How far over a fence can a neighbour prune a tree?

Hi

I have neighbours who are very nice except for the fact that they do not like a tree I have very much. I think that it blocks out light for them. However I do like the tree and it has been here longer than them or myself.

The tree is about 2 metres from the fence with the neighbours. They lean over as far as they can to prune away everything they can reach. This creates what for me is half a tree.

Last year I agreed to them completely removing all the foliage. This was because I wanted the tree to return to being tree shaped. They said they would not touch the tree for two years after this. The tree has been recovering quite well but at the end of the summer they started chopping away at the tree. So I am going to have half a tree again.

Obviously I will have to talk to them about it. I do understand that they perceive this tree as blocking light, but the tree is now, in total less than a third of the size it was, say two years ago.

I would like to come to an arrangement with them that they would stick to. However before I discuss with them I'd like some idea of what rights there might be.

They seem to believe that it is okay for them to prune away as far as they can reach into my garden, but this is very far indeed.

Thank you for any assistance you can give

 

W.e.l.l.c.o.m.e. to Gardeners Corner Patrick

They have no right whatsoever to lean over your fence & cut your tree.

Assuming you are in the U.K.

Your boundary is just that. They can cut anything overhanging, but that still remains your property and they must offer to give you back any prunings or fruit.

 

I'm pretty sure they a only allowed to prune branches that actually over hang the boundary line (in this case the fence) but others who have dealt with this problem before will be along soon to advise

 

As usual I'm a bit late

 

Sounds a bit naughty of them to me.

 

We chop our neighbours but its at the back of her garage(dont think she minds) so unless she comes into our garden to do it herself(which will never happen) we would not be able to cut her privet hedge our side as it grows on to that aswell.
I do know we are not allowed in her air space if she says no to us pruning.
Maybe you could remove some branches(thin it out) to let more light threw for them,i dont them think hacking at it is gaining them much light

 

If my neighbours leaned over my fence hacking at trees they would probably loose ome fingers

 

As Zigs and Aesculus say, it's only anything that overhangs the boundary line that they can remove and they do need to offer it back - but not chuck it over the fence!

Usually neighbourly relations and common sense mean they should talk to you about it first. If a branch is cut exactly at the boundary line it can look ugly, so IF you agree, there might be a case for removing back to either the main tree or to a suitable fork in the tree.
If it's a large old tree and you love it, but it is blocking a lot of their light...would it spoil the tree to crown lift it? Removing completely a few of the lower limbs back to the trunk? This all depends on the shape of the tree, you need to look at it now before the foliage is open and try visualise the effect of removing one or two or three lower limbs. It sometimes looks better than a tree hacked off in a line down one side!

 

Don't know where you live Patrick ,But here in Scotland we have been trying for Many years to put a Bill through the Scottish Parliament to limit the height that trees can legally be allowed to grow in Suburban areas.
To date, it is still being discussed by Parliament and the bill has not been passed yet.
My Son In Law has a first class garden but his Garden is surrounded by Huge Conifers.
These trees are about 30 ft high and block a lot of the sun and light from his garden thus restricting what he can plant in his Garden..

Putting things in perspective, with your problem,I think your neighbour is being a Bit
unreasonable, to say the least. Could be they are Anti Tree,or it's blocking their Nosy
View.. Legally they cannot reach over and clip/cut back anything that is not encroaching on their property/garden/boundary,they can only cut/prune anything that is Overhanging onto/within their Property. Music .

 

Thank you all for your comments. I have been in Ireland for a short period and so I was not able to respond until now.

The first thing I will tell you is that there has been a major change in the situation since my original post. My neighbours have put their house up for sale!

I am still going to speak with them about the problem because it will take them some time to sell their house, and through the spring (if we have one) I do not wish them to be excessively cutting away at the tree.

I think that when I speak with them I will say that it is okay for them to cut any branches or twigs that go over the boundary, but not further. That seems to be the agreed rule on this here. They are welcome to keep the twigs and branches because I have a very large amount of compost at present.

My neighbours are a nice pair so I think they will be okay with this. Also now that they are leaving I guess their sense of investment will be much reduced.

music asks where I live. In fact I am in Hove in England. I originally come from Ireland. I am interested in the law you are trying to create in Scotland because I can understand that if the trees grow very high in one person's garden then they could be a problem for the neighbour.

In fact my tree is not huge, and my garden is lower than my neighbours by about five feet, so from their perspective the tree is not very high. It certainly does not cast a significant shadow into their garden.

On the other side of my garden the neighbours there have very big trees actually, and these do cast shadows in my garden, but I am grateful for this! In the very hot summers we had a few years ago (before this new ice age began) I really liked being able to sit in my garden and not be burned alive.

 

music asks if my neighbours are "Anti Tree". I think they are

The people whose garden backs onto theirs at the back of their garden had a really big tree and my neighbours pruned that one back to just the trunk. I am sure that must have been with agreement because my neighbour spent a couple of days doing it and was in the garden of the other people to do it. However that tree cast no shadow at all over my neighbour's garden.

I think my neighbours are just "Anti Tree" people. I have known people like this who seem to want to cut trees down all the time.

Apart from this issue my neighbours are lovely. For example there was an issue where a wall was collapsing between are gardens and my neighbours replace the wall (the man is a retired builder). I wanted to pay him but he refused. I wanted to then pay for the materials at least but he refused that. So you can see that these are very nice people indeed to have as neighbours. Just "Anti Tree"

 

Thank you for your w.e.l.l.c.o.m.e.

I am in the UK, in Hove in England.

I will update my profile I think to say this.

 

What tree's are they patrick?

 

The hedges bill in Scotland and guidelines in England are to restrict anti-social evergreen hedges, not trees. So a 20ft Beech tree hedge is fine but not a 14ft Thuja or Leylandii. The guideline is 2 metres from the highest part of the land. If your garden is higher or lower than the neighbours then the 2 metres is from whatever is higher. You have to pay the local authority to come out (£450ish) to adjudicate. Overall useless.