Cowboy gardeners next door

well, today the "gardeners" came to do next door's garden.

First they cut the dividing hedge - our hedge. A little lower than I would like, but I can understand why they would want it cut to allow light in.

Then the went onto the back garden, and started cutting back the hazels, budliea etc. I was feeling a little cheeky, so called one of them over (all v polite, you understand) and asked if they might be willing to remove two young sycamore trees that were literally weaving up through the chain link fence. No problem... (Our house is just a metre away from the fence, so not easy for me to do, and deffo don't want sycamore trees that close to our foundations!)

Next thing I knew, they were cutting the bottom of the leylandii trees from about 7-8 metres to about 2.5 metres tall....

Ok, we had a relationship going with the gardeners (!!), so I asked if this was after my request, or were they going to do all the trees, as the neighbour hadn't said anything to me. No, they were going to do them all, and why should he tell me, as they were his trees, to do with as he liked.... Ok, I bit my tongue, after them cutting my hedge 1st thing (when all the neighbours know I'm out walking the dogs)....

I had to go out, but have got back to find this

I don't know whether they
A. Ran out of time for the day
B. Ran out of petrol for the chainsaw
C. The owner came and told them to stop (v old man - would have taken him ages to get that far down the garden to see what they were doing)
D. Realised that they needed to get a chipper to dispose of the tops of the trees, rather than just dragging them down to the wooded area of the garden

I am guessing the trees are about 30 years old, as that is when the 1st floor/attic conversion was done to this house. Apparently there was no love lost about planning permission having been granted, and the trees were planted in protest.

Am I correct in thinking that these "telegraph poles" will not re-sprout foliage?

 

hi

What a dreadful thing for them to do , the leylandi wont grow back , you have no hedge left

has next door spoken to you or you to them , thats just not on all your privacy has gone , I would be furious

 

Ouch

 

I have not seen the neighbours next door since I got back. I will try to speak with them as soon as I can, but its not easy. They speak the local dialect, rather than high dutch, so I find them quite difficult to understand.

Under Belgian law, they can indeed do what they like, as the trees are more than one metre from the boundary. To be honest, having trees taller than the house, and so close, was a little concerning, and the upstairs rooms that only have one window on that side of the house were very dark. Most of the way along, we have laurel on our side, that I now will cut to be a tidy hedge (I was letting it strain for the light as best as it could, as I prefer boring laurel to leylandii)

We have now got more light in at that side of the house, (East) which might be pleasant...

But yes, my overall reaction is ouch!

 

Agree they won't grow back. Can't see that you can really do anything now but maybe talk to your neighbour about growing some climbers with the old trunks to give initial support?

Is there any positive? Is it giving you more light? Hope so as you can hardly ignore that they're gone.

 

It's more your neighbours loss than yours, Sian.....they've got to look at the bare stumps. You can plant something attractive along the boundary and keep it to the height you want In the meantime, what about planting some rampant, flowering climbers to cover the fence and fling themselves up the totem poles?

 

Strange you should say about rampant climbers....

....I happen to have a couple of Pauls scarlet climbing roses looking for a home. What do you reckon on their ability to act as a screen? I have some timber I could put in as a framework, and with cross-wires, and lots of yummy compost to get them started (the soil there has to be stripped barren, as our house is just 1 metre from the boundary....

 

Assuming they'll be getting light the roses will probably do well but I'd check the soil. The chances are that those trees had roots which went as far as your garden and you may find a) they're still there and b) they're impacting on the quality of the soil pH and moisture. Plenty of compost for sure.
Woo is the expert though.

 

Well, they are back again this morning, taking down the rest of the leylandii.

Oh, and why cowboy gardeners? Well, I've done my fair share of contract gardening, when we were struggling with the mortgage. I've "made do" with tools to hand, to get a job done. But using a hosepipe as a rope to control the fall of trees, just metres away from a neighbour's house?!

 

Definitely cowboys! What's the betting they're not insured, either?

 

Well, it might be against the grain, but I'd be well pleased that they're gone So much more light and opportunities to plant something more pleasing to the eye

 

Well, what's done is done. They have all been brutally chopped, but only the bottom 4 or so have had all their side branches also removed.

I have now spoken with the neighbour. He agrees that the trees hwve been cut too low, but said that they needed something doing to them (also true).

In fact, I overheard him talking to the gardeners yesterday afternoon. I learned a few new Dutch words - he was not a happy chappie!!

Along the most part of the boundary I have a laurel hedge, that has struggled for light / food against the leylandii. The gap with no laurel I have is actually only about 6 metres, so will be looking to plant some climbers to go there (also the place where we have ground floor windows...)

This morning, I have done an intial chop of the laurel, to encourage it to bush out. It should also protect it from being lashed by the winds it is now exposed to!

I think I might be shredding laurel this afternoon!! At least I have lots of space in my newly cleared and re-built compost bins!!

 

Why cowboy gardeners? Simple...they are cheaper!

At least you are able to take the positive from all this, i.e. having more light.

 

So true, rosebay

We knew it would happen at some point - the trees going.
We even got the building work that was necessary on that side of the house done last year, before it was exposed to the neighbours view, as officially you need planning permission to change the appearance of a house here (went from PVC cladding to textured concrete skin - can't remember the proper name).
What annoyed / shocked me was that
- neighbours didn't talk to us about it, but then they wanted 2m taken off the top, not left at the bottom!!
- the bottom few trees had all the branches also removed, and so cannot recover. There is still a little hope for the majority of the trees, should the neighbour decide to keep them
- the dangerous way the trees were felled!!

But the positives...
We now have light in some rooms on the ground floor for the first time in about 20 years the irony is, the dining area is now doubly lit compared to just 8 days ago. Last week we paid to get the light fitting installed properly!!

We have a view from two bedrooms, that before looked out on a green curtain, just 1m from the windows. I'm sure our visitors will appreciate this - and will find out this evening, as a dear friend is coming for the weekend,

We now have a similar view from the dressing area / corridor (I need to also remember that technically we are also providing a view, although not actually overlooked!) outside our bedroom.

I have a new area of the garden to maintain, and to make look (and smell) beautiful.

 

Good news in many respects then. Enjoy planning and creating your new space.