Neighbours trees

PokeHerKing

My neighbour behind us and one house down have huge fern trees out their back. I reckon they're costing us 2 hours+ of evening sun.

We're south facing they're north. We bought the house a few years ago so I don't know them. I'm thinking of knocking round to see would they be open to getting them chopped.

Just looking for any advice people might have in this situation? They should be illegal to be honest, they're at least 6 foot higher then the house at their tip!

Cheers

The_Conductor

Fern trees?
I take it you're referring to Leylandii or similar (ferns are a different species altogether).

Personally- I think they're weeds, however, that said, there is nothing to say that the neighbour can't have trees, of their choosing, in their garden (subject to ensuring they don't cause structural damage etc). Your only right- is to cut any vegetation which overhangs onto your property.

I'd broach it with the neighbour- but do it in as friendly a manner as possible- perhaps they simply haven't thought how they might be impinging on your enjoyment of your property?

CIARAN_BOYLE

Well would your house be close enough that if they fell in a storm there could be damage.

If it's the neighbours tree it's foreseeable that they would be liable. Maybe ask if their insurance would cover the legal case if it hit your house.

Sam Kade

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Well would your house be close enough that if they fell in a storm there could be damage.

If it's the neighbours tree it's foreseeable that they would be liable. Maybe ask if their insurance would cover the legal case if it hit your house.

If the op says that I'd imagine he/she will be run out the gate.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Sam Kade wrote: »

If the op says that I'd imagine he/she will be run out the gate.

Friend of mine asked a neighbour of theirs that, got a response 3 weeks later with a confirmation that their insurance covered falling trees,

Not sure it's always the best thing to ask but it may be useful.

PokeHerKing

Yeah not sure what type of tree exactly, look like Xmas trees.

I'll go around and offer to split the costs of getting them taken down but my worry is they gain nothing from getting rid of them and lose the privacy they enjoy with them up.

Was hoping somebody would say they were illegal!:)

The_Conductor

PokeHerKing wrote: »

Was hoping somebody would say they were illegal!:)

Antisocial - yes, illegal- no........

loyatemu

Leylandii are not easy or cheap to remove: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057661309

Cheaper option might be to top them, but you'll have to keep doing it every few years.

Lumen

PokeHerKing wrote: »

I'll go around and offer to split the costs of getting them taken down but my worry is they gain nothing from getting rid of them and lose the privacy they enjoy with them up.

I am that neighbour (well, not yours but similar). I bought the house last year and it has massive Lleylandii that the previous owner had let grow out of control. This weekend I finally had them heavily trimmed, removing about 3m off the top and taking one out that was overhanging badly. I think my neighbour originally offered to pay half but I didn't take their money as it's not their fault.

Maybe suggest to split the cost of topping them. Once they're trimmed they'll look so ugly they might decide to take them down themselves.

If you go straight in with asking them to remove them you might get their backs up.

Ursus Horribilis

As a ballpark figure, how much does it cost to remove a tree? Or to have it topped?

el_gaucho

I had this issue a few years ago. The neighbor's Leylandii trees were overhanging the garden wall. He actually called over and told us he wanted to cut them as he was nervous that they would topple over. He cut them down himself and added a few rows of blocks to the wall. I miss the trees but they were getting dangerous and we get more light in the evenings.

listermint

They're a minging tree we used to have them in ours.

Horrible dropping the the leaves if you can call them that all over the ground. Sap everywhere at the touch nothing can grow beneath them and they seemed to attract midgies making the backgarden an awful place to sit.

KungPao

I've three whopper leyland trees myself, in the back garden...around 20 yrs old. Got a quote of €1200 to get them down and taken away.

Not sure if he's legit though.

Will have to 'stump' up the cash soon though, they have to go.

Joeseph Balls

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

As a ballpark figure, how much does it cost to remove a tree? Or to have it topped?

How long is a piece of string type question really, depends on height, tree, access, removal etc

Sausage dog

Topping these trees will only give a short term result. I've seen leylandii topped with only horizontal branches remaining ...roll on a few months & the horizontal branches have turned upwards & are merrily growing again. Topping may be an ongoing issue so see if the neighbour is amenable to splitting the cost & removing them completely. Hopefully it works out for you.

MIKEKC

You must have nice neighbours, El Gaucho. You should have paid half the cost

boobycharlton

Removed a huge one of these feckin trees last summer after an attempted break in, tree was providing too much cover in the back garden.

Took me two days between chainsawing, digging up stump and carting branches to the skip. The branches were surprisingly thick in the centre, they made good firewood though.

Had a itchy rash on my arms for a few days too, thanks to the irritating leaves.

CruelCoin

The_Conductor wrote: »

Fern trees?

He's probably referring to tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica being the most common on the market)

http://plantsrescue.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Dicksonia-antarctica.jpg

The_Conductor

CruelCoin wrote: »

He's probably referring to tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica being the most common on the market)

http://plantsrescue.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Dicksonia-antarctica.jpg

I suspect not (speaking as a forester, I've qualifications in forestry and commercial horticulture).

Yes- I'm fully aware of how big a job it is to get the root systems out etc- on the bright side, they're actually incredibly shallow rooted- however, the course of least resistance is to rent an excavator for a day- if you try to dig them out by hand it'll probably take weeks. The place will also look like a lunar landscape after you've finished- however, a load or two of topsoil and a few days- and you could have a nice alpine rockery or other remoddeling in its place.

Anyhow- first things first- a polite and friendly chat with the neighbour- its entirely possible they may not have considered either the impact they're having on their neighbours- or indeed, just how big Leyland cypress can grow. Perhaps print a couple of pages detailing the trees of the internet- it might be an eye opener for them...........

Lumen

KungPao wrote: »

I've three whopper leyland trees myself, in the back garden...around 20 yrs old. Got a quote of €1200 to get them down and taken away.

Not sure if he's legit though.

Will have to 'stump' up the cash soon though, they have to go.

I gave up asking for quotes from tree surgeons.

The quotes for topping and removal were similar - approx €200/tree. I knew this was over market rate - I'd read a few boards threads and got hold of another quote for identical job at €100/tree from one of the guys who quoted me €200/tree. The quotes were only a couple of weeks apart.

So in the end I decided I would pay €100 a tree (for topping - removal of about 3m and shredding) and asked them in turn whether they wanted the job. One of them took it.

Part way through the job I decided I wanted one of them taken down completely, he did that too and logged the trunk into rings for firewood. I have him an extra 50 and he was happy. But the stump is still in the ground - I'm fine with that as my site is full of old stumps.

One of the guys who originally quoted me €200/tree turned it down at €100, and then after I'd given it to someone else came back and said he'd take it, but it was too late.

tldr: shop around but don't be afraid to just tell people what you're prepared to pay, it can save everyone a lot of time.

edit: I had 14 trees. For a smaller job the price per tree would obviously be bit higher.

The_Conductor

The cheapest quote is not necessarily the best way to go- make sure the person you employ is properly insured to do the job, the last thing you need is to be personally liable for some of the accidents that can and do occur in this type work (I've seen enough of them).

delboythedub

No harm to call around and be polite as my neighbour called me to his house to show me his garden in darkness due to my trees blocking light. Job done

Lumen

The_Conductor wrote: »

The cheapest quote is not necessarily the best way to go- make sure the person you employ is properly insured to do the job, the last thing you need is to be personally liable for some of the accidents that can and do occur in this type work (I've seen enough of them).

Yeah, I got a quote for €35/tree which I walked away from.

I wouldn't go in suggesting they remove them, a lot of people like trees around their property (I'm one of them) as they give privacy, a more enclosed feel to the place etc.

Asking about trimming then back a bit might be a better approach.

ThisRegard

I found this OP when googling for an image of the tree.

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/how-can-i-get-my-neighbour-to-cut-his-leylandii-hedge-1.2244089

We have a young one of these out our garden and are planning on removing it ourselves. Luckily it's only about 10 foot tall but it's already blocking the sun in the evening in the corner of our garden.

Don't want to end up like this

quagmire47

PokeHerKing wrote: »

My neighbour behind us and one house down have huge fern trees out their back. I reckon they're costing us 2 hours+ of evening sun.

We're south facing they're north. We bought the house a few years ago so I don't know them. I'm thinking of knocking round to see would they be open to getting them chopped.

Just looking for any advice people might have in this situation? They should be illegal to be honest, they're at least 6 foot higher then the house at their tip!

Cheers

There is no such thing as right to light. It will be completely up to your neighbour as to what they will or will not do. The questions regarding insurance and possible damage due to falling are just laughable to be honest.
If I were you I would not let this become an issue that festers for years. You're concerned about 2 hours of evening sun. It's just not worth it. I agree with a previous post that trees are (in my opinion) a nice addition to a back garden. Give me a tree over a brick wall any day.

ThisRegard

quagmire47 wrote: »

You're concerned about 2 hours of evening sun. It's just not worth it. I agree with a previous post that trees are (in my opinion) a nice addition to a back garden. Give me a tree over a brick wall any day.

2 additional hours of sun in your garden is worth it, it can make a huge difference to its use.

quagmire47

ThisRegard wrote: »

2 additional hours of sun in your garden is worth it, it can make a huge difference to its use.

Want evening sun? Should have bought a house with a West facing aspect.
There's no property with 100% sun unless it rotates mate. A neighbour with a north facing aspect isn't going to be sympathetic to a problem with blocked sun.

ThisRegard

Mate? And maybe a neighbour like yourself won't be sympathetic, but thankfully most people like to be, well, neighbourly. Even a south facing garden is not immune to having its light blocked by trees.

PokeHerKing

quagmire47 wrote:

There is no such thing as right to light. It will be completely up to your neighbour as to what they will or will not do. The questions regarding insurance and possible damage due to falling are just laughable to be honest. If I were you I would not let this become an issue that festers for years. You're concerned about 2 hours of evening sun. It's just not worth it. I agree with a previous post that trees are (in my opinion) a nice addition to a back garden. Give me a tree over a brick wall any day.

I don't even know what this post means. I'll not be letting anything fester. I'm aware it's completely up to them and that they gain nothing from cutting them down, being a north facing house.

I'm still of the opinion they should be illegal at that height, you couldn't build a shed/extension up that height so not sure why you should be allowed trees that tall.

Either way I won't be going around with a shotgun. I'll obviously be enquiring politely. As if there was ever any other way to approach it.. I was hoping there would be some legal grounds and could have that up my sleeve if they just flat out say "no, F off" but not to be unfortunately.

Cheers for all the advice all, I'll update the thread after I've knocked around.

tradesman

I had one of those trees at the front boundary wall. Talked to neighbours on both sides, we took it down one evening, they brought in their chainsaws took branches to the dump & logged the trunk. Gave logs to neighbours as I run oil heating. Everyone's a winner! Beauty of living in the countryside

el_gaucho

quagmire47 wrote: »

The questions regarding insurance and possible damage due to falling are just laughable to be honest.

The owner of the tree is liable for any damaged caused by the tree.

http://treecouncil.ie/tree-advice/trees-law/

Scroll to:
What can I do if I think my neighbour’s tree is dangerous?

Chris_5339762

Dreadful things. Nice as single trees but awful hedges. If you cut the top off them they sprout like mad from the cut. They also get bare at the bottom.

Took down about 50 40ft ones about 15 years ago, all on our own. Only squashed one of our flower beds.

FWIW we do not have a "Right to light" law here like they do in the UK.

PokeHerKing

Came home today and to my delight the neighbours have cut the trees down! Not completely removed but topped down to shed height.

Either pure coincidence or my neighbour next door knocked around before me but either way a happy ending.

Till next year when they've grown back...