Fir Tree.

[baza]

My neighbour has a fir tree some 40ft high which overhangs my garden and is now causing damage to my fence. Now what do I do, get someone in to trim off the overhang and send him the bill? OR get the trunk cut away so that the fence can be repaired and then give him the bill? What would you do ?

[spathiphyllum]

Have you spoke to your neighbours yet?

[baza]

Both properties are privately owned.

[baza]

Spoken to him about it for the last 5 yrs or so.

[derek-33]

find out on google if you can legally cut a part of it off,if so , then do it

[spathiphyllum]

Baz i'm not sure what privately owned has to do with it..

If someone called me out to carry out the work, then I would cut the overhanging or intruding foliage / branch and have a legal obligation to offer it back to the property it intruded from.

I'm not sure where you stand regarding getting the neighbour to pay.

[Chipchopper]

I would say to the neighbour, that "I intend to cut back the encroaching branches and would you like the off cuts". Then see how it go's from there. (all in a polite and friendly manner of course)

[baza]

If it was on council property or encroached onto council property I was told they would cut it down, as it is not they were unable to offer any legal advice/ solution.
Over the years the owner assured me that he would get it removed and the fence repaired. He has paid his Eastern European brother in law £500 to come over and remove the tree , but yesterday he told me he is selling up and moving to Latvia, so not much chance of the bil turning up now.

[woofgang]

If you haven't got anywhere in 5 years then what makes you think you would get anywhere now? The law is expensive and fallings out with neighbours can be even more so. If you can afford to do so, can I suggest that you have the overhang removed, repair the fence and put it behind you? that is likely to be the cheapest and least stressful option.

[baza]

I was informed that the survey will show that the tree is too big and too close to the houses so I thought , get rid of the tree , and let the old boy move out. Very nice of me.

[baza]

The fence cannot be repaired until the trunk is removed.

[spathiphyllum]

I would remove the fence, cut a fat chunk out of the tree and then put the fence back up.

Would you be able to do this without compromising the structure of the tree?

If you cut low, it is u likely the tree will grow back. If it does, it will be new shoots, very easy to keep on top of, but not if a fence is in the way to be fair.

[spathiphyllum]

Of course, there was supposed to be a N after that miscellaneous U, making the word ‘unlikely’

[Chipchopper]

If it's a true fir (Abies) then it is unlikely to resprout from old wood.

[maggiebee]

Hope you can find a solution to this problem as having a tree cut down can be very expensive. Perhaps when the new owners move in next door you can discuss the problem with them, as it obviously affects both properties.

[baza]

The local odd job/ gardener chap has quoted £2000 to remove the tree as he would need extra help and equipment so it would appear that the bil's offer of £500 was a bargain.

[spathiphyllum]

two thousand pounds?

Is he having you on?

Get another quote.

[woofgang]

try going to a local tree surgeon. They will have the necessary equipment so won't need to pay hire charges. I use a local very expensive service and its not nearly that much.

[baza]

I have asked the local tree surgeon for 2 quotes , one using my garden for access the other one climbing over his extension, that will be interesting.