neighbour's new trees

RuthnJasper

Does your neighbour rent his house? I only ask because I rent my home from a Housing Association and my tenancy agreement states very clearly that I'm not allowed to plant trees like these in my garden.

Hope they don't cause too much hassle. x

gterr

Sounds like you may be able to resolve this by negotiating with your neighbour, which is ideal. However, if not (or of possible interest to others) there is now 'high hedges' legislation which covers nuisance bushes, hedges and trees. If informal negotiation fails you can now ask your local authority to intervene. There will probably be a fee for lodging an application.

Mojisola

gterr wrote: »

Sounds like you may be able to resolve this by negotiating with your neighbour, which is ideal. However, if not (or of possible interest to others) there is now 'high hedges' legislation which covers nuisance bushes, hedges and trees. If informal negotiation fails you can now ask your local authority to intervene. There will probably be a fee for lodging an application.

This only applies to evergreen hedges.

ConfusedofYorkshire

He owns it.

But I agree, who does that? I don't know huge amounts about tress. But if I was going to plant some I would look up how high they will grow, what through root system is like etc.

I've had a look at the tree and I now think it's a sycamore. It has those helicopter type things that fall off. They have a shallow root system and it's recommend that they 're planted 12 metres from houses. 5 of them are silver birch, and there are 2 plum trees.

3 of the silver britches are so close together I imagine they'll be fighting for nutrients. They sill probably also wipe out the side from our back garden and kitchen.

The other 2 are about 3 foot from a garage, though notmour garage.

They have moved the sycamore which is the best news of the day but I'm still left stunned that people jump into things like this without thinking about the repercussions as the trees grow.

ConfusedofYorkshire

Make that 6 silver birch, 1 sycamore, 2 plum tress. 9 in total. And we're not talking a huge amount of land.

ReadingTim

RuthnJasper wrote: »

You're forgetting to factor-in the Darwin Awards and largely junk-food-based diets of the great unwashed. Nature always compensates...

If only that were the case - personally I reckon this film's more of a prophecy than a satirical sci-fi comedy...

Mallotum_X

ConfusedofYorkshire wrote: »

Make that 6 silver birch, 1 sycamore, 2 plum tress. 9 in total. And we're not talking a huge amount of land.

Maybe chat to him about how tall he wants them to get. All can be trimmed fairly easily especially if they havent grown to be monsters when they first are cut.

Silver Birch can get up towards 100feet tall, although most dont get that big. They have fairly shallow roots so will suck all the water out, potentially damaging foundations (especially if you are on clay). They are fairly fast growing, and as such the wood is not always the strongest, can snap/get damaged as they mature.

Very few places would sell sycamores - scruffy trees that make a lot of mess. It may well be some other type of maple - its a big family of trees. However if it is similar to a sycamore you are looking at a fast growing spreading tree, this is the one i'd be the most concerned about.

Plum trees are fairly small growing trees, these are the least likely to cause problems.

As it sounds like you are on friendly terms I think you need to speak more with your neighbour about what they want to achieve. There are lots of small trees/large shrubs that may be a better choice if they are just looking for privacy. Something growing up to maybe 20feet is not going to have the same sort of problem, especially if you can agree on something with a fairly light canopy so they don't block all the light out.

pinkteapot

Check your house insurance policy document. 10 feet is MUCH too close to the house for a large tree. It might be small now, but most insurance companies don't want you having trees over a certain height within x metres of the house, so you may find your insurance invalidated some years down the line. Worth keeping an eye on to make sure you stay covered.

Have they been planted far enough apart? Usual mistake with trees and shrubs is people buying them when they're small and planting them far too close together, so they don't have enough space to spread properly.

ConfusedofYorkshire

Mallotum_X wrote: »

Maybe chat to him about how tall he wants them to get. All can be trimmed fairly easily especially if they havent grown to be monsters when they first are cut.

Silver Birch can get up towards 100feet tall, although most dont get that big. They have fairly shallow roots so will suck all the water out, potentially damaging foundations (especially if you are on clay). They are fairly fast growing, and as such the wood is not always the strongest, can snap/get damaged as they mature.

Very few places would sell sycamores - scruffy trees that make a lot of mess. It may well be some other type of maple - its a big family of trees. However if it is similar to a sycamore you are looking at a fast growing spreading tree, this is the one i'd be the most concerned about.

Plum trees are fairly small growing trees, these are the least likely to cause problems.

As it sounds like you are on friendly terms I think you need to speak more with your neighbour about what they want to achieve. There are lots of small trees/large shrubs that may be a better choice if they are just looking for privacy. Something growing up to maybe 20feet is not going to have the same sort of problem, especially if you can agree on something with a fairly light canopy so they don't block all the light out.

Thank you this is really helpful. Do any other maples have the helicopter type seeds? It definitely has those. He's now planted it in about 2 foot of dirt at the end of the drive with nothing butt concrete around it so I can't see it thriving there.

We've only moved in recently but he's a nice chap. But I don't know him well. I don't think much thought has been given to how big the trees worth get. The cluster of 3 birches are now more than 3 foot apart- not sure that is enough.

But I feel if I say anymore he will take it as an insult. He moved the tree and wasn't nasty about it but he wasn't skipping for joy or friendly about it.

ConfusedofYorkshire

pinkteapot wrote: »

Check your house insurance policy document. 10 feet is MUCH too close to the house for a large tree. It might be small now, but most insurance companies don't want you having trees over a certain height within x metres of the house, so you may find your insurance invalidated some years down the line. Worth keeping an eye on to make sure you stay covered.

Have they been planted far enough apart? Usual mistake with trees and shrubs is people buying them when they're small and planting them far too close together, so they don't have enough space to spread properly.

They look too close together to me. I hoping that means they'll die off!