Wonder if anyone can help me here.

My next door neighbour moved in last year after the previous neighbour
was evicted for various tenancy breaches. Just before the previous
neighbour left, they planted what I can only imagine to be a leylandi
shrub. That was last July, and now the shrub / tree is over 8 foot
tall. Whilst the neighbour is fine, he doesn't want to cut the shrub
(he reckons it looks spectacular!) and it looks like by the end of
this summer it will be dwarfing our 4 foot fence by some considerable
height!

Apart from looking unsightly, the actual shrub / tree (what can you
call it!) is no real problem BUT it's right next to where one of my
washing lines are so any strong winds and the sheets get a good
battering! I've stopped putting the washing there before anyone asks,
but the branches are well and truly growing into my garden. My
question is: without chopping the stem of his shrub, would it be
illegal for me to chop the branches that are growing into my garden?
For a start he wouldn't even notice I'd done this but I wonder if
anything over my fence is "my property" And can anyone guess how tall
this monster is going to grow (and can anyone guess what it might
be?). Fortunately, as it grows taller the actual middle part is
thickening so it's losing it's ability to reach my second washing
line... I do worry about my fence though, will the branches at the
bottom end (ie up to 4 foot) start to push tightly against the fence?

I'd like to actually cut the thing in half but that's a no-go

As I say, it's no real problem, apart from it needs a good cutting but
what about the bits that are now working their way into my garden?

Cheers

Robbie

(Robbie) wrote in message . com...
Wonder if anyone can help me here.

My next door neighbour moved in last year after the previous neighbour
was evicted for various tenancy breaches. Just before the previous
neighbour left, they planted what I can only imagine to be a leylandi
shrub. That was last July, and now the shrub / tree is over 8 foot
tall. Whilst the neighbour is fine, he doesn't want to cut the shrub
(he reckons it looks spectacular!) and it looks like by the end of
this summer it will be dwarfing our 4 foot fence by some considerable
height!

Apart from looking unsightly, the actual shrub / tree (what can you
call it!) is no real problem BUT it's right next to where one of my
washing lines are so any strong winds and the sheets get a good
battering! I've stopped putting the washing there before anyone asks,
but the branches are well and truly growing into my garden. My
question is: without chopping the stem of his shrub, would it be
illegal for me to chop the branches that are growing into my garden?
For a start he wouldn't even notice I'd done this but I wonder if
anything over my fence is "my property" And can anyone guess how tall
this monster is going to grow (and can anyone guess what it might
be?). Fortunately, as it grows taller the actual middle part is
thickening so it's losing it's ability to reach my second washing
line... I do worry about my fence though, will the branches at the
bottom end (ie up to 4 foot) start to push tightly against the fence?

I'd like to actually cut the thing in half but that's a no-go

As I say, it's no real problem, apart from it needs a good cutting but
what about the bits that are now working their way into my garden?

Cheers

Robbie


You might want to post this to uk.legal, or even just do a search on
uk.legal because like the Elvis Costello sang some years ago "theres
no such thing as an original sin".

From memory I think you are allowed to cut off branches which
over-hang your property, but you must be prepared to give them to your
neighbour as they are his.

"Robbie" wrote in message
om...

And can anyone guess how tall this monster is going to grow

If it is C. Leylandii then depending on conditions it could grow to 70-80
feet. At about 3-4 feet a year. If the bleedin' monster in my garden is
anything to go by. We've got a 10ft leylandii partway down the garden
(which was about 20 ft until the weekend before last) and three of them
right at the bottom of the garden which are about 50 ft - but since they
shield us from a railway line I'm happy about keeping them.

Another consideration is the roots the thing will be putting out - if it's
next to your fence then the roots will extend under the fence and into your
garden.

Philip11/5/04 9:08

(Robbie) wrote in message
. com...
Wonder if anyone can help me here.

My next door neighbour moved in last year after the previous neighbour
was evicted for various tenancy breaches. Just before the previous
neighbour left, they planted what I can only imagine to be a leylandi
shrub. That was last July, and now the shrub / tree is over 8 foot
tall. Whilst the neighbour is fine, he doesn't want to cut the shrub
(he reckons it looks spectacular!) and it looks like by the end of
this summer it will be dwarfing our 4 foot fence by some considerable
height!

snip

You might want to post this to uk.legal, or even just do a search on
uk.legal because like the Elvis Costello sang some years ago "theres
no such thing as an original sin".

From memory I think you are allowed to cut off branches which
over-hang your property, but you must be prepared to give them to your
neighbour as they are his.

I thought legislation had recently been brought in to restrict such high
growing trees. Leylandii can go to 100' tall and heaven only knows what
width. They should never be planted in small gardens, or even medium sized
gardens, unless the owner plans to severely restrict their growth.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)

"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...


I thought legislation had recently been brought in to restrict such high
growing trees.

I was under that impression too - father-in-law is in despute with the
family of his late neighbour about the height of a variety of trees in the
next-door jungle.

Deffo one for uk.legal + google.

"Robbie" wrote in message
om...
Wonder if anyone can help me here.

My next door neighbour moved in last year after the previous neighbour
was evicted for various tenancy breaches. Just before the previous
neighbour left, they planted what I can only imagine to be a leylandi
shrub. That was last July, and now the shrub / tree is over 8 foot
tall. Whilst the neighbour is fine, he doesn't want to cut the shrub
(he reckons it looks spectacular!) and it looks like by the end of
this summer it will be dwarfing our 4 foot fence by some considerable
height!

Apart from looking unsightly, the actual shrub / tree (what can you
call it!) is no real problem BUT it's right next to where one of my
washing lines are so any strong winds and the sheets get a good
battering! I've stopped putting the washing there before anyone asks,
but the branches are well and truly growing into my garden. My
question is: without chopping the stem of his shrub, would it be
illegal for me to chop the branches that are growing into my garden?
For a start he wouldn't even notice I'd done this but I wonder if
anything over my fence is "my property" And can anyone guess how tall
this monster is going to grow (and can anyone guess what it might
be?). Fortunately, as it grows taller the actual middle part is
thickening so it's losing it's ability to reach my second washing
line... I do worry about my fence though, will the branches at the
bottom end (ie up to 4 foot) start to push tightly against the fence?

I'd like to actually cut the thing in half but that's a no-go

As I say, it's no real problem, apart from it needs a good cutting but
what about the bits that are now working their way into my garden?

Cheers

Robbie


You are well within your rights to cut back roots and branches right back to
the boundary
Technically you cannot cut behind the fence as this would be trespass
.........but if its your fence you can remove the panel cut back to the
boundary and replace the panel

Best bet is to dig the boundary ......cut off the roots and slam in old
paving slabs on their sides to block furthur root encroachment

If you cut branches back beyond the growing point they will not regrow
.........so you will have bare sticks but thats better than the constant
growth of leylandi monsters

look at www.hedgeline.org for more info on high hedge law which might
frighten your neighbour into cutting the monster it will be in a very short
space of time

Sacha wrote in
. uk:

(Robbie) wrote in message
. com...

they planted what I can only imagine to be
a leylandi shrub. That was last July, and now the shrub / tree is
over 8 foot tall. Whilst the neighbour is fine, he doesn't want to
cut the shrub (he reckons it looks spectacular!) and it looks like
by the end of this summer it will be dwarfing our 4 foot fence by
some considerable height!


I thought legislation had recently been brought in to restrict such
high growing trees. Leylandii can go to 100' tall and heaven only
knows what width. They should never be planted in small gardens, or
even medium sized gardens, unless the owner plans to severely restrict
their growth.

I think the legislation is on hedges, not individual trees.

My neighbours' neighbours (if you see what I mean) have 3 very large
ones, (and a hedge too!). The hedge is kept down to a reasonable
height, but the three big trees cut out a lot of light from the
surrounding gardens (luckily not mine!)

The owners are now moving, and the one question everyone wants to ask
the new owners is 'Please, please, can we get rid of those trees?'

Assuming Robbie's planning to stay in his house long-term, I think he
might want to take his new neighbour out for a drink, then take him to a
garden centre and buy him something else as a replacement, and help him
take down the old tree (to be sure it happens!).

Well worth the money & time to have a garden not permanently shaded by
the Tree of Doom.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

"nambucca" wrote in message
...
Just before the previous
neighbour left, they planted what I can only imagine to be a leylandi
shrub. That was last July, and now the shrub / tree is over 8 foot
tall. Whilst the neighbour is fine, he doesn't want to cut the shrub
(he reckons it looks spectacular!) and it looks like by the end of
this summer it will be dwarfing our 4 foot fence by some considerable
height!

You are well within your rights to cut back roots and branches right back
to
the boundary

But, AFAIK, if you cut back the roots or branches which results in damage to
your neighbour's trees, then you're liable for that damage. Also, I believe
the new "anti-social" legislation says that an evergreen hedge (defined as 3
or more trees in a row) cannot be higher than 2 metres, however, I don't
know if that applies to evergreen hedges that are already in existance. I
believe that you're entitled to cut back any branches that overhang your
property and you're supposed to "offer" the branches back to the tree's
owner (but the owner doesn't have to accept them).

In article , Sacha
writes
Philip11/5/04 9:08


(Robbie) wrote in message
. com...
Wonder if anyone can help me here.

My next door neighbour moved in last year after the previous neighbour
was evicted for various tenancy breaches. Just before the previous
neighbour left, they planted what I can only imagine to be a leylandi
shrub. That was last July, and now the shrub / tree is over 8 foot
tall. Whilst the neighbour is fine, he doesn't want to cut the shrub
(he reckons it looks spectacular!) and it looks like by the end of
this summer it will be dwarfing our 4 foot fence by some considerable
height!

snip

You might want to post this to uk.legal, or even just do a search on
uk.legal because like the Elvis Costello sang some years ago "theres
no such thing as an original sin".

From memory I think you are allowed to cut off branches which
over-hang your property, but you must be prepared to give them to your
neighbour as they are his.

I thought legislation had recently been brought in to restrict such high
growing trees. Leylandii can go to 100' tall and heaven only knows what
width. They should never be planted in small gardens, or even medium sized
gardens, unless the owner plans to severely restrict their growth.

Isn't that only for hedges though Sacha? which is why its called the
high hedges bill. I'm not sure if this will be a Leylandii though, the
impression is that this has grown a lot since last July, not the normal
behaviour of a newly planted Leylandii as I know from trying to infill
with them.
--
David

11/5/04 11:28

snip
Isn't that only for hedges though Sacha? which is why its called the
high hedges bill. I'm not sure if this will be a Leylandii though, the
impression is that this has grown a lot since last July, not the normal
behaviour of a newly planted Leylandii as I know from trying to infill
with them.

You may be right with regard to hedges - if so, there's a glaring loophole
right away. Even one monster tree can overshadow a neighbour's garden
badly. I'm not sure why you think it's not a leylandii - you mean it's
grown too fast?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

"Robbie" wrote in message
om...
Wonder if anyone can help me here.

My next door neighbour moved in last year after the previous
neighbour
was evicted for various tenancy breaches. Just before the previous
neighbour left, they planted what I can only imagine to be a
leylandi
shrub. That was last July, and now the shrub / tree is over 8 foot
tall. Whilst the neighbour is fine, he doesn't want to cut the shrub
(he reckons it looks spectacular!) and it looks like by the end of
this summer it will be dwarfing our 4 foot fence by some
considerable
height!

Apart from looking unsightly, the actual shrub / tree (what can you
call it!) is no real problem BUT it's right next to where one of my
washing lines are so any strong winds and the sheets get a good
battering! I've stopped putting the washing there before anyone
asks,
but the branches are well and truly growing into my garden. My
question is: without chopping the stem of his shrub, would it be
illegal for me to chop the branches that are growing into my garden?
For a start he wouldn't even notice I'd done this but I wonder if
anything over my fence is "my property" And can anyone guess how
tall
this monster is going to grow (and can anyone guess what it might
be?). Fortunately, as it grows taller the actual middle part is
thickening so it's losing it's ability to reach my second washing
line... I do worry about my fence though, will the branches at the
bottom end (ie up to 4 foot) start to push tightly against the
fence?

I'd like to actually cut the thing in half but that's a no-go

As I say, it's no real problem, apart from it needs a good cutting
but
what about the bits that are now working their way into my garden?

My understanding is that any branches overhanging into your garden may
be shortened with impunity right up to the fence. But you have to
offer the pruned material to the neighbour, as they are his property.

It is said that one way of dealing with the problem, if one can reach
the stem surreptitiously, is to drill a half inch hole into it to a
depth of about an inch. Pack the hole with sodium chlorate and cover
the wound, disguising its presence as best one can. This is, of
course, quite illegal and should not be attempted, but it is
nevertheless said to do the trick.

Franz

In article , Sacha
writes
/5/04 11:28
+JA6qKoAFwbc@c hapelhouse.demon.co.uk

snip
Isn't that only for hedges though Sacha? which is why its called the
high hedges bill. I'm not sure if this will be a Leylandii though, the
impression is that this has grown a lot since last July, not the normal
behaviour of a newly planted Leylandii as I know from trying to infill
with them.

You may be right with regard to hedges - if so, there's a glaring loophole
right away. Even one monster tree can overshadow a neighbour's garden
badly. I'm not sure why you think it's not a leylandii - you mean it's
grown too fast?

Am I the only person who likes trees in towns? It's OK for you country
dwellers with your huge or isolated gardens, but however much any of us
would like to live in the country, the majority of jobs are in the
towns, and so most of us live in towns. And towns can so easily be
walls, roofs, walls and more walls, with no greenery above eye level.

Next door to us is a church car park, which at one time was surrounded
by mature flowering cherries - but old age helped by severe pruning has
disposed of them. Opposite is a park edged with mature horse chestnuts -
a picture during flowering season, and a haven for bird life - but
local tree-hater is campaigning for them to be felled and replaced by a
traffic roundabout.

I would not like to see a situation where plants in towns are limited to
2 metres, the view from one's back window is an uncluttered panorama of
other people's back windows as far as the eye can see, wildlife is
decreased dramatically, and people who want to see any form of nature or
greenery head out to the countryside in their cars.

(OK - I'm not arguing for beech trees in back gardens, but if we were to
get to a situation where you were not allowed to grow anything that
would cast shade on a neighbour's garden is IMO taking things a little
too far, with a detriment to the urban environment as a whole).

Oh, and Sacha - I'm not having a go at you - your post was just a
convenient hook for a frustration that's been welling up in me all
through this thread.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Kay Easton11/5/04 5:20

snip
(OK - I'm not arguing for beech trees in back gardens, but if we were to
get to a situation where you were not allowed to grow anything that
would cast shade on a neighbour's garden is IMO taking things a little
too far, with a detriment to the urban environment as a whole).

Oh, and Sacha - I'm not having a go at you - your post was just a
convenient hook for a frustration that's been welling up in me all
through this thread.

No, I know you're not and I do take your very good point. But leylandii are
not suitable trees for those purposes. I can't see any problem with people
growing smallish specimen trees in city gardens and deriving and giving
great pleasure when planting them. My brother and his wife live in
Wandsworth and have a row of (IIRC) poplar trees at the bottom of their
garden which have had to be severely pollarded and trimmed but which do, at
least in summer, shield them from the neighbours at the bottom of their very
small garden. The trouble is that the trees are inappropriately large for
their setting, have had to be so messed about with as to be almost ugly but
now have a tree protection order on them. I can't see why city dwellers
can't plant trees that are an appropriate size or can be kept to that.
Rhododendrons aren't trees, neither are Camellias but they can grow pretty
big and are evergreen AND can be clipped to the required size AND have
lovely flowers.
Don't forget, the last house I lived in (the one you came to) had rather a
small garden but someone had planted a potentially huge blue cedar in it
because they addmired the one in next door's MUCH bigger garden. I had the
horrible job of cutting down this lovely, still young tree because if I'd
left it to mature, nobody could have got in or out of the front door. So I
do have some sympathy with those in a similar position. ;-)
Why not grow and clip Eucalypts, or a weeping mulberry - very pretty and
with fruit, Kilmarnock Willow, fastigiate anything and still have greenery,
the pleasure of a lovely tree but not the selfish obliteration of a
neighbour's garden to adorn that of the guilty! It's not trees per se, it's
the wrong tree.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article k31oc.271$wB.111@newsfe1-win, Joanne
writes
"nambucca" wrote in message
...
Just before the previous
neighbour left, they planted what I can only imagine to be a leylandi
shrub. That was last July, and now the shrub / tree is over 8 foot
tall. Whilst the neighbour is fine, he doesn't want to cut the shrub
(he reckons it looks spectacular!) and it looks like by the end of
this summer it will be dwarfing our 4 foot fence by some considerable
height!

You are well within your rights to cut back roots and branches right back
to
the boundary

But, AFAIK, if you cut back the roots or branches which results in damage to
your neighbour's trees, then you're liable for that damage. Also, I believe
the new "anti-social" legislation says that an evergreen hedge (defined as 3
or more trees in a row) cannot be higher than 2 metres, however, I don't
know if that applies to evergreen hedges that are already in existance. I
believe that you're entitled to cut back any branches that overhang your
property and you're supposed to "offer" the branches back to the tree's
owner (but the owner doesn't have to accept them).

I think you're right Joanne, as well as damage to the tree itself the
previous poster is irresponsible for suggesting a course of action that
could well cause it to become unstable and then you run the risk of
being sued for any damage caused

--
David

Kay Easton wrote in
:

Am I the only person who likes trees in towns? It's OK for you country
dwellers with your huge or isolated gardens, but however much any of us
would like to live in the country, the majority of jobs are in the
towns, and so most of us live in towns. And towns can so easily be
walls, roofs, walls and more walls, with no greenery above eye level.

You are quite right - and town trees should be grown and kept, even if at
some inconvenience.

But I do think evergreens are often particularly hated because they cut
out the light so completely, and all year round.

I was thinking a nice ornamental crabapple instead might be just the job ?

(To balance my earlier leylandii tale, we have a big holly right on the
south border of our north-sloping garden, but it's so nice I have no desire
to get rid of it. And an old oak that could be said by a philistine to
block our view at the front - but I'm very fond of it).

Victoria