Lawns overshadowed by neighbouring trees

Our next door neighbour and his next-door neighbour allhave over 100ft High Llanddi trees at the, back of their gardens which block all sunlight in our very small garden. The neighbour two doors Down is a single parent who's sympathetic housing association tenant but cannot afford to get them cut down. Bless her she tried to get the housing association to cut them but they refused. This was about 8 years ago, sadly we still haven't found a solution to this nightmare for us. Our neighbours are lucky as they have gardens twice the size and I wonder if they had a small shaded garden like us how they would feel.. Our next door neighbour is a nasty man so I recon he'd be the first to moan if in our situation! Wish we could find a way around this as I'm disabled and really need the warmth of the sun on my face! If anyone has any ideas it would be gratefully received! Xx

We have a problem with a Neighbours Willow Tree which shades a good part of the garden and when it sheds it branches and leaves it's a horrendous mess which has killed off the grass and I have given up on growing plants in the area. I have tried cutting it back but it is far too high to reach the branches to cut (Over 30 ft tall or more) It puts shade on my washing so it does not dry as no sun gets to it.

Sugarpufffairy, it's really difficult to prove that trees are causing movement. Usually, as long as their roots aren't invading drains) they are not to blame. Removing them can cause ground 'heave' (rather than subsidence), though, and not everyone is insured against that.

Bluesmum you are right, there are laws in place now about heights of Leylandi, it’s worth following up for anyone bothered by neighbours trees/hedge.
We have two birch trees nearby, one overhanging part of our garden, beautiful full height trees, I love them and accept that their leaves/twigs/pollen come with them ( birch pollen affects me as well!) They were there when we bought this house, and although the side effects are a nuisance, they are a joy to look at in all seasons.

Our neighbour has a huge Lleylandii which overshadows our vegetable garden for part of the day.
We and other neighbours would happily contribute to the cost of a tree surgeon to rid us of the pest but the owners won't hear of it.

It's such a shame that neighbours can't be more neighbourly when it comes to trees or other garden features. My better half is a tree surgeon and frequently has to avoid becoming involved in neighbour disputes. He tries to tell all parties that any work he does has to consider the health of the tree(s) (unless they are for removal of course). There are unscrupulous people that ignore TPOs and risk big fines + others who will hack trees until they look awful or are killed by the process - he refuses to do this! If you can't get the neighbours to cooperate, a good local tree surgeon may be able to advise you on local council rules/laws or on anything you can do, or can plant, and most know others in similar lines of work so may have contact details for landscape gardeners etc that could help if you want to make changes.

Our new house has a few existing trees and the next door neighbour has already approached us to see if there is any chance of trimming one tree a couple of foot as it overshadows a vegetable patch - we love the tree as it is but he thinks he may be able to trim a little without it looking too bad or damaging it - we also want to be good neighbours and be able to get along, make the odd compromise etc - if it can be done and remain a good looking and healthy tree we will try to have happier neighbours (who knows, we may end up sharing things we each grow in the future). Good luck

As the owner of a garden with 2 gigantic conifers now twice the height of the house and another medium sized one plus laburnham tree, may I point out that I inherited these trees when I bought the house some 27 years ago, and have cooperated with my neighbours as much as I could in trying to cut back overhanging branches and/or being cooperative about them lopping of offending branches too. I've also paid for some limited work on then too. As a divorced mother of 2 children when I moved in I did not have much money and there was no way I could have afforded to have them cut down - even less so now - I imagine it would cost £1000s, especially as all the wood would have to be taken through my garage to reach the road - and I'm talking TONS. And I live in a semi, so I have no idea how the trees cold be cut down without damaging both my and other people's gardens except at humungus cost.

Fortunately no one has complained and I do actually love the trees in many ways - the birdlife in them and the pattern of shadows on the lawn on a sunny day.
What I'm trying to say is that I am not selfish or vindictive or deliberately a bad neighbour. Please don't make assumptions without knowing the whole story.

There are a lot of plants that would do well there, Cyclamen, Hellebores, Rhododendrons if your soil is on the acidic side, Aucuba - spotted laurel, Astilbe and Japanese Anemones will grow in shade, Viburnum and Camellias, woodland anemones, bluebells, Heuchera and Tiarella, Oakleaf Hydrangeas etc .... if you cannot manage to pave to make things easier (don't gravel it as that would be a nightmare to clear the debris off!) If you were to underplant, the debris will provide a mulch to keep the area moist. Good luck!

Op, have you considered making that shady part into a shingle garden?

I have done this very successfully, used cheap liner, gravel on top and made a feature garden in a shady part.

Very chuffed to find that many bulbs and plants thrive there in the shade (when I had no success growing elsewhere) - so now have loads of snowdrops and bluebells, spring bulbs, followed by summer anemonies etc. added random things like big rocks, pots and birdtables.

I don't worry about the leaves, just let the winter winds blow them onto another lawned bit, then run the mower over them without the collecting box, as a grass mulch (lazy but effective)

Iam64 - I was under the impression that Leylandii over about 6 feet were deemed a nuisance and should be cut back, by law? I could be wrong but I know that planting them at all is considered massively anti-social!

Our garden backs onto allotments. All the back gardens on our side of the road are lined with beautiful big oaks, about 6 of them. Thankfully we have long gardens but beautiful as they are the oaks suck all the moisture out of the ground and autumn means a mass of leaves. I have planted shade loving plants down that end which thrive and there is an old sloe bush that is good for my gin. The biggest pain is that I have to make sure I keep that end constantly watered. Having said that the trees I am living with have been there hundreds of years I would be a, bit miffed if neighbours had planted trees that were shading my garden. So if you have to live with the shade it may well be that you go with the flow and have shade living plants or some sort of chippings. Good luck.

We had to have a Leylandii hedge cut down when we moved in to this house 16 years ago. It was about 15 feet tall and shaded most of garden in the afternoon. The problem with leylandii is that it is a manufactured tree and as such nobody knows how tall it will grow if left to itself. My nasty stepfather had a problem with his neighbours large tree growing very close to his garden fence. He asked the neighbour to cut it down or at least trim it. The neighbour did not want to do it. So my nasty stepfather got some Jeyes fluid and surreptitiously watered it for some days. After a while the poor tree turned brown and died. I do not recommend this.

I am not sure about the law regarding the height of trees if indeed there is one, and some may have TPOs, but I think you will find that there are laws about the height of a hedge. It may well be that these are bye-laws, but do check. I have always understood the specified height of a fence is 7 feet and that of a hedge 9 feet and, of course, as with any other tree which overhangs your fence you have the right to cut back the branches.

I would add that I quite envy those who have only overgrown trees to contend with. My rather unpleasant neighbour put up one of those hideous -in my opinion - metal fences which look just like corrugated iron which has been painted a nasty shade of green and are apparently guaranteed to last for 20 years. In the summer it becomes too hot to put your hand on, and sitting in front of it on my patio was like having a radiator at your back. My solution was to have a wooden fence erected on my land to hide the horrible thing, quite expensive but worth it. Ah well, everyone to their own taste!

I had a similar situation with 3 colossal oak trees each with a tree preservation order on. After too many years of trying to get the lawns looking good, I finally gave up last year and have had stone put down and an enormous raised bed. This is its first year but already it looks fabulous compared to the tatty lawns. I wish I’d done it before.

That’s what I did Bikergran.... have a south facing garden and neighbours that for 20 years refused to do anything about their 15 foot privet hedge ..... it covered in shade half our garden and really spoilt the garden. Then they sold up....and the new neighbours proposed a large extension , to which we objected too. To no avail, it was built. But they then rooted up this awful hedge and replaced it with a five feet fence. The lawn that was ruined by the hedge recovered to a beautiful lush green , and I’m able to utilise the ‘virgin’ soil and planted a honeysuckle against the fence with dramatic results . In two years it’s six foot high and covers the whole ‘blankness’ of a wooden fence. I do miss the birds that nested in hedge though. If only they’d just cut the hedge to a normal size, we could’ve had best of both worlds.

The bottom of our garden is overshadowed by some enormous trees from our neighbours. By late afternoon the garden is completely in shade. I do believe there should be a law to prevent people planting large trees in suburban gardens.

We have several gardens around us with huge trees growing in them. Our next door but one Neighbour has four Conifer type tree's in a row which this year have blocked our evening sun. Once the birds nesting in them have gone, I will ask him to cut them back to an acceptable height. Our bigger problem is the trees growing along the pathway at the back of our house. This is Council owned and the tree's are just left to grow and grow year after year. We used to have beautiful views when we first moved here 13 year ago but now, sadly, most of that has gone.

I find this very interesting because I have a neighbour with huge trees. My house is all cracks and I am told has had a lot of movement. I suspected the trees but it looks like some of you have actually had this proved. How did you go about getting proof that the trees were the cause of problems?

If you have spoken to your neighbours and they refuse to cut down or trim their trees, no one seems think there is anything you can do.

However, it might be worthwhile trying to find out whether there are any bye-laws that address the problem.

The only thing I can think of that you can do with two lawns that are too labour intensive, is to have them ploughed up and paving put down instead.

I would do so in our front garden if only I could afford to.

Being realistic I think all you can do is have a talk with them...would they be able to reduce down, or remove...maybe you can pay or split the cost...if not, you can cut your side so it doesn’t hang over as much. This may look unsightly at first but a tree surgeon could advise. The mess from any tree is usually there at some time or another(leaf ‘hoovers’ could make it a bit easier)...but if you could reconfigure things it might help. Failing all that, move....but in my experience, the problem comes up repeatedly.?

The huge garden over our bottom fence has a protected Corsican Pine and the branches are like an umbrella over our considerably smaller garden. DH fills bag upon bag with pine needles off our lawn. It is no longer an attractive tree but the owner refuses to sort it. We did get permission a year or two ago to trim what overhung our property. The wife watched the tree surgeon from start to finish and said she would sue "if you come one centimetre over our side". Incidentally they have had a steady stream of visitors during lockdown ! But I digress. The tree is so tall now that if it fell towards us there would be no house and no us.

Houndi, how about a sail shade? I have a pop up pergola (not so easy to pop up single handed) for some privacy from next door (higher than mine and made higher still with decking) but I'm considering a massive sail left up all summer. They are forever watching me - very weird behaviour!

There is a high hedge law. Two or more trees can be denoted as a hedge. It’s costly , but I applied to the council for neighbors trees to be halved in size and kept that height. And I won.
Worth approaching the council on this. And mine was private property not council owned

Have the trees just appeared? Were they there when you moved in or have they grown since. If grown since you may have justification for having then trimmed down eg overhanging branches and if dense planting then thinned out. You have obviously approached someone as "they" have refused. Have you contacted Council as they can often determine if trees are a nuisance. Only options I know of would be astroturf, some hard paving with shrubbery to soften the look, summerhouse perhaps. Lawn and shade needs an awful lot of attention, can understand your woes.

Well my back garden was in a mess and the neighbours wanted to cut down a couple of my small trees. I feel stupid for agreeing although I'm holding onto the positive that this has given me motivation to work hard to get it useable again as I now have the time.
I had to row with the uncle to actually take the trees away, if you want to cut them down you take them away! And they have cut more than they needed too. So need roots removed or turned into something then I want something high and leafy so the wind will blow leaves onto there decking.