Good news, (at lease for now..) my immediate neighbour is moving this
summer, keep my fingers crossed that my new would-be neighbour will like the
shade...

After all, this tree been here for 18 years, I think it deserved to stay....

"Chet Hayes" wrote in message
om...
Well, I guess it depends how big a deal it is, how happy you want to
make your neighbor and if you remove it, what's left after the tree's
gone. I don't know about you, but I can't stand new subdivisions
where houses are built on fields and when you step out your backdoor,
you're looking at the back of your neighbor's house.

If it were me, I'd give priority to how it makes my property look.
And if I was removing a tree on my property for a neighbor and it
wasn't a safety issue, I'd suggest he pay for the removal.





"Allen Lai" wrote in message
le.rogers.com...
It is discouraging.... 80 feet tall... I already know my neighbour do
not
like the shade, we already tried to thin out the bottom part, but it
results
in the tree growing taller faster... and if I cannot top the tree, then
I
may have to do the unthinkable, but it is such a beautiful tree, may be
I
will leave it as is until my neighbour ....... : (


"Timothy" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 08 Jun 2003 05:37:04 +0000, Allen Lai wrote:

Hi Guys,

I got a maple tree at my back yard, actually, I got two, but one is
growing taller and taller, don't think my neighbour like me much
cause
it
block all the sun in their yard... can I cut it down from the the
top...
ie , the tree is now, may be 40 feet tall, can I cut the top 10 feet
down
and trim the middle ? I am in southern Ontario...and when is the
best
time to cut ?

Never top a tree. All you will end up with is a disfigured tree that
may
become dangerous in the years to come. What happens when you top the
tree....
As soon as you top the tree, the tree looks terrible.
The next season the tree puts on excessive growth, trying to return to
the
size it was before you cut it. Generally this growth is straight and
tall
with little to no branching.
In the years to come, the new top growth gets taller and branches out
more. This newer top growth is weakly attached to the tree. The
branches
will be prone to wind throw in storms and very likly you'll end up
with
damage to your property or worse, your neighbors property.

What I would tend to do...
Talk to your neighbor about the trees. See if they mind the shade ect.
You
may be surprised by their thoughts and feelings about the trees. If it
turns out that they don't like the shade, then theres two options in
my
opinion. The first option would be to 'window' the tree. This is done
by
removing some of the larger branches of the tree at the base where
they
connect to the main trunk. The goal would be to let more light pass
through the tree ( kind of like a window ) so your neighbors can have
a
brighter yard. I would not recommend that this all be done in one
cutting.
It may take up to 5 years to remove all the offending branches safely.

The second option would be to remove the tree completely and replace
it
with a tree of the right hight and shape for the space. This will be
much
cheaper than trying to maintain a topped tree every season or so and a
topped tree will not add any beauty to your landscape.

Not knowing what type of maple you have, I would say 40 feet may only
be
half of the total hight that maple could get to. Can your space handle
an
80 tall X 40 wide tree?

Good luck to you and your trees.....

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Bellingham, Washington
Georgia straits area
Zone 8a usda