[Closed] Neighbours trees, where do i stand legally

Anything that overhangs you can cut off and throw back over.

Same with digging up roots.

Anything else and things get complicated legally.

May be wrong but I don't think you can do anything about blocking light.

drill the roots, syringe full of agent orange...

(or what daveat said)

Click my name, look in neighbourhood issues, boundary disagreements

You could speak to the council, as it will end up with them to deal with

thanks folks, esp Steve, an email to the council i think!

Is it a myth that banging a copper nail in a tree will kill it?

[url= http://www.hedgeline.org ]Hedgeline[/url] Try this for info on the conifer problem

You do have the right to cut back to your boundary and you do have to (offer to if your on good terms and want to keep it that way) return any cuttings, you may not do anything that is detrimental to the health and value of the tree else you could be charged with criminal damage likewise leaving the tree in an unsafe condition. Also check for tree preservation orders or conservation area status.

The best thing to do is to keep things friendly and if this becomes difficult to seek third party professional mediation.

Nick

thanks Nick

Oxboy, not sure about that one, or where i'd get a copper nail from!

some good stuff here too in case anyones else is interested

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/WhereYouLive/NoiseNuisanceAndLitter/DG_10029999

check with the planning authority there's no tree preservation orders on them

Whatever you do don't kill the trees. You could be made to pay for replanting mature trees in their place and this can be very expensive.

I am a planning officer, it is extremely unlikely that laylandii will be covered by a tpo, though in certain circumstaces you can get somthing done about them. Make some enquiries into high hedges legislation and try and speak to the enforcement dept at your local planning office as they can advise better than the planning officers can as they deal with this sort of thing day in day out.

this may help:

[url= http://freespace.virgin.net/clare.h/index.htm ]http://freespace.virgin.net/clare.h/index.htm[/url]

2 or more trees constitutes a hedge apparently.

All good advice above, but try http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/ as well. Yep, 2 or more evergreens consitutes a hedge and so falls within the "high hedges" law. Deciduous trees are not covered and these may have individual TPOs or be covered by other legislation if you're in a conservation area. Also if the trees were there when you bought the house and it was reasonable to expect them to grow to the size they are now, then you're on thin ice.

Be warned that Leylandii do not have dormant buds in the old wood, so if you prune them hard back to the boundary (within your rights) you will probably be left with a brown, scarred mess to look at & the other side of the tree will probably still block the light.

Maybe you could see if she is willing to have them thinned out a little, not cut down all of the tall branches but just enough for more light to get through?

I would try the softly, softly route again.

She is a old lass, go easy on her, sending the council round might be enough to put her six feet under 😉

Do your best to get to know her, tell her what plans you have for your garden and how wonderful it will look when finished, invite her round, show her how much the light is blocked from your side.

Mention that your brother is a tree surgeon and will do a first class good job of clearing the none native trees, offer to plant some nice fruit trees or something of her liking instead.

BTW, killing them off, might not be a good idea, my bro took his neighbour to court after they took it on themselves to cull some of his trees, he got over £12k back from the courts for the loss of his manky trees 😉

Sneak over at night ... then strip the bark of the tree in a "ring" format near the main body of th tree i.e. in circle.

I was told by doing this the tree would slowly die ... even for a giant tree.

TJ is right, if you kill them they could claim the cost back - which will be vast. However if they cant prove it was you and you're very careful...

We did it with one at the back of our garden - tiny tiny drill bit (1mm) and put a few strategically placed holes into the trunks at 3am. A dripped a bit of glyphosate down each hole daily for a week or two, then rubbed mud into the holes. This took some work as we had to lift the fence panel next to each tree and reach in underneath each night, silently. Trees took about another 6 months to die off, but did do in the end, at which point the neighbour moved and the new neighbour moved in and asked if we minded if he took them all down anyway 😆

We were in the position of knowing through a 3rd party that they liked the immense wall of trees and would never take it down, and we only wanted to thin it out a bit by removing every other one. Worked out in the end though lol.

I won't be doing anything malicious, i've read up on it now so i'll be playing the long game strictly by the book.

As mentioned i've spoken to them several times but they never do anything (and she's not that frail yet)

Anyway i went round before and spoke to the grandson again, in particular about the silver birch in the back that shades out our veg patch. He said he's off work next week and will sort it, i'm not holding out much hope as i've heard this all before but i'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I've started my diary though and logged the conversation.

Fingers crossed!