by the complainant. In each case, the authority will decide initially, whether the height of the hedge is adversely affecting the complainant's reasonable enjoyment of his or her property. If so the authority will then consider, what, if any, action should be taken in relation to the hedge in order to remedy the adverse affect and to prevent it recurring.

barberboy

hethmar wrote: »

"Nobody has a right to light" wasnt me being selfish! its how the law stands at the moment - case in hand is our elderly neighbour 2 doors down, grandchildren built a lovely sun lounge for her 2 years ago - new neighbour from hell next to her put in planning application for a huge extension which will completely block it and she will have a bare brick wall as her view. Her son objected but the council passed the application

And depending on your neighbour's attitude, you could be done for criminal damage if you went ahead with your plan. Not being obstructive, just telling you how it is. Have a look on the Garden Law website. You say "hedge like trees" ? If it is indeed a hedge with no breaks then you can contact your council - I think you have to pay a fee of a couple of hundred quid though, for them to inspect - if they deem it is a hedge, rather than a row of trees then they can put a high hedge order on them and the guy will have to cut them back to about 2 metres. Go to the Garden Law website and post for advice there.

good point, i have taken legal advice on this situation, its a civil matter, they would have to prove that they had suffered a financial loss and also prove it was me that done it. i dont know if the law in scotland is different from england but i think it would be hard to have someone charged with criminal damage, the police wouldnt be interested as its a civil matter, without sounding patronising and with all due respect i think you might find that its the same in england as well. Do you know if this website you refer to is for england only or is it the whole of the uk?

WhiteHorse

Tree felling is a very expensive business, although as has been pointed out, it's the shredding (equipment), tidying up (time) and disposal (trade waste) that is the main cost.

The best bet is to get some friends round, hire a serious shredder and make a day of it. Everyone brings cutters, chain saw etc, you supply barbeque, beer etc.

olbas_oil

If you are lopping trees that overhang the highway, how far do you have to go to ensure a) the insurance cover and b) the competence of the person you contract to do the job?

I assume if I employed some idiot who dropped a branch on a passing car/pedestrian then I would be ultimately liable. But how far do I have to go to ensure that they know what they are doing? There's a huge difference in cost between the 'tree surgeons' and the local handyman. If I employ the latter, do I need to see insurance? What type, how much?