Trees falling into garden who is responsible

MoneySeeker1

MovingForwards said:

Waterlily24 said:

MovingForwards said:

Do you have any close ups of the trees? 
This will show their condition, whether they were healthy or showing signs of disease.

Will try to get photos of the ends where they snapped off tomorrow. 

If they snapped off and were healthy trees, then it's an unfortunate accident due to the recent weather.

I wouldnt agree with that - ie about it being due to recent weather. Reason being OP said how her husband had already noted the trees looked dicey and had asked neighbour to deal with them before this current weather came along.

It is possible with some trees that they are dicey some time before they "go" and then they might get "helped along" by current weather as a contributory factor, but they were already due to fall. I can certainly think of a couple of nearby trees I know of that I can see look likely to go over and, fortunately for me, they wouldn't impact on my property and, considering what the owners of those trees are like, then I say nothing. But I've noticed for months they do look likely to topple at some point.

Davesnave

In my opinion, unless you made the comment about the trees' condition a formal thing, by putting pen to paper and, preferably, backing it with the assessment of someone qualified to judge, such as a tree surgeon, you will simply waste time and energy trying to pin blame and any costs on your neighbour.

Whether they accept any responsibility is now almost certainly up to them and their disposition. Obviously many of us would, but human kindness often doesn't travel too far if there's a cost involved.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Do you have insurance cover for any of the garden buildings?  Most of us don't, though our barns are protected here.

DiggerUK

Get straight on it by telling your insurance company. If it is under your cover they will sort it. If your neighbours are liable they will then pursue them personally or whoever they are insured with.

In most areas growth has to be kept under 2 metres along borders/hedge/fence lines so you may have redress via your local authority to get remaining trees trimmed..._

Davesnave

DiggerUK said:

In most areas growth has to be kept under 2 metres along borders/hedge/fence lines so you may have redress via your local authority to get remaining trees trimmed..._

A long, drawn-out process with a cost to set it up, and even if successful, the result would be a mess and possible acrimony. Far better to keep the neighbour on-side and try to agree  a shared way forward, preferably without any leyland cypress involved.

Mojisola

DiggerUK said:

In most areas growth has to be kept under 2 metres along borders/hedge/fence lines so you may have redress via your local authority to get remaining trees trimmed..._

I don't think this is right. This is true of fences but not hedges. 

Davesnave

Mojisola said:

DiggerUK said:

In most areas growth has to be kept under 2 metres along borders/hedge/fence lines so you may have redress via your local authority to get remaining trees trimmed..._

I don't think this is right. This is true of fences but not hedges. 

I think the reference may have been to the High Hedges Act, but it's very much a last resort and discussion/mediation is expected first.

Davesnave

Waterlily24 said:

Will try to get photos of the ends where they snapped off tomorrow. 

Any update? If people understand how to view your existing picture at full resolution, the snapping-off is already easily visible.

Waterlily24

Davesnave said:

Waterlily24 said:

Will try to get photos of the ends where they snapped off tomorrow. 

Any update? If people understand how to view your existing picture at full resolution, the snapping-off is already easily visible.

Sorry for the delay, no update yeat.  Hubby tried to get in touch with the CAB but gave up.

We aren't insured for garden but wouldn't want to claim on our insurance anyway.  The neighbour hasn't said anything yet.

The pond is about half full - no sign of the fish but they are usually at the bottom at this time of the year.

Thanks Davesnave, they don't look rotten do they?

Davesnave

Waterlily24 said:

Thanks Davesnave, they don't look rotten do they?

Not from what I can see. They look a bit bare at the bottom, but that can be normal as Leylandii type trees age. They can reach 70' or more and be totally bare in the lower section by then.

The neighbour ought to have acknowledged the problem they've created for you and be talking about removal as they still own them, but I know how long it takes for some people to get something like this clear in their minds. I have a much larger tree than those which has died on our boundary, but being winter, it's not obvious to the neighbour, who's going to "wait till spring to make sure." It's like the dead parrot sketch, and worse still, neither of us is 100% certain who owns it

Waterlily24

Thanks Dave

We had larger conifers at the end of our garden when we moved in and got rid of them more or less straight away.  We've still got about 10ft of the trunks and the diameter is much, much bigger than those.