Hi guy long time no speak from me.

I could do with some advice on tree heights around my property.

My house backs onto a single dirt lane leading to a few houses. Around these houses are conifers at my estimated height of 40+ foot, higher than my house roof and are less than 15 meters from my window. This blocks so much light its silly, my summer evening lose about 2 hours with the sun setting behind them.

Im not sure how to get the neighbour to cut them down. Can you give me any pointers?

Last year the house to my left complained to the council and they said something along the line of "as its common ground we are not responsible but can mediate for £250 with the owner". Nothing went ahead after this, however a tractor with side cutter has cut them width wise up to about 2 meters to allow cars and vans to use the track. Im not sure who did this but if it where the council are they lying to me?

Cheers


Trees



Trees from window

[Edited on 30/3/20 by Moorron]

[Edited on 30/3/20 by Moorron]

Are the trees on the common land?

No they are behind a wire fence so I would say its her property.

The pictures don't do them justice, when I drive towards my house from the front I can see the tops of them over my roof they are that high.

Ah ok, this is what Citizen advice say

I reckon you need to speak to the neighbour. Who may well shrug their shoulders and say they don't want to cut them down, or suggest you can get it done at your expense.

My parents house is in a conservation area. Any tree with a main bough bigger than 3" is automatically protected. You have to get council permission to cut any part of it. (funnily enough a lot of cutting does go on, and I am certain without council permissions) But it seems councils are against trees being chopped in any way/shape/form, so I wouldn't expect much support.

Maybe bore some 1" holes and keep pouring diesel into them.... and be patient.

It looks like a nice animal/bird haven and I'd love to live near some big trees, all my neighbours cut theirs down and put up fences and concrete.

They probably don't want a view of your house.

Don't get me wrong, the trees stop a lot of road noise coming from the main road, so I don't want them gone, just cut down to a reasonable height. When its windy (and we have had some this year already) they don't look safe and could easily go thru my shed and maybe the conservatory if they fall.

Looks like a nice letter to the old lady first, to plea my concerns.

Maybe she'll be nice about it. It's worth a try.

My neighbour didn't like mine (7ft), so she spent every weekend she could moaning at me, then trying to pull the branches through her fence to cut them off. She still does this despite me cutting the top out of them so she'd shut up and go back to her concrete dog poo space. I honestly hate some people


[Edited on 30/3/20 by coyoteboy]

Go round and tell her you're dropping the height to save her property from the roots breaking up her foundations, remember the roots grow as lang as the branches or maybe it's twice as long or is it 5 times longer - you get the idea...

Tell the owners if the trees come down and hit your shed, house you will expect them to pay for any damage not your insurance
I would think it will cost a lot to cut the trees down if there as high as you say that's probably why no one has ever cut them

A mate of mine is having the same problem as you and it's been going on for years
Graham

Mother in law had a similar problem. Instead of talking to the neighbor she panicked and got a solicitor. When we found out we intervened. Got her to speak to the neighbor and they agreed she'd pay the cost of looping. Cost less than the time she'd already spent with a solicitor.

Figured out how much your want them dropped. If it's as much as I suspect then offer to pay part of the cost. Much better neighbour relations.

Copper nails apparently (if all else fails!)

quote:

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Originally posted by MikeR
Mother in law had a similar problem. Instead of talking to the neighbor she panicked and got a solicitor. When we found out we intervened. Got her to speak to the neighbor and they agreed she'd pay the cost of looping. Cost less than the time she'd already spent with a solicitor.

Figured out how much your want them dropped. If it's as much as I suspect then offer to pay part of the cost. Much better neighbour relations.

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There has been so much trouble with these trees that they ended up having laws passed (there has even been a murder ) people have ended up with huge lawsuits costing 40 grand over such things. We had our racist neighbours grow then to forty plus. When asked to remove the tops they thought they were hurting us so kept them. Waited a few years and they grew so big they couldnt use the backyard. eventualy one afternoon the problem went away, they cut them all down.

LOOK AT https://www.leylandii.com/leylandii-law/

quote:

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Originally posted by Moorron
Hi guy long time no speak from me.

I could do with some advice on tree heights around my property.

My house backs onto a single dirt lane leading to a few houses. Around these houses are conifers at my estimated height of 40+ foot, higher than my house roof and are less than 15 meters from my window. This blocks so much light its silly, my summer evening lose about 2 hours with the sun setting behind them.

Im not sure how to get the neighbour to cut them down. Can you give me any pointers?

Last year the house to my left complained to the council and they said something along the line of "as its common ground we are not responsible but can mediate for £250 with the owner". Nothing went ahead after this, however a tractor with side cutter has cut them width wise up to about 2 meters to allow cars and vans to use the track. Im not sure who did this but if it where the council are they lying to me?

Cheers


Trees



Trees from window

[Edited on 30/3/20 by Moorron]

[Edited on 30/3/20 by Moorron]

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If it wasn't for the Covid 19 thing I would just go round, knock on the door and have a chat. Explain that you are a neighbor across the road and how it reduces your light, then ask if they are open to the idea of cutting them down to say 8ft, even offer to give them a hand/help with a bonfire/take the cuttings away/split the cost etc, as you are going to benefit most. My experience is that about 50% of the population is fed up with them and wants rid If they have a decent sized lawn you may be able to drop them easily into their garden, especially with a notch in the trunk at 8ft and bit of rope tied high up to help them in the right direction.
Don't underestimate how much volume there will be to get rid of! Optimum timing is probably just before bonfire night, many local ones let people dump branches etc on the fire in the days leading up, and leylandai burns ferociously. If you can tow one, its best to beg/borrow a trailer....
Regards
Hugh

Would it be acceptable to have every other tree removed?

This will help with the light issue...

I think..

Build a 10000 watt laser. Now would be a good time since there is little air traffic to shoot down