Neighbours tree question

artha

patman99 wrote: »

It's copper nails you need to kill a tree. Ideally hammered-in in a ring around the trunk about 2 CM apart.

Better still, sodium chlorate spread around the base of the tree at regular intervals. The problem is that once the tree dies it becomes unstable and could blow over in a gale onto your property. The other unfortunate effect of sodium chlorate is that it knows no borders and will stop/stunt the growth of everything in the vicinity of where it is spread.

the_cows_udders

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've spoken to the neighbours but they don't want to remove or cut back the trees as they are not causing them any problems. They don't seem bothered that the small one may damage the houses or the sewer pipe, and said they would rather wait as that might not happen.

We've thought about the telescopic pruners but I'm waiting surgery for a lady issue, and my husband has severe damage on his knees. We've decided it would be too risky for us trying to cut the branches down ourselves. We'll have to try and save up for someone to do that properly, and just keep removing what we can with the step ladder to prevent damage to the fence.

I've lived here since 1996 and we both own the properties. They have lived there longer. The big tree was fairly small then and we had a huge row of leylandi's in our garden which hid it! We removed those shortly after we moved in as we wanted more sun in the garden, plus they were blocking light into our dining room and back bedroom windows.

I don't really want to kill the tree as I'm worried about it falling and causing damage if it dies. It would also look suspicious now I've spoken to them!

I know people say it's a small tree and we should enjoy the wildlife and all that, but it's totally ruined our garden. We've got a lovely patio area that we built and we've had some lovely summer evening BBQ's in the past. Now we can't use it as it's always in the shade, it gets mould and moss on it and droppings from the tree. The garden is only 8m long, and the tree is 6m wide and 7m high, so it really blocks the sunlight.

We'd really like to use the garden to relax and chill out in the sunshine, but we can't do that anymore and it makes us sad

Mojisola

artha wrote: »

The right to light is very clear if you have something that obviously depends on light e.g a greenhouse. Once a greenhouse has been in place, and regularly used, it establishes a right to light. the point of law in this case is that it cannot function without natural light. A house on the other hand can function with the aid of artificial light

I don't think this is right. The only right to light in law I have seen is for the windows of living rooms. Usually bathrooms, bedrooms, garages, etc aren't included.

the cows udders - if the branches that come over into your garden are big enough to use in a wood burner then do try Freecycle/Freegle. I know in our area you would find fit, healthy people who would be happy to cut the tree back to the boundary and take away the wood.

cyclonebri1

I've mentioned this before but no one commented, surely the neighbour can be forced to remove all overhanging branches, yes? no?.

That would at least stop the majority of the leaves and droppings and improove the light.

Mojisola

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

I've mentioned this before but no one commented, surely the neighbour can be forced to remove all overhanging branches, yes? no?.

No. The neighbour is not responsible, legally, for plants which grow across the boundaries. Morally, well, that's a different issue.

cyclonebri1

Mojisola wrote: »

No. The neighbour is not responsible, legally, for plants which grow across the boundaries. Morally, well, that's a different issue.

Fair enough, seems wrong though.

I will tell you a tale about a friend of mine from years back, he had the same issue as the op. Over a period of time and under cover of darkness he pushed a 3mtr length of drainpipe through his hedge up to the tree base. Every bit of old oil, parafin, paint thinners etc went the neighbours way, slowly killing the tree over 3 years. Drastic? maybe, effective? oh yes.

Mojisola

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

I will tell you a tale about a friend of mine from years back, he had the same issue as the op. Over a period of time and under cover of darkness he pushed a 3mtr length of drainpipe through his hedge up to the tree base. Every bit of old oil, parafin, paint thinners etc went the neighbours way, slowly killing the tree over 3 years. Drastic? maybe, effective? oh yes.

When the law seems so unfair, it's not surprising that people resort to such methods.

In the OP's situation, I would be very tempted to take action over the small tree. It's obvious it's going to cause problems in the future and it must be very frustrating waiting until that happens before having any hope of doing anything about it.