Advice on neighbours trees (again!)

M00nface

 I posted a few months ago about a neighbours ours over hanging tree. Well more than one actually. I wanted to seek further advice on he issue.. One tree is a tall conifer. It sits directly next to the house and most of the tree is actually sitting on our roof. We are obviously concerned about any issues this might cause to roof tiles etc. Dead conifer leaves are also blocking our gutter, we had a lot of diet and debris fall from our glitter recently with loads of dead conifer in the dirt. The other tree is I think a sycamore (?) which greatly overhangs our fence. It compete blocks any kght in the evening and blocks sunlight to one of our bedrooms almost completely as it over hangs so much that the view of our window is just leaves. Both the trees sit directly on the other side of our fence. We have tried our best to cut back what we can with a ladder and extending shears but the neighbour doesn't really seem to be providing us with any help despite several efforts to communicate. The home owner rents the house out and doesn't seem interested. I have contacted him firstly back In April. This is our conversation with dates

:

April 30

Hi. Thanks so much for providing your info to get in contact. We just wanted to get in touch as me and my partner were just concerned about the tree that sit behind our fencing. We just wanted to get some advice from yourself and maybe some resolution. The tree closest to our property actually sits on our property and on our roof and we are worried about potential damage to our roofing and gable ends, meanwhile the trees have considerably blocked our guttering and are leaving a lot of mess in our garden, this isn't much of an issue to clear up but it just does pile up eventually as there's bits falling daily. Just wondering if there was a resolution we can reach in regards to this? We've only recently moved in and I'm aware the previous home owners didn't use the garden much but did explain they needed their gutters cleared regularly. Kind regards Emma

May 2

Hi , just wondering if you had a chance to look at my message? Regards.

Neighbor : Hi. I have but I’m away till next week so will catch up then Regards 

OK thankyou! Will speak soon enjoy your weekend.

Neighbor May 5: Hi. Had a look at the tree and can see what you are saying. I think we would have to see about the cost to cut that back or down as I would imagine it wouldn’t be cheap.

Hi thanks for looking into this. Yes the conifer sits in our tree and the sycamore does actually block light to put garden in the afternoon too. As you can see we have the gigantic Council tree that sits behind our garden and this causes a nuisance to our garden and blocks most of our daylight anyway. So even cutting down the trees on your side would be a great help. We also have the sewage cover which would be quite close to the roots of the sycamore. Any help would be greatly appreciated and if you manage to get quotes etc we can contribute if needed.

I didn't get a response until end of May when I followed this up and he told me a family member of his wife had passed so I left it at that.

3 months later I followed up again. August 4

"Hi Was wondering if you would please take into consideration in regards to the trees. They have only grown more since we last spoke. I will have to cut back what I can myself in the meantime of the tree next to the conifer. I will tidy what ends up in my own garden. Look forward to hearing from you.

Neighbor : Ok. Still playing catch up at the moment.

Awesome. We are very concerned about the  conifer on our roof. A lot of dirt and debris of dead conifer has blocked our gutter and is now in our garden. Ideally we would like something done about the conifer and other tree before the end of summer or before autumn before the leaves start to fall again. Maybe I can check in with you in about two weeks or so and follow this up. Regards.

Neighbor : *thumbs up* "

We are really struggling at the moment to figure out what we can do next and if this is actually going to g I  anywhere. I have tried to be as kind an informative as possible and I'm stuck on what else I can do. These trees are a real nuisance, blocking gutters,blocking light. I had a branch fall on my head once. Does anyone have an advice or have been in a similar situation? I have attached photos so you can see the trees.

tdawber

Oh dear, I would get someone in the cut it all back to the boundary, thin it out as well. I think it’s the only thing you can do if the owner isn’t interested. 

thegreenone

I learnt something today from a friend who had a personal issue.  You are being too kind. 

You need to set boundaries ie letter to LL "once the birds have stopped nesting, at the end of August, the trees need pollarding.  Cost is not our problem, you are the LL, it is your responsibility and you need to have made provision for the care of your property.  Any damage to our property, from here on, will be billed to you".  

Contact the Council to ask them to pollard their tree 'before it starts damaging our foundations'.

Weathergirl_76

Hi, I think you have been more than reasonable in your messages, and have given the neighbour ample opportunity to take action or provide some resolution or timescale. Neither seems forthcoming. 

Yes, tree surgeons are not cheap, but they will do it once and then he will not have to think about it for a long time. 

I had a property where the neighbours cherry trees (huge ones) are right next to the boundary and my garage. One of the branches went right across my garage. I was concerned in high winds it would fall and damage my garage or roof. I told the neighbour and he cut back the branches overhanging my property. He wasn’t happy about it, but he did it. 

I would find out from the council what you need to do, and how (they must get asked this all the time) and document everything. Other option is to pay for the trees to be cut back where it overhangs your property boundary. 

Weathergirl_76

Ps - I had a conifer growing near my old property, the mortgage survey listed it as being a requirement for it to be cut down, as apparently they are known for their roots causing damage. I would also check if sycamores are protected etc, some are but I don’t know what ones. 

M00nface

Weathergirl_76 said:

Ps - I had a conifer growing near my old property, the mortgage survey listed it as being a requirement for it to be cut down, as apparently they are known for their roots causing damage. I would also check if sycamores are protected etc, some are but I don’t know what ones. 

Hi. I don't think they are protected specifically with these as I also enquired about some Council trees behind our back fence and they said no know TPOs in that area. Will have to do some research about rhe conifer tho in regards to the mortgage thanks for the  heads up on that

M00nface

thegreenone said:

I learnt something today from a friend who had a personal issue.  You are being too kind. 

You need to set boundaries ie letter to LL "once the birds have stopped nesting, at the end of August, the trees need pollarding.  Cost is not our problem, you are the LL, it is your responsibility and you need to have made provision for the care of your property.  Any damage to our property, from here on, will be billed to you".  

Contact the Council to ask them to pollard their tree 'before it starts damaging our foundations'.

Thankyou for your reply. Yes even my partner said I was being to soft and I need to be more to the point. I think my next response In two weeks or so will be something also g what you've said in a more "stern" manner for sure. I was worried I would develop a bad relationship with the noegh our because of this but I'm not sure what else I can say to him

M00nface

tdawber said:

Oh dear, I would get someone in the cut it all back to the boundary, thin it out as well. I think it’s the only thing you can do if the owner isn’t interested. 

Just teying my best to do all I can before it comes to this as It will set us back a lot of money and hoping we would do something about his own trees before we have to.:(

Tiglet2

How many trees are there?  Could they be described as a hedge, for example?  If so, you can complain to your Council (though there is usually a fee to pay).  Read the below and see if it applies:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=408

M00nface

Tiglet2 said:

How many trees are there?  Could they be described as a hedge, for example?  If so, you can complain to your Council (though there is usually a fee to pay).  Read the below and see if it applies:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=408

They are two trees as pictured above.ill have a look into that though thanks!

Racky_Roo

You should start getting quotes now as Tree Surgeons are always really busy from Sept onwards once tree pruning can start again. I have waited months to get a slot and often if the weather is really bad on the booked day, it gets cancelled