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Neighbours Conifer

Heather MaltsonHeather Maltson Posts: 1
in Problem solving

my neighbour has a huge single conifer - It is much taller than our 2 storey house. It does not impact greatly on their garden but does block a great deal of light from our garden. It does not overhang our garden and they are not receptive to having it lopped to an agreed height that still provides privacy for us both, despite my offer of arranging the work and sharing the cost. our local council have confirmed there is no max height and they will only get involved if they consider it to be danger, which i am not sure it is. I do not want to be on bad terms with my neighbour but would like to find a solution so any suggestions most welcome.

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Posts

  • barry islandbarry island Posts: 1,846

    It's not near enough to your house to affect your foundations then?

  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,012

    If it's just one tree, and doesn't overhang your boundary, there is nothing you can do about it.

  • DelfostDelfost Posts: 27
    OK not upsetting your neighbours but they are happy to upset you. Who really wants to be next to a tree you cannot even see the top of. ...not as if it is ornamental. Got a huge one at the back of us. A flowering somethingorother'. It looks great for a week in spring and the along comes a March gale, like today, then it becomes just a huge sunlight-blocking tree.
  • Jimmy CrawfordJimmy Crawford Posts: 468

    "The Rights of Light Act 1959 states that if a Property has received daylight for the last 20 years (the minimum prescribed period), they may be entitled to continue to receive that light. This means that if your neighbour builds a large fence or there are large trees which restrict the daylight your Property receives (for example by blocking daylight reaching a window), you may be able to apply to the courts for your daylight to be restored, or for any injunction to prevent a proposed fence being built."

     

    http://www.problemneighbours.co.uk/problems-with-neighbouring-trees-action-guide.html

     

    Or weedkiller and a bag of copper nails.

     

  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    Jimmy, have you ever consulted a solicitor? It's the quickest way I know to make a rich man poor. I speak from experience, and I would never contemplate doing it over a tree, however much it annoyed me.



    Frankly it would be cheaper to move house.
  • Jimmy CrawfordJimmy Crawford Posts: 468

    It was indeed a bit of grim humour.

    I'd dig as deep a trench as I could just within my garden and if any roots happen to get chopped then that would be unfortunate. Don't quite understand the refusal to have it trimmed, if its that high you probably cant see the top without leaning back..

  • the tidy gardenerthe tidy gardener Posts: 591

    really feel for you but theres nothing you can do if they do not want to do anything. its not worth getting into a horrible situation with your neighbours about. they obviously don't realise how bad it is for you and they never will. you cant make horrible people into nice ones.

    having said all of that ( I have terrible neighbours who don't cut their side of our hedge and it is a real mess) I inherited 6 conifers on my front garden, took 4 out, left the other 2 for privacy. it wasn't until I chopped those down too and took photos that I realised how awful they  had looked, and how nothing would grow underneath them!! your neighbours are the same. they don't realise !

  • Tropical SamTropical Sam Posts: 1,488

    "I'd dig as deep a trench as I could just within my garden and if any roots happen to get chopped then that would be unfortunate."

    If you do that and the tree falls down, it will fall down in the direction of the trimmed roots and you will be liable for all repairs and replacing the tree and criminal charges.

    Leave the tree alone and move on, you are fussing on nothing - there must be other things you can do to occupy your time other than a tree in a neighbours garden.

  • chicken chaserchicken chaser Posts: 147
    Blair's, it was a suggestion by another, not the OP. We have two large Scots pines behind our garden which block our light late in the evening but I quite like them for architectural value. On the other hand, my neighbour hates them and has pleaded with them to be removed. I'm quite glad he's turned it down so far



    I'm waiting to see what my neighbour thinks about some Fargesia Robust a bamboo that I've just planted as a screen beside my fence.
  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    As far as I know people are responsible for both sides of their own hedge. Most neighbours, if you ask, will allow you to come into their garden to cut your hedge. And clean up the clippings.
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