Dost thou love thy neighbour?

We've lived here for 40 years with the same lovely neighbours. Last year our one neighbour went into a home and the house was sold. The new owners are completely refurbishing the house.
For 9 months now on most days we have had drilling, banging, hammering, skips, various workmen coming and going. I'm sure they'll finish one day. We also now have a dog two doors up which yaps constantly. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

I dont know what I would do without mine. Since dh died they have been marvellous, checking in if they dont see or hear me, helping with jobs in the house and garden that I cant manage alone. Count myself very lucky to have them.

I do think that being a good neighbour works both ways - we had quite large conifer trees in the back garden, dividing our semi from the attached semi. Over they years, as they got taller, I worried that they were putting next door's garden in shade. They never complained, but (as sun worshippers ourselves) we decided it wasn't fair; we completely removed the trees and planted a hedge instead. Once the hedge got to a foot above the fence, we kept it at that height. I think if the neighbour in the OP had complained to me that the tree was causing problems, then I would have removed it and planted something more suitable. It's all a matter of give and take; if I was doing something that was upsetting someone, I would try my hardest to sort it out.

I have lived in my small block of 8 flats very happily since it was built 32 years ago. A couple of flats have changed owners over this time but we have always worked together until my next door neighbour had a new strong minded girlfriend who although her name is not on any official paper has upset everyone.
This was topped last summer by, over socially distanced aperitifs in flat’s garden, her saying that everyone has to die sometime, so there should be no lockdown. We are nearly all 60-80. She also wanted to sack our gardener of 15 years among other things and complained about me but I have everyone else supporting me. She has caused so much discord that we didn’t want to hold our annual barbecue this year but we did finally while they were away.

there is, not their is.

I sympathize. I live in a similar situation.
My immediate next door neighbour is an obsessive gardener whose first act on moving in was to destroy a pretty, well-established garden by removing every single plant, tree and lawn and replace them with succulents and gravel, very noisy. Her choice, but she also removed the borders and her surrounding neighbours' privacy. I planted a shrub border and she informed me she was entitled to remove every leaf and twig once it touched the top of her low fence, and does so, continually.
The neighbours on the other side put up taller fencing, but took exception the the numerous bird tables and feeders she has so retaliate every time birds settle to feed by using a loud klaxon type hooter to scare them off and prevent them soiling their shed and patio. Consequently, they fly over my garden, shed and patio, depositing as they go, and their is no peace in the gardens in summer.
She is also agitating to get a beautiful oak tree outside the bottom of our gardens, and the responsibility of the local council, taken down, and trying to prevent a disused building being used by the Scouts.
Should this happen, they will immediately build on the small area of land, another threat to privacy.

Oh okay , thank you.
I wonder what their back garden looks like? Do they eradicate every sign of life?

FannyCornforth

harrigran

I don't think it was the birdsong that was the problem, more likely that the birds were bombing the car and marking the paintwork.

The 'birdsong' is actually referred to as the problem in the first paragraph of the article

Sorry I didn’t include the whole article but neighbours objected to birdsong and “the ness they were making on the driveway “

What a miserly pair, who chops a tree in half, and it certainly won’t stop the birds singing, louder than ever one hopes. Only got three decent neighbours, houses on either side of me tenanted, one side won’t speak, the other side, well he has made such a mess with junk outside, I don’t want him to.

harrigran

I don't think it was the birdsong that was the problem, more likely that the birds were bombing the car and marking the paintwork.

The 'birdsong' is actually referred to as the problem in the first paragraph of the article

There's a house near us which has a whole row of trees chopped like that. So strange. They're semis, but not stuck together. One house has put in Leylandii ... yes that dreaded tree ... but he does keep it chopped back and under control. The neighbour hates it and has cut it right back to the bark. On his side. He's clearly ventured into next door's garden to get it so close to the trunk. Neither couple talk to the other. Been going on for years. My neighbours are just wonderful. Lovely people and we get on well. Thank goodness. It must be exhausting having animosity brewing with your neighbours

I don't think it was the birdsong that was the problem, more likely that the birds were bombing the car and marking the paintwork.

If the photo on the right shows where their car is usually parked then I think the objection might be less to do with birdsong and more about what comes out of their other end.

Is it serious ? Looks like a bit of a joke to me. We don’t see our neighbours very often but have a quick chat when we do. It is always a risk when you move house but we have been lucky with our neighbours. When we lived in the UK you could hear the neighbours playing one of those electronic organs which was a bit annoying but they only played in daylight hours. Our first house here had a neighbour who used to watch my girls jumping on the trampoline which made me a little uneasy but he never did anything untoward.

He shouldn't have been doing drastic tree surgery at this time of year anyway. Birds could be nesting. I think it's actually illegal, isn't it?

FannyCornforth

How can you object to bird song?
How soulless and sad

I think there was also a lot of bird poo on their manicured driveway

Yes it is fannyCornforth I saw a property online last night that would be perfect but might be a stretch atm.

I did wonder about the 'tree surgeon' who actually cut this tree in half. I suppose it was just another job.

Once my neighbour stopped his dog constantly barking when he went out - which nearly drove me crazy - all is good with our neighbours

My cats would find that tricky to negotiate!

We have moved 12 times but never had problem neighbours, just a few "characters".

What a sad situation. We're lucky in our flats. We know everyone and are good friends with some of them. Others are at more if a distance for various reasons but no unpleasance at all and certainly no nasty daftness like cutting that tree in half. (I wonder how they did it?)

Grandmadinosaur that must be awful

How can you object to bird song?
How soulless and sad

I saw this story. I can sympathise as sadly I have awful neighbours. They have got worse during lockdown and building a so called bar in the garden and having people round not always adhering to the rules of the time after a few drinks.
It also escalated a few weeks ago with the husband threatening violence. It’s one of the reasons we are hoping to move.

We have lovely neighbours - one of the reasons we have never moved from our house. We don't live in each other's pockets (I have only ever been in 2 of my neighbours' houses, and they were only fleeting visits), but we all support each other, and after living here for over 40 years we have never had to make a complaint or received one (not even when our two boys were 'lively' teenagers who had a few parties!). Looking at the above photo makes me realise how lucky we are ?