Neighbours and trees (rant)

[sammyc]

Purely for venting purposes.

Not the neighbours/trees you are probably thinking (too large, won't cut them back) but the obsessed with cutting them down sort. Barely a tree or lawn left round here as it is as one after the other paves their drives for 4 cars, in recent weeks a beautiful focal tree has gone, one side is fixated on hacking their adjoining side back to dog's-hind-leg eye level (these are the ones with the plastic lawn, aka the ones who wore me into submission & into letting them trim one of my trees in half vertically, so yeah, worrying about wildlife & nesting birds not a priority there) - worst of all, end-of-garden lot have got a chainsaw wielding twit going to town right now on the only greenery that screens them off from me. Stuff that just gets to the attractive stage before they're at it again.

This is not high stuff or stuff that's shadowing their light. This is however the only stuff that stops my view being of them eating their dinner or washing their dishes.

Revenge suggestions? Nude appearances at window? Anti-brexit mural? Really nothing, is there. Powerlessness really, really sucks.

[Butcher]

Grow stuff set back a foot or so from the boundary, then the trimming of it is your problem (if they trim it back to their boundary it should be still thick enough.

Also, tree preservation orders.

[ik9000]

TPOs - check if there were any. If they've felled a tree with a TPO on it that could mean trouble for them.

And for any trees that are left, apply to the council to put them in place.

IIRC they only have the right to prune on their side if they ask you do it and you don't respond. Otherwise my understanding (and make sure you check this out as I might be wrong) is that you can go round and prune it back (since they've asked you do it you can negotiate a suitable time). This assumes it is growing on your land and simply overhanging into theirs. Not sure what happens when it's a shared boundary. The internet must surely tell you somewhere?

The answer for the future is to stick up the tallest fence permitted under planning then grow your own plants up it on your side. They can't prune it then.

[sammyc]

No-one's doing anything they aren't entitled to, sadly, hence the powerlessness. It's not that unreasonable either, only by my standards, mostly just pettifogging can't leave anything alone mentality. The half a tree for example, it was only encroaching over neighbours' side alleyway, running between fence & their garage, & where they only go down to put the bin out &c. Nothing they can see from the house & not in their way. But, just not worth saying no to people who are going to do a passive aggressive "we don't want to fall out with you, but" number. They hate ivy, hate a blade of grass from the mower going over their drive.. you know the type.

I'm ok at the immediate rear, I have whopping trees from before my time, which they don't seem to mind - gives them privacy as well so fingers crossed that continues.

The ones I can overlook (& should have said as much) are on the diagonal, there's nothing but a tall fence between me and the one side, so I have a clear view from upstairs - nothing I grow at that side is going to get high enough to screen them off except something that I don't want to land myself with trimming either.

Solution, move hopefully at some point, in the meantime grumble futilely about the annoyance of living cheek by jowl with other 'orrible humans. No doubt by complaining I'll invoke something worse on myself if they (being mostly elderly) 'move on' before I do, because when has that ever not happened.

Goes to start gripe no 2 of the day: taps.