Dear Brenda,
I’ve been living next door to relatively new neighbours for about 3 years, and we get on well enough. Since they moved in, though, they’ve let the garden go a bit and branches from their cherry tree have grown over the fence and are over-hanging our garden. Apart from the loss of sunlight, there are the wasps and the leaves that have to be raked up, and now the branches overhang our washing line. I’m worried that birds attracted by the fruit may soil my laundry.
I’ve tried raising the issue with the neighbours, but they laugh it off, and say I can have any cherries I can reach from my side. I’m at my wit’s end. What can I do?
Gloomy, Harold
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Dear Gloomy,
Under common law it is acceptable for you to prune back tree branches to your boundary if your neighbour refuses to deal with the problem.
This does not mean that overhanging branches are your responsibility. The branches are still the responsibility of the owner of the property on which the tree originates. This means, therefore, that branches overhanging from a tree owner’s land are expected to be dealt with by the tree owner so that occupants of that neighbouring land are not put at risk or expense.
To really get to the “root” of the problem, you have to be able to have an open discussion with your neighbours. Polite interaction is no substitute to really getting to know each other.
When I first moved to Harold, the first thing I did was pop round to my neighbours with a bottle of wine to introduce myself. Before we knew it, we’d finished the wine and were laughing and talking like old friends. The husband uncorked another bottle, and soon we were getting quite tipsy. I complimented them on their wonderful home and what a lovely, happy couple they were. They seemed to exchange a little wink and the wife said it was all down to an active love life.
Well the wine was flowing and my curiosity got the better of me, so I asked them what they meant. That’s when the wife said that it would be easier to show me than tell me, and she moved toward me, cupping my firm breasts in her expert hands. “They’re a lovely couple too, you know,” she joked, and I could feel my nipples hardening under my thin cotton blouse.
Well one thing led to another, and soon we were a writhing knot of oiled limbs on their king-size bed, our busy fingers and tongues exploring every nook of each other’s bodies.
Since then, I’ve never had any problem raising anything with them, and we continue our little get togethers every week.
Anyway, Sue, if you’d like me to pop round to give you a few pointers, or even go round to the neighbours with you to get things started, let me know.
Brenda
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