Neighbours oak tree is excluding light from our garden

Foxglove77

Being a large oak tree it is probably protected by a TPO. That doesn't mean it can't be properly maintained if the owner applies for planning permission.

You have my sympathy. We have lived next to our tenant neighbours for over 40 years. They decided to plant 2 willow trees themselves. These trees are now both over 60 feet high and block out our light. The leaves cover our garden. The neighbours absolutely refuse any entry to the Landlord who have offered to pay to maintain these trees and they have let the garden and hedges overgrow alarmingly. Some people are so selfish.

Willows can be a real problem as the branches can split off during gales. A large branch landed on a car near us and completely destroyed it.
We have a willow on the river bank behind our property and the company who manage the estate have it trimmed pretty substantially every three years or so.

That is some oak tree to grow 20 feet in 12 years. Your local council should be able to advise on both the tree and the hedge issue. 12' is very high for a hedge separating another property. The surgety may just lease the premises and they may not have authority to change the landscaping. The Council should know who owns the property, or you could go in and ask to speak with the manager who may know what the situation is.

Charly

I love just about every inch of leafiness there possibly could be in this sad world. So much of it being destroyed. I’m thinking global warming issues as well as my own preferences. Our next-door-neighbour has recently started making noises about our sycamore and about his other neighbour’s tall conifer. However we were here first and our both trees were fully grown when he and his family moved in.

Personally I don't like sycamores, the vast majority of them are not attractive trees, grow like weeds and seed everywhere. I think most of the ones that cause a nuisance are self seeded. I'm not keen on conifers either, they cast a lot of very dark shade and are not particularly pretty. There are so many more attractive trees you can plant. Some species sycamores (acers) are lovely and much smaller, rowans, amelanchier and hawthorns are pretty and have berries as well as flowers.
One of the problems in many towns is that councils have planted the wrong species of trees on streets and later have to spend a fortune on pruning them every couple of years. Tall plane trees for example are quite beautiful but totally unsuitable for most streets, though they have been planted all over the place for many years.
Prunus too, often planted as street trees, do not usually respond well to pruning and grow "witches brooms" where they are cut, ending up mis-shapen and hideous.

Willows’ roots undermine foundations. The roots will stretch out to a distance at least the height of the tree, hence the need to trim the trees frequently.

I have oak, ash, pine, sycamore all along the back of my house. All but the ash are well over 40' but they are also well over 40 in age. Tgey are checked every year and some thinned out to allow for straight growth. Drives me mad, acorns, pine needles, seeds from the ash and sycamore in the garden, they have to be swept up twice a week at least. Furniture is covered, especially by the ash seeds. Then the leaves in autumn. I use a leaf blower, DGS loves it if he is visiting when the leaves need clearing up. I wouldn't change anything though, the trees are beautiful all year round.

Neighbours have a 30 foot tulip tree at the bottom of their 20 foot garden which sides onto our garden completely blocking the sun from our garden and making the house very dark. I have very kindly asked if they would reduce the height and have even offered to pay for it but no no avail. They flatly refuse to care for it in any way. They planted the tree after we moved to this house 27 years ago and unfortunately our only option is to move which we hope to do shortly. Trees are lovely in the right setting but massive trees like this in small back gardens are a menace so I completely sympathise OP. Also, I would be very careful about asking the council if it has a TPO because if it hasn't and you make them aware of it they are likely to slap one on it.

The oak tree may have tree preservation order, but not sure about the conifer. The overhanging branches of the conifer can probably be cut back to your border as long as you return them to the owner of the tree and if it hasn't got preservation order. Try contacting local council for advice.

Sarahr the cut-off branches can be offered back to the tree-owner. Don't just dump them over.

The key to resolving this is careful negotiation with the property owner, every time - if possible. The council here are useless and it costs a fortune to even start the high hedge process - with no guarantee of results.

Either that - or a bucket of weedkiller - not exactly legal, but effective. To stay on the legal side of things, a neighbour cut back all overhanging branches, then cut through and dug up all roots to the boundary. The tree promptly died, having been planted on the edge of a path, right next to the fence, it had few roots on the owner's side.

Hetty58, I asked that up-thread, if it was okay/legal to cut out the roots on your own side. Thanks.

They are beautiful,oak trees. Do you have to actually remove the leaves or could you use them as mulch ? People here don’t clear leaves away but admittedly many of our trees are not deciduous .

Nanna3. The leaves of oak take years to rot down. Last year’s are still perfectly formed nestling in my shrubs. Because of the size of the oak the quantity of leaves is enormous. If I left them there would be deep drifts everywhere. The acorns are also a problem, you need a hard hat to venture to the bottom of the garden.
I will try to negotiate with the surgery but do not want to upset them as they are our doctors!

I would have thought that as the public park under the tree there would have to be inspections but there has not as any tree surgeon would have removed large branches that rub against each other and recommended removing the rapidly growing oak seedling situated a few fet from the main trunk.

Autumn leaves are lovely to crunch on when walking through the woods.

But in your flower beds, piled up against the front door, littering the driveway, when they are not even your own trees - they can be a nuisance, as are beech nuts, hazel nuts, acorns, sycamore helicopters etc!.
You're right, Gin, they take years to rot down too.

So lovely to look at though 🌳 🍁🍂🍃

They’re an awful trip/slip hazard, too: something I’m very aware of as I’m getting older. Opposite my house there is a row of trees that shed their leaves onto the pavement and I remember an elderly resident who was blind complaining to the council about how he was scared to walk on the pavement in the autumn and winter because of it. Something that, as a much younger person at the time, I didn’t think about. I have a terrible moss and algae problem at the back of my house because of the shade caused by the trees: absolutely treacherous when it’s been raining. I do put moss and algae killer on it on a regular basis but it just comes back quite quickly. The pigeons that stayed away from the front garden during the summer have started roosting in the tree at the front again and the poo is starting to build up again. Having sprained my hand yesterday I did actually burst into tears last night because I just can’t keep on top of it all.